Rex Foundation

Recipient of the Rex Foundation's 2000
RALPH J. GLEASON AWARD

The Rex Foundation established the Ralph J. Gleason Award in 1986 for outstanding contributions to culture. The award is named in memory of the pioneering jazz and pop music journalist Ralph J. Gleason (1917-1975) who was a major figure in the advancement of creative music in America. Gleason displayed an openness to new music and new ideas that transcended differences between generations and styles.

From the Grand Ole Opry to Carnegie Hall, five-string banjo virtuoso and singer Dr. Ralph Stanley has been a tireless ambassador of Bluegrass and traditional Appalachian music for more than 50 years. His prominence and influence in the genre is second only to the legendary "Father of Bluegrass," the late Bill Monroe, and since Monroe's passing in 1996, Stanley has been recognized as the music's greatest living exponent. For his incomparable artistry, the Rex Foundation is proud to present the Ralph J. Gleason Award to Ralph Stanley.

Born in 1927 and raised in a musical family, Ralph Stanley learned his craft from his parents, in his local Baptist church, and later, from such mentors as the Carter Family and the Monroe Brothers. In the 1940s, while still in his teens, Ralph and his older brother Carter joined forces as a musical duo, and the Stanley Brothers quickly became one of the greatest songwriting and performing teams in country music history, recording such classics as "White Dove," "Man of Constant Sorrow," "Hard Times," "The Lonesome River," and "She's More to Be Pitied," to name just a few.

After Carter Stanley's untimely death in 1966, Ralph struck out on his own as leader of the Clinch Mountain Boys, the band he still leads to this day. As he grew to be an elder statesmen of Bluegrass, Stanley became a mentor to many younger musicians, and the Clinch Mountain Boys became a kind of musical university for such future stars as Ricky Skaggs and the late Keith Whitley.

Today, well into his eighth decade on Earth and his sixth as a performer, and with over 150 albums among his credits, Ralph Stanley is still on the road. Recently, moviegoers have been made aware of Ralph, with the inclusion of "Man of Constant Sorrow" and other Stanley Brothers classics on the critically acclaimed soundtrack of the Coen Brothers film "O Brother, Where Art Thou?" When Bob Dylan joined Ralph for a duet on the recent all-star tribute album "Clinch Mountain Country," Dylan unabashedly referred to the experience as "the highlight of my career." And one of Stanley's most avid musical disciples, Jerry Garcia once said, quite simply: "Ralph Stanley is my model for the best voice in the world." May that voice continue to be heard.