William Smith Monroe (a.k.a. Bill Monroe) is born in Rosine, Kentucky.
Bill and Charlie Monroe form the Monroe Brothers, a duet act that plays around the Midwest and Carolinas.
The Monroe Brothers make their first recordings for the Bluebird label, an RCA subsidiary.
After the Monroe Brothers part ways, Bill Monroe forms his own bands
Bill Monroe & His Bluegrass Boys make their first appearance on the Grand Ol’ Opry.
Lester Flatt (guitar) and Earl Scruggs (banjo) join Bill Monroe and His Blue Grass Boys. After a three-year stint, they leave in 1948 to form their own group, the Foggy Mountain Boys.
Bill Monroe sets up a “country park” in Bean Blossom, Indiana, which becomes the site of bluegrass festivals.
Bill Monroe performs at the Newport Folk Festival, bringing his music to a younger audience.
Bill Monroe is elected to the Country Music Hall of Fame.
The album ‘Bill Monroe and Friends’—featuring folk and country stars like Johnny Cash, Willie Nelson and Emmylou Harris—is released.
‘Cryin’ Holy Unto the Lord’, a gospel album by Bill Monroe, is released on MCA the same year the bluegrass icon turns 80.
Bill Monroe receives a Lifetime Achievement Award from the National Association of Recording Arts and Sciences at the Grammy Awards.
Bill Monroe receives the National Medal of the Arts from President Bill Clinton.
Four days shy of his 85th birthday, Bill Monroe dies in Springfield, Tennessee. He had suffered a stroke the previous April.
Bill Monroe is inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame at the twelfth annual induction dinner. Ricky Skaggs and Emmylou Harris are his presenters.
