J.D. Crowe | Net Worth, Wife, & Bio

J. D. Crowe is a legendary banjo player and a Bluegrass musician. He first came to the limelight while playing with the “King of Bluegrass” Jimmy Martin. Later, he formed his group, which brought revolutionary turning for the whole bluegrass genre of music.

J.D. Crowe is the pioneer in preserving the bluegrass genre of music, which is one of the native music of the USA. He also got appreciated for introducing this genre of music to new audiences and preserving its rich heritage.

Biography & Wiki

J.D. Crowe Net Worth

Crowe started his career in 1956 at the young age of nineteen and was a successful musician until he retired in 2012.

His fifty-nine-year-long career gave him a lot of fame as well as fortune. Even after retiring in 2012, Crowe still appeared in a few of the shows. It gave his fans more chances to hear him as well as brought more income for him too.

The 86 years old had goof income during the peak of his career and also had income coming even after retiring. 

All these added up and made his net worth around 6 Million to 10 Million USD.

James’ Personal Life And Family

Crowe spent fifty-nine years sharing his songs and music, but he never disclosed anything about his personal life. 

So, no one knows anything about his personal life except that he was born in Lexington, Kentucky.

J.D. Crowe Wife and Relationship

The legendary banjo player and the leader of The New South has kept his personal life very private.

No one knows a single thing about his dating life or even if he is married or single.

Education

Like his personal life and love life, nothing much is out about his educational background too.

Career and Music

Crowe was a big fan of Flatt & Scruggs, who influenced him a lot. He used to observe how they played their banjo from the front seat in their concerts.

It was Earl Scruggs of the Flatt & Scruggs who inspired him to play the banjo. He began playing when he was just thirteen. He observed Scruggs during concerts and developed his style.

He became passionate about the banjo and bluegrass after being inspired by Scruggs. He started joining the local bluegrass groups. While performing with the groups soon after, he made it to the radio station.

During one of his live performances in the radio station, when the “King of Bluegrass,” Jimmy Martin heard him on his car radio and immediately drove to the radio studio, he was singing.

Martin was so impressed by Crowe’s talent that he offered him to play the banjo in his band, the Sunny Mountain Boys. Crowe played for Martin for four years, from 1956 to 1960, and became a sensation.

After gaining some experience in the Sunny Mountain Boys, Crowe started his band named Kentucky Mountain Boys in 1961 with Ricky Skaggs on the mandolin, Tony Rice on guitar, Bobby Sloan on bass, and Jerry Douglas on dobro.

The band started recording songs and started getting good attention from the listeners. Crowe gave a new modern twist to the old bluegrass and made it more popular among new audiences.

Along with his band, Crowe started blending bluegrass with rock, blues, folk, and country. This blend gave a new turn to the bluegrass and made the band more popular than any other band.

In 1971, Crowe changed his band name to The New South and released the new album JD Crowe and The New South. It made the band one of the most influential bluegrass bands.

Along with managing The New South, Crowe also formed the Bluegrass Album band with his friend Tony Rice and others like Doyle Lawson, Bobby Hicks, and Todd Philips. He released six albums named Bluegrass Vol 1 to 6 with this group.

His successful career was filled with many tours. Maybe he wanted to rest from these tours, so he announced his retirement in 1988.

Even after retirement, he started appearing on tours and a few shows with his longtime friends Paul Williams and Doyle Lawson.

He continued his career until his physician warned him about his chronic obstructive pulmonary condition. After his physician suggested it, Crowe officially retired from his job. 

He stopped appearing on tours and shows, but he did not completely cut his ties with his passion. Occasionally his fans got chances to listen to him. 

He performed at the Lincoln Theatre for the program Songs of the Mountains in 2014. He also took part as a radio guest on An Intimate Evening hosted by Eddie Stubbs in the following year.

READ MORE: Bio of grammy award-winning banjo player Noam Pikelny.

Awards and Achievements

Crowe is a star who gets remembered as the pioneer of modern bluegrass. He receives love and appreciation from listeners all over the USA.

This love just gets multiplied by a thousandfold in his hometown Kentucky. In Kentucky, the local has started an annual JD Crowe festival to honor the accomplishment of Crowe since 2001.

It was not the only time when his hometown has shown love for him. In 2008, a local channel in his hometown, the Kentucky educational television, also telecasted his biography titled A Kentucky Treasure: The James Dee Crowe Story.

His hometown was not the only place where his accomplishments got celebrated. They also got appreciated in Texas, where the Bluegrass Foundation of Dallas awarded Crowe with the Bluegrass Star Award for his appreciable works to preserve the rich heritage of bluegrass music.

Besides these, Crowe also holds various other awards. He was titled three times as the Banjo Player of the Year. In 1983, his song Fireball won the Grammy.

Crowe was one of the first disciples of Scruggs who had an everlasting mark on the bluegrass banjo playing.

Crowe also got an appreciation for bringing new potential talents to his band. Tony Rice and Doyle Lawson were a few of his band members who became great artists.

People also cherished Crowe for all his contributions to the bluegrass genre and included him in the Bluegrass Hall of Fame.