Eddie Adcock

Born: 6/21/1938

As a Blue Grass Boy: Adcock joined the Blue Grass Boys in spring of 1958, during an especially lean time for Bill Monroe, and for bluegrass in general. He and Edd Mayfield lived on Monroe's farm for a time, working in the fields when they weren't on the road. He stayed only a few months, leaving to take a steady job outside of music.

Before and After: He joined the Country Gentlemen early in 1959, recording many of the band's best-known records. He left the Gentlemen in 1970. He formed the II Generation in 1971; Martha Hearon joined the group in 1973, and she and Eddie were married in 1976. In recent years he and Martha have performed as a duet as well as the core of Eddie Adcock and Talk of the Town and the Eddie Adcock Band. In 2008, Eddie underwent 'Deep Brain Stimulation' electrode-implant brain surgery for a disabling hand tremor, the first professional musician to do so. He has since undergone two more brain surgeries and continues to perform.

Honors: SPBGMA Preservation Hall of Greats (1993); IBMA Hall of Honor (1996); Bill Monroe's Bluegrass Hall of Fame (2005)