Del McCoury, playing guitar, leads his band during the funeral service for banjo great and bluegrass pioneer Earl Scruggs at the Ryman Auditorium on Sunday, April 1, 2012, in Nashville, Tenn. Scruggs ...

The banjo, for years in the background, stepped out of the shadows in the steady hands of Earl Scruggs. Beyond his many recordings and appearances, the bluegrass music legend, who died Wednesday at 88 ...

With the passing of Earl Scruggs on March 28, the world — and that term is used with considered precision — has lost one of its greatest musicians. It goes almost without saying that Scruggs' banjo ...

Also a mandolinist, he performed alongside his brother, Jim, in an act that lasted 55 years. He continued performing after his brother’s death. By Bill Friskics-Warren The Earl Scruggs Center, which ...

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Earl Scruggs was remembered Sunday as an influential, helpful and humble banjo player who put his own mark on bluegrass music. Some 2,300 mourners attended Scruggs’ public funeral ...