Country Music Hall of Famer Mac Wiseman Dies
Country Music Hall of Fame and Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame member Mac Wiseman passed away on Sunday morning (Feb. 24), at the age of 93. According to Bluegrass Today, Wiseman died at an Antioch, Tenn. rehab facility, and had been experiencing kidney failure these past few weeks.
The artist was one of the founders of the Country Music Association, and was known as "The Voice With a Heart." Although a victim of childhood polio which affected his mobility, he was still able to play guitar, which he picked up at age 12. Starting off his career as a radio DJ in the early '40s, he moved on to join country singer Molly O'Day's band, and also was a member of Flatt & Scruggs' Foggy Mountain Boys and Bill Monroe's Blue Grass Boys. He additionally toured with Hank Williams, and recorded dozens of his own albums over the decades, which included early hits "Jimmy Brown The Newsboy: and "‘Tis Sweet To Be Remembered."
The Country Music Hall of Fame remembered Wiseman with a social media tribute pointing out his "splendid and often groundbreaking music," as well as his "inspirational and important life."
Wiseman was inducted into the Bluegrass Music hall of Fame in 1993 and the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2014. He was a 2008 National Heritage Fellowship recipient and had recently received an honorary Doctorate of Fine Arts from West Virginia's Glenville State College. He is survived by his five children. There are no details released yet regarding funeral arrangements.
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