After a half-decade as an Oak Ridge Boy, singer Joe Bonsall has introduced his retirement greater than 4 years after being recognized with a neuromuscular dysfunction.
The announcement, made throughout a live performance Saturday in Greenville, MS, comes amid elevated hypothesis about Bonsall amongst followers of the nation music group. Through the present at Harlow’s On line casino Resort, Bonsall formally handed over the mic to his touring alternative, singer Ben James.
Since 1973, Bonsall’s tenor vocals and excessive harmonies have been an integral a part of the Oak Ridge Boys sound, together with on such crossover hits as “Elvira” and “Bobbie Sue.”
In an announcement, Bonsall mentioned: “Lots of you understand I’ve been battling a sluggish onset (over 4 years now) of a neuromuscular dysfunction. I’m now at some extent the place strolling is not possible, so I’ve principally retired from the street. It has simply gotten too troublesome.”
He continued: “It has been a terrific 50 years, and I’m grateful to all of the Oak Ridge Boys, band, crew, and workers for the fixed love and help proven to me by all of it. I’ll always remember, and for these of you who’ve been consistently holding me up in prayer, I thanks and ask so that you can carry on praying. There’s a younger man named Ben James singing for me on the market, and he wants your love and encouragement.”
Bonsall provided his personal encouragement to his alternative, saying that James’ sound is totally different from his personal however “he brings a ton of expertise to the desk.”
The Oak Ridge Boys are on what’s being billed as their closing live performance tour. Bonsall mentioned the band will full the tour, which is booked by June, and that he’s “good with all of it.”
The vocal group, which has bought greater than 41 million data, received 5 Grammys and was inducted into the Nation Music Corridor of Fame in 2015, at the moment contains longtime members Duane Allen, William Lee Golden and Richard Sterban. The group was based in 1943 because the Oak Ridge Quartet, altering its title to the Oak Ridge Boys within the Sixties because it moved from its authentic bluegrass sound to gospel and ultimately nation.
James got here to the group’s consideration in 2022 when his earlier band Day by day & Vincent was on the identical invoice because the Oak Ridge Boys.
“Joe handed me the mic and mentioned, ‘You’ve obtained the subsequent verse,’ James mentioned in an announcement about Saturday’s live performance. “And I’m unsure I’ll ever recover from that second. ‘Elvira’ was all the time on repeat once I was rising up. It’s nonetheless a type of timeless songs that by no means develop outdated.”
The group is predicted to start recording a brand new album later this month with their Grammy-winning producer Dave Cobb.
