Roni Stoneman, a famous bluegrass musician known as the “First Lady of the Banjo” and a beloved guest on the hit variety show “Hee Haw,” has died at the age of 85.
She was born Veronica Loretta Stoneman. The Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum said she died on Wednesday.
Stoneman was a member of the famous country music group The Stoneman Family.
Her father, Ernest “Pop” Stoneman, was the head of the famous country music family. She was his youngest daughter.
“For Roni Stoneman, country music was her birthright and her life’s work,” said Kyle Young, CEO of the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum.
“She was an integral part of a bedrock country music family, and for eighteen years on ‘Hew Haw,’ she stole scenes as a skillful banjo player and as a comical, gap-toothed country character.”
The cause of death was not given right away.
It was Pop Stoneman’s dad who was one of the first country musicians.
He left his home in Galax, Virginia, which is 11 miles north of North Carolina, to try to make it as a musician in New York City.
Stoneman’s dad was the first person to record The Sinking of the Titanic, which was a big hit in the early 1920s.
The mother of her children, Hattie, played the fiddle and got them into music at a young age.
By the middle of the 1950s, Hattie and Pop were playing with their own kids, and they were becoming more popular after being on several TV shows.
The family got their own TV show called “Those Stonesmans” in the late 1960s. In 1967, they won the CMA Award for Vocal Group of the Year.
Roni Stoneman became famous after her father died in 1968. She did this by joining the cast of Hee Haw in the 1970s.
When Stoneman was on the show, she was called “The First Lady of the Banjo” because of her gap-toothed smile and comedic skills.
In the 1980s, she kept performing with her sister Donna.
She became known as “The First Lady of the Mandolin.”
The sisters haven’t played together much since 2020, according to the Banjo Newsletter.
Stoneman’s sister Donna will miss her.