LEXINGTON, Ky. — Bobby Osborne, a mandolin player who with his brother Sonny Osborne formed the bluegrass music duo The Osborne Brothers, has died. He was 91.
Bobby Osborne’s clear tenor voice has been associated with “Rocky Top,” the state song of Tennessee, since The Osborne Brothers first recorded it in the 1960s. They were inducted into the Grand Ole Opry in 1964 and went on to the Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame and Kentucky Music Hall of Fame.
Bobby Osborne and Sonny Osborne, a banjo picker, performed together for more than 50 years, until Sonny’s retirement in 2005. Sonny Osborne died in 2021 at age 83.
