16 Biggest Hits

Lester Flatt & Earl Scruggs

Guitarist Lester Flatt and banjo player Earl Scruggs joined Bill Monroe's band in the mid-'40s, and helped create Monroe's signature sound, emphasizing a blend of down-home roots and breathtaking technical facility. Such was the pair's virtuosity that each had a banjo or guitar technique named after them. Flatt & Scruggs left Monroe's band in 1948 and started their own group, which proved to be a huge success, and did as much as Monroe's group to put bluegrass on the map outside the traditional country audience. The pair went their separate ways in 1969, after having spawned a whole new generation of disciples via the '60s folk boom. Flatt died in 1979, but Scruggs continued performing to much acclaim into the 21st century.