Earl Scruggs

Earl Scruggs (born January 6, 1924, Shelby, North Carolina, USA - died March 28, 2012, Nashville, Tennessee, USA) was an American banjo player and musician, noted for perfecting and popularizing a 3-finger style (now called Scruggs style) on the 5-string banjo that is a defining characteristic of bluegrass music. Along with Lester Flatt he founded . In 1986, received his Honorary Doctorate of Humanites from Gardner-Webb College, Boiling Springs, NC. and in 2005 Honorary Doctor Of Music, Berklee College Of Music, Boston MA. He first reached a mainstream audience in the early 1960's through his performance on "The Ballad of Jed Clampett", the theme for the TV series The Beverly Hillbillies.