The Earls of Leicester, Sierra Ferrell, and Alison Brown Honor Earl Scruggs

In May 2023, the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum celebrated the donation of renowned musician, bluegrass pioneer, and Country Music Hall of Fame member Earl Scruggs’s storied Gibson RB-Granada Mastertone banjo to the Museum’s permanent collection. Scruggs played the iconic banjo throughout his more than 60-year career, including in concerts, on TV sound stages, and in the recording studio with Flatt & Scruggs and the Earl Scruggs Revue. The banjo can be heard on Scruggs’s famous composition “Foggy Mountain Breakdown,“ by Lester Flatt, Earl Scruggs & the Foggy Mountain Boys—showcasing his innovative three-finger picking style that would influence generations of musicians and expand the possibilities of the instrument across the world. The Gibson banjo remained Scruggs’s primary instrument until his passing in March 2012. Vince Gill opens the ceremony, followed by remarks by Museum CEO Kyle Young. Lindsey Scruggs, Earl’s granddaughter, shares her memories of her grandfather