Bill Monroe

1
  • Year:
    1997
  • Inducted by:
    Emmylou Harris & Ricky Skaggs
  • Category:
    Early Influences
bill_monroe

Introduction

The Father of Bluegrass music and an idol to none other than Elvis Presley.

Before Bill Monroe, country music was dismissed as unsophisticated backwoods music. Monroe legitimized the form with his frank, heartrending lyrics and gift for storytelling.

Hall of Fame Essay

1997

Holly George Warren

Truth be told, Bill Monroe was not much of a fan of rock & roll.

Yet Monroe’s own powerful music — the gospel, blues and old-timey string-band blend that he and his ecstatic mandolin transformed into bluegrass - helped to give birth to the rock & roll sound.

“It was a Bill Monroe song that was the first-ever rockabilly song,” Carl Perkins declared recently in his South by Southwest keynote address.

Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony Program Cover 1997
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Quote_BillMonroe
Well, Uncle Pen played the fiddle, Lordy, how it would ring
"Uncle Pen"