Marty Stuart

Country music singer-songwriter Marty Stuart was born September 30, 1958, in Philadelphia, Mississippi. One of country music’s most versatile artists, both writing and performing songs in a variety of musical styles that include bluegrass and rockabilly and even a movie score (for All the Pretty Horses in 2000), in 1999 Stuart published Pilgrims: Sinners, Saints, and Prophets, a collection of photographs taken by Marty over the course of 25 years on the road.

A a country music singer-songwriter, Stuart has earned numerous accolades and awards. He began his music career when he was thirteen years old, playing mandolin in Lester Flatt’s bluegrass band. After Flatt’s death in 1979, he played with fiddler Vassar Clements and acoustic guitar great Doc Watson, before beginning a six-year stint as guitarist with country legend Johnny Cash. In 1982, he released his first album, Busy Bee, and four years later, he decided to go solo with the release of his album Marty Stuart.

In 1989, Stuart released Hillbilly Rock on a new label, MCA Records, an album that broke into the Top 10 and helped set a new direction for country music. His next album, Tempted, released in 1991, was certified gold, and the following year he became a member of the Grand Ole Opry, twenty years after his first appearance there when he was thirteen.

Stuart continues to be a potent force in Nashville. He has earned numerous awards for both his recordings and his songwriting, and his song have been recorded by a number of other artists, including George Strait, Wade Hayes, Buck Owens, and Emmylou Harris. He has earned awards from the CMA (for his 1992 vocal collaboration with Travis Tritt on the song “The Whiskey Ain’t Workin’”) and several Grammy’s.

(Article first posted March 2003)

Related Links & Info

Marty Party:
Marty Stuart’s official web site.

CMT.com: Artists:
Marty Stuart:
Information about Marty Stuart from Country Music Television’s web site.