Oak Ridge Boys Tenor Joe Bonsall Dies at 76

Joe Bonsall, Grammy Award winner and celebrated tenor of nation and gospel group the Oak Ridge Boys, died Tuesday. He was 76.​

​Bonsall died from issues of the neuromuscular dysfunction amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), in accordance with a press release from representatives of his household.​

​“Joe liked to sing. He liked to learn. He liked to write down,” the assertion learn. “He liked to play banjo. He liked engaged on the farm. And he liked the Philadelphia Phillies. However Jesus and his household all the time got here first — and we are going to see him once more on the Promised Day.”​

​A Philadelphia native and resident of Hendersonville, Tennessee, Bonsall left his gospel group the Keystones in 1973 to hitch the Oak Ridge Boys, which shaped within the Forties. He noticed the band by means of its golden interval within the ’80s and past, which included its signature 1981 tune, “Elvira,” its 1982 hit “Bobbie Sue” and 1983’s “American Made.”

“Elvira” marked an enormous crossover second for the group, reaching #1 on the nation chart and quantity 5 on Billboard’s all-genre Sizzling 100.​

​ALS is a illness that damages nerve cells and connections which might be mandatory to regulate muscle groups for actions similar to strolling, speaking and respiration. Most sufferers die inside three to 5 years of a analysis. The sickness turned generally known as Lou Gehrig’s illness after the star baseball participant was recognized in 1939.​

Bonsall additionally had a ardour for preventing fraud. In 2019, the Oak Ridge Boys teamed up with the Division of Justice and the AARP Fraud Watch Community to develop a public service announcement to deliver consciousness to elder fraud. Along with AARP, the quartet lent their voice to assist shield older Individuals from fraud by means of appearances on Rural America Stay, posting alerts on social media and sharing fraud prevention ideas at their concert events.

​In September 2023, the Oak Ridge Boys launched into a farewell tour that was scheduled to final into 2024. However in January, Bonsall introduced his retirement from touring, saying it was too tough for him bodily after a four-year battle with ALS. Ben James, who has carried out with Doyle Lawson and Dailey & Vincent, was introduced as his substitute.​

​“I’m now at some extent the place strolling is unimaginable, so I’ve mainly retired from the highway. It has simply gotten too tough,” Bonsall stated on the time of his retirement. “It has been an incredible 50 years, and I’m grateful to all of the Oak Ridge Boys, band, crew and workers for the fixed love and help proven to me by means of all of it. I’ll always remember, and for these of you who’ve been consistently holding me up in prayer, I thanks and ask so that you can carry on praying.”​