In Memory of Doc Watson and Earl Scruggs

 We lost two great legends of bluegrass and country music in 2012.

Doc Watson, the guitarist and folk singer whose flat-picking style elevated the acoustic guitar to solo status in bluegrass and country music, and whose interpretations of traditional American music profoundly influenced generations of folk and rock guitarists, died on Tuesday, May 29, 2012 in Winston-Salem, N.C. He was 89.

Earl Scruggs, the bluegrass banjo player whose hard-driving picking style influenced generations of musicians and helped shape the sound of 20th-century country music with his guitar-strumming partner, Lester Flatt, died on Wednesday, March 28, 2012 in a Nashville hospital. He was 88.

Earl Scruggs, Doc Watson and Ricky Skaggs, performed together As The Three Pickers 10 years ago.