The Oak Ridge Boys

country · pop · southern gospel

The Oak Ridge Boys are an American vocal quartet whose roots trace to Wally Fowler and the Georgia Clodhoppers, formed in Knoxville, Tennessee in 1943. After playing regularly for workers at Oak Ridge during the Second World War the group renamed itself the Oak Ridge Quartet in 1947, and became the Oak Ridge Boys in 1961 when a producer judged the older name outdated. Through the 1960s and 1970s the group moved from Southern gospel into country and pop. Its longest-running lineup, with Duane Allen on lead, Joe Bonsall on tenor, William Lee Golden on baritone and Richard Sterban on bass, held for fifty years from 1973, interrupted only between 1987 and 1995 when Steve Sanders replaced Golden. The 1981 recording of Elvira, carrying Sterban's bass hook, topped the country chart and reached number five on the pop chart; Bobbie Sue followed to number one country and number twelve pop, and Thank God for Kids became a standard after its 1982 release. The group has logged seventeen number one country singles, the first being I'll Be True to You, and has won five Grammy Awards, four of them for gospel recordings between 1971 and 1978 and the fifth for Elvira in 1982. It entered the Gospel Music Hall of Fame in 2000, joined the Grand Ole Opry in 2011 as the only act inducted twice, the Fowler-era group having joined in 1945, and was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2015 by Kenny Rogers. Bonsall retired in December 2023 and died in July 2024 of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis; Ben James took over the tenor part. Sterban stepped back from touring in May 2025 during treatment for pancreatic cancer and returned to the Opry stage in early 2026. The album It's Only Natural, originally a Cracker Barrel exclusive, was reissued widely in November 2025, and the group's store now carries farewell tour merchandise.

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