At the age of 85, renowned bluegrass musician Roni Stoneman passed away.
Known as the “First Lady of the Banjo,” she was a popular visitor on the popular variety program Hee Haw.
Stoneman, whose true name was Veronica Loretta Stoneman, passed away on Wednesday, according to the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum.
Stoneman was a member of the well-known country music group The Stoneman Family.
Three daughters were born to Ernest “Pop” Stoneman, the patriarch of the well-known country music family. The youngest was her.
According to Kyle Young, CEO of the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum, Roni Stoneman was destined to pursue a career in country music.
“For eighteen years, she stole scenes on ‘Hew Haw,’ both as a comical, gap-toothed country character and as a skilled banjo player. She was an integral part of a bedrock country music family.”
The reason of death was not immediately disclosed.
Pop, the father of King Stoneman, was a trailblazing country music artist.
To pursue his musical career, he relocated from Galax, Virginia, approximately 11 miles north of North Carolina, to New York City.
Stoneman’s father initially recorded “The Sinking of the Titanic,” a popular song from the early 1920s.
Her mother Hattie had music in the house from a very young age, as she played the fiddle.
After appearing on multiple TV shows, Hattie and Pop were growing in popularity by the mid-1950s when they were playing with their own children.
In the late 1960s, the family had a TV program called “Those Stonesmans.” They were the 1967 CMA Vocal Group of the Year winners.
Roni Stoneman rose to fame in the 1970s after her father passed away in 1968, when she joined the cast of Hee Haw.
Due to her gap-toothed smile and comic abilities on the show, Stoneman gained the nickname “The First Lady of the Banjo.”
She continued to perform with her sister Donna throughout the 1980s.
Donna became known as “The First Lady of the Mandolin” as a result.
The sibling duo’s most recent performance, according to a newsletter named Banjo, occurred in 2020.
Stoneman’s sister Donna will be missed.
