Country and bluegrass star Mac Wiseman dies

Country Music Hall of Fame star Mac Wiseman has died at the age of 93.
The musician had reportedly been suffering from kidney failure in his final weeks, and passed away at a rehabilitation centre in Tennessee on Sunday (24Feb19), according to Bluegrass Today.
The Virginia native began his career as a radio DJ in the 1940s, but soon became a professional musician, first as a member of singer Molly O’Day’s band, before performing with the acts Foggy Mountain Boys and Bill Monroe’s Blue Grass Boys.
He then worked as a solo artist, earning hits with tracks like 1955’s The Ballad of Davy Crockett, Love Letters in the Sand, and Shackles and Chains, a collaboration with the Osborne Brothers.
Wiseman, who went on to serve as a label executive for firms like Dot Records, continued recording into old age, releasing the albums Songs From My Mother’s Hand in 2014, and 2017’s I Sang the Songs, which featured tunes related to his 2015 autobiography, All My Memories Fit to Print.
Prior to his death, Wiseman had been the last surviving co-founder of the Country Music Association, which was set up in 1958.
He also helped to launch the International Bluegrass Music Association in 1986.
He was inducted into the Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame in 1993, and in 2014 became a member of the Country Music Hall of Fame.