Marty Stuart Biography
30 September 1958, Philadelphia, Mississippi, USA. Country singer Stuart learned the mandolin as a young child and played with the Sullivan Family Gospel Singers, and went on the road with Lester Flatt when only 13 years old. After Flatt's death in 1979, Stuart became part of Johnny Cash's band. He married Cash's daughter, Cindy, although in keeping with most of the Cash's musical marriages they were soon divorced. Cash was among the guests on his excellent Sugar Hill Records debut, 1982's Busy Bee Cafe. Stuart enjoyed his first taste of success in 1985 when he made the US country Top 20 with "Arlene". When his self-titled debut for US Columbia Records did not sell, they shelved plans to release a second, Let There Be Country, which featured Emmylou Harris and Mark O'Connor (the set was finally released in 1992). In 1988, Stuart returned to playing mandolin for Jerry Sullivan's gospel group and he subsequently produced their highly acclaimed album, A Joyful Noise.
Stuart revitalized his own career with a powerful mixture of country and rockabilly called Hillbilly Rock for MCA Records. The follow-up, 1991's Tempted, was even more successful, spawning three Top 10 hits, "Tempted", "Little Things", and "Burn Me Down". His duets with Travis Tritt, "The Whiskey Ain't Workin" and "This One's Gonna Hurt You For A Long Long Time", were both US country hits and they worked together on the hugely lucrative "No Hats" tour. He was part of Mark O'Connor's influential 1991 album, The Nashville Cats, and performed "Don't Be Cruel" with the Jordanaires on It's Now Or Never - The Tribute To Elvis. In addition to Tritt, Stuart also duetted with his former father-in-law Johnny Cash on "Doin' My Time" and with Pam Tillis on "High On A Mountain". The title of his 1996 album, Honky Tonkin's What I Do Best, aptly described Stuart's role in new country. Although he no longer enjoys the commercial success of his early 90s heyday, Stuart remains a popular live performer. His trademark rhinestone Nudie suits are a wonderful throwback to the days of Porter Wagoner and in the track "Me And Hank And Jumpin' Jack Flash' he describes how he received Hank Williams' blessing in a dream. He has appeared on many compilation albums, including all-star gatherings such as Will The Circle Be Unbroken, Vol. 2, Class Of '55, and Highwaymen. A keen student of country music history, Stuart collects rhinestone suits, owns one of Hank Williams" guitars, tours in Ernest Tubb's bus and follows his dictum of "Hillbilly rules, OK?'. In 1997 he married country singer Connie Smith. Stuart served as the president of the Country Music Foundation from 1996 to 2002. The following year he parted company with MCA. He subsequently recorded two excellent albums with the Fabulous Superlatives (Harry Stinson, Brian Glenn and Kenny Vaughn), the driving country rock outing Country Music (2003) and the gospel influenced Souls" Chapel (2005). His second release of 2005, the historical concept album Badlands: Ballads Of The Lakota, was recorded with the blessing and assistance of the Lakota tribe.
Source: The Encyclopedia of Popular Music by Colin Larkin. Licensed from Muze.
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