Ralph Edmund Stanley (February 25, 1927 – June 23, 2016) was an American bluegrass artist, known for his distinctive singing and banjo playing. He began playing music in 1946, originally with his older brother Carter Stanley as part of the Stanley Brothers, and most often as the leader of his band, the Clinch Mountain Boys. He was also known as Dr. Ralph Stanley.

He was part of the first generation of bluegrass musicians and was inducted into both the International Bluegrass Music Hall of Honor and the Grand Ole Opry. Stanley also often performed with Country music artists and performed the genre itself.

The Stanley Brothers were inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2026.

Biography

thumb|left|250px|Stanley and son Ralph II in 2008

Stanley was born, grew up, and lived in rural Southwest Virginia—"in a little town called McClure at a place called Big Spraddle Creek, just up the holler" from where he moved in 1936. Before that he lived in another part of Dickenson County. The son of Lee and Lucy Smith Stanley, Ralph did not grow up around a lot of music in his home. As he said, his "daddy didn't play an instrument, but sometimes he would sing church music... I'd hear him sing songs like 'Man of Constant Sorrow,' 'Pretty Polly' and 'Omie Wise.'"

Clinch Mountain Boys

thumb|right|250px|Stanley in 2006

After considering a course in "veterinary", he decided instead to join his older guitar-playing brother Carter Stanley (1925–1966) to form the Clinch Mountain Boys in 1946. Drawing heavily on the musical traditions of the area, which included the unique singing style of the Primitive Baptist Universalist church and the sweet down-home family harmonies of the Carter Family, the two Stanley brothers began playing on local radio stations. They first performed at Norton, Virginia's WNVA, but did not stay long there, moving on instead to Bristol, Virginia, and WCYB to start the show Farm and Fun Time, where they stayed "off and on for 12 years". They soon "found out that didn't pay off—we needed something of our own. So we started writing songs in 1947, 1948. I guess I wrote 20 or so banjo tunes, but Carter was a better writer than me." after ailing for "a year or so",

He decided to go it alone, eventually reviving The Clinch Mountain Boys. Larry Sparks, Roy Lee Centers, and Charlie Sizemore were among those with whom he played in the revived band. He encountered Ricky Skaggs and Keith Whitley arriving late to his own show, "They were about 16 or 17, and they were holding the crowd 'til we got there... They sounded just exactly like (the Stanley Brothers)." Seeing their potential, he hired them "to give 'em a chance", though that meant a seven-member band. His grandson Nathan Stanley became the last lead singer and band leader for The Clinch Mountain Boys.

Following Ralph Stanley Sr.'s death, Ralph Stanley II reformed the Clinch Mountain Boys as a trio, which continues to tour and record as of 2025. Nathan Stanley has since toured as a solo artist.

Clinch Mountain Boys members

1967 to 2016

  • Ralph Stanley (Lead vocalist, banjo)
  • Jack Cooke (bass)
  • Curly Ray Cline (fiddle)
  • George Shuffler (guitar, bass)
  • Melvin Goins (bass, guitar)
  • Larry Sparks (Lead vocalist, guitar)
  • Roy Lee Centers (Lead vocalist, guitar)
  • Ricky Skaggs (mandolin, fiddle)
  • Keith Whitley (Lead vocalist, guitar)
  • Charlie Sizemore (Lead vocalist, guitar)
  • Hook n Beans (Buddy Moore) lead singer- guitar
  • Ricky Lee (guitar)
  • Junior Blankenship (guitar)
  • Kenneth Davis (guitar)
  • Renfro Proffit (guitar)
  • Ron Thomason (mandolin)
  • Steve Sparkman (banjo)
  • James Alan Shelton (guitar)
  • Sammy Adkins (Lead vocalist, guitar)
  • Todd Meade (fiddle)
  • Ralph 'Hank' Smith (Lead guitar)
  • Ernie Thacker (Lead vocalist, guitar, mandolin)
  • John Rigsby (mandolin)
  • Dewey Brown (fiddle),(Vocals)
  • Jimmy Cameron (Bass), (Vocals)
  • Audey Ratliff (bass)
  • Ralph Stanley II (Lead vocalist, guitar)
  • Nathan Stanley (mandolin, Lead vocalist, guitar)
  • James Price (fiddle)
  • Randall Hibbitts (bass)
  • Mitchell Van Dyke (banjo)
  • Jarrod Church (banjo)
  • Alex Hibbitts (Mandolin)
  • Jimmie Vaughan (Rhythm Guitar, Vocals)

Political career

About 1970, Ralph Stanley ran for Clerk of Court and Commissioner of Revenue in Dickenson County and said: