Acuff, Roy (1903-1992), was an American country music singer and fiddler. Acuff and his band, the Smoky Mountain Boys, helped make Tennessee mountain music internationally known. Such recordings as “The Great Speckled Bird” (1936) and “Wabash Cannonball” (1936) have become country music classics.
Roy Claxton Acuff was born on Sept. 15, 1903, in Maynardville, Tennessee. He joined a traveling show in 1932. Acuff became a radio entertainer and began recording in 1936. In 1938, he joined the “Grand Ole Opry” radio show in Nashville and became one of its longest-running performers. Acuff was elected to the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1962. He died on Nov. 23, 1992.
