Ronnie Bowman, one of the most accomplished and beloved figures in bluegrass and country music, died Sunday, March 22nd at Vanderbilt Hospital in Nashville. He was 64. Bowman had been seriously injured in a motorcycle accident the previous afternoon in Ashland City, Tennessee. The loss lands with particular weight because it arrives far too soon, taking a musician who was still very much at the height of his creative powers.
The International Bluegrass Music Association, which honored Bowman with three Male Vocalist of the Year awards (1995, 1998, 1999), a Songwriter of the Year award in 2022, and two Song of the Year honors, put it plainly: “Ronnie wasn’t just a remarkable musician and songwriter, he was a remarkable person. He lifted those around him and left them better than he found them.” That sentiment echoed across the music community immediately, with Dierks Bentley calling him “the favorite bluegrass and country singer of everyone I know,” and Billy Strings writing: “Ronnie Bowman was an amazing singer and songwriter. One of the best entertainers in bluegrass and country music.”
Born in Mount Airy, North Carolina, Bowman began singing gospel at age three and built his career from the ground up, joining the Lonesome River Band in 1990 alongside Dan Tyminski. His 1994 solo album ‘Cold Virginia Night,’ featuring Alison Krauss, Tony Rice, and Del McCoury, won IBMA Album of the Year, with the title track taking Song of the Year. His voice, a steady and honest tenor that conveyed heartbreak and warmth in equal measure, defined an era of bluegrass and made him one of the most in-demand session singers working, appearing on records by Loretta Lynn, Alan Jackson, John Fogerty, and Sierra Hull.
His songwriting catalog represents a separate and equally remarkable legacy. “Nobody to Blame,” co-written with Chris Stapleton and Barry Bales for Stapleton’s landmark debut ‘Traveller,’ won the ACM Award for Song of the Year in 2015. Bowman also co-wrote Stapleton’s “More of You” and “Outlaw State of Mind” for the same album, making him a foundational part of one of the best-selling country records of all time. Kenny Chesney took “Never Wanted Nothing More,” another Bowman/Stapleton collaboration, to No. 1 in 2007. Brooks & Dunn’s “It’s Getting Better All The Time” reached No. 1 in 2005. Lee Ann Womack, Jake Owen, Cody Johnson, and the Grascals all recorded his songs, and in 2011, bluegrass great Ralph Stanley recorded his “A Mother’s Prayer.” At the 2016 ACMs, accepting the Song of the Year award, Bowman traced everything back to its origin: his mother asking him to write her a song when he was fourteen. “I went back there and did that and I’ve been doing that ever since, thanks to my mama.”
Ronnie Bowman is survived by his family. He leaves behind a mountain of music, a catalog of songs that will outlast all of us, and a community of artists and fans who are better for having known him.