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The Independent UK
The Independent UK
National
Kevin E G Perry

Grammy-winner Billy Strings announces during show that his ‘beautiful’ mother died just hours earlier

Billy Strings Kentucky
Billy Strings performing during the 2025 MusiCares Persons of the Year tribute to The Grateful Dead on January 31, 2025 - (Matt Winkelmeyer/Getty Images for The Recording Academy)

Grammy-winning bluegrass musician Billy Strings announced on stage last night that his mother, Debra Apostol, had died and asked the crowd to cheer as loud as they could in her honor.

The 32-year-old singer-songwriter, whose real name is William Lee Apostol, was performing in Lexington, Kentucky. During his set, he revealed that his mother had passed just hours after his hometown show in Lansing, Michigan, at the Charlotte Bluegrass Festival the previous night, Thursday, June 19.

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