No slowing down for kings of the road, Oak Ridge Boys

  • By Kristin M. Hall Associated Press
  • Friday, October 23, 2015 1:31pm
  • LifeGo-See-Do

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — When Kenny Rogers announced that he was retiring from touring, the Oak Ridge Boys were saddened.

“I have always thought, if Kenny Rogers can still be doing it, we can still be doing it,” said Richard Sterban, the group’s bass singer. “After next year, Kenny won’t be doing it and there will be a void.”

Added Joe Bonsall, “I can’t imagine Kenny Rogers not being out there.”

But don’t expect the four-part vocal group to follow Rogers’ lead anytime soon. They are as busy as they have ever been, traveling to Branson, Missouri, almost every weekend to perform at the theater named after them and getting ready to do a 31-city Christmas tour that kicks off around Thanksgiving.

On Oct. 25, Bonsall, Sterban, Duane Allen and William Lee Golden, who have all been performing together since 1973 as the Oak Ridge Boys, were inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame as one of the few gospel acts to successfully transition to secular music and become hit makers in multiple genres. Also being inducted this year: the late Jim Ed Brown; his sisters, Maxine and Bonnie Brown, and the late Grady Martin.

The band’s origins date back to the Oak Ridge Quartet formed in 1945 by gospel icon Wally Fowler. The name of the band and the members changed during the 1950s and 1960s, but by the early 1970s, the band’s current lineup started outgrowing the genre. They had four Grammys for gospel performances already, but signed to a new label in the hopes of reaching a wider audience.

“We were sort of the renegade gospel band,” Bonsall said. “We grew our hair longer. We didn’t dress alike. Our songs were cooler. We hired a band and had a rock n’ roll drummer. We drove people crazy in Southern gospel in those days.”

They were helped out by artists like Johnny Cash and Rogers, who invited them out to play arenas with him on his Full House tour with Dottie West in 1979. They started having country hits like, “Y’all Come Back Saloon,” “I’ll Be True to You,” and then their biggest hit, “Elvira,” which took off in 1981. In the 1980s, they headlined arenas and amphitheaters and even Garth Brooks opened for them.

Bonsall, who recently put out a book called, “On the Road with The Oak Ridge Boys,” said the key to their longevity is recognizing that no one individual is greater than the group.

“We are spokes in the wheel and the wheel turns,” Bonsall said. “Each individual spoke brings individual talents and ideas and different personalities to the table that makes this group go.”

And the wheel is still turning.

“The best part about this is we are still going strong after all of these years and we do not plan on retiring,” Sterban said. “We are still having fun doing this and we love what we are doing. At least for the short term certainly, we plan to keep on singing.”

Talk to us

> Give us your news tips.

> Send us a letter to the editor.

> More Herald contact information.

More in Life

Brandon Hailey of Cytrus, center, plays the saxophone during a headlining show at Madam Lou’s on Friday, Dec. 29, 2023 in Seattle, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Lynnwood-based funk octet Cytrus has the juice

Resilience and brotherhood take center stage with ‘friends-first’ band.

FILE - In this April 11, 2014 file photo, Neko Case performs at the Coachella Music and Arts Festival in Indio, Calif. Fire investigators are looking for the cause of a fire on Monday, Sept. 18, 2017, that heavily damaged Case’s 225-year-old Vermont home. There were no injuries, though a barn was destroyed. It took firefighters two hours to extinguish the blaze. (Photo by Scott Roth/Invision/AP, File)
Music, theater and more: What’s happening in Snohomish County

Singer-songwriter Neko Case, an indie music icon from Tacoma, performs Sunday in Edmonds.

Dominic Arizona Bonuccelli
Tangier’s market boasts piles of fruits, veggies, and olives, countless varieties of bread, and nonperishables, like clothing and electronics.
Rick Steves on the cultural kaleidoscope of Tangier in Morocco

Walking through the city, I think to myself, “How could anyone be in southern Spain — so close — and not hop over to experience this wonderland?”

chris elliott.
Vrbo promised to cover her rental bill in Hawaii, so why won’t it?

When Cheryl Mander’s Vrbo rental in Hawaii is uninhabitable, the rental platform agrees to cover her new accommodations. But then it backs out. What happened?

The Moonlight Swing Orchestra will play classic sounds of the Big Band Era on April 21 in Everett. (submitted photo)
Music, theater and more: What’s happening in Snohomish County

Relive the Big Band Era at the Port Gardner Music Society’s final concert of the season in Everett.

2024 Honda Ridgeline TrailSport AWD (Honda)
2024 Honda Ridgeline TrailSport AWD

Honda cedes big boy pickup trucks to the likes of Ford, Dodge… Continue reading

Would you want to give something as elaborate as this a name as mundane as “bread box”? A French Provincial piece practically demands the French name panetiere.
A panetiere isn’t your modern bread box. It’s a treasure of French culture

This elaborately carved French antique may be old, but it’s still capable of keeping its leavened contents perfectly fresh.

(Judy Newton / Great Plant Picks)
Great Plant Pick: Mouse plant

What: Arisarum proboscideum, also known as mouse plant, is an herbaceous woodland… Continue reading

Bright green Japanese maple leaves are illuminated by spring sunlight. (Getty Images)
Confessions of a ‘plantophile’: I’m a bit of a junky for Japanese maples

In fact, my addiction to these glorious, all-season specimens seems to be contagious. Fortunately, there’s no known cure.

2024 Hyundai IONIQ 6 Limited (Hyundai)
2024 Hyundai IONIQ 6 Limited

The 2024 Hyundai IONIQ 6 Limited is a sporty, all-electric, all-wheel drive sedan that will quickly win your heart.

The 2024 Dodge Hornet R/T hybrid’s face has the twin red lines signifying the brand’s focus on performance. (Dodge)
2024 Hornet R/T is first electrified performance vehicle from Dodge

The all-new compact SUV travels 32 miles on pure electric power, and up to 360 miles in hybrid mode.

Don’t blow a bundle on glass supposedly made by the Henry William Stiegel

Why? Faked signatures, reused molds and imitated styles can make it unclear who actually made any given piece of glass.

Support local journalism

If you value local news, make a gift now to support the trusted journalism you get in The Daily Herald. Donations processed in this system are not tax deductible.