Big E...

[Chris Templeton]

I went to an Everly's show a few years back and it was at the time when the first Batman movie came out and the crew was teasing him about some inside joke having to do with Batman.
At soundcheck, one of the crew had lifted this cardboard Batman promo thing and parked it on his steel seat.
I took a drive with "One For The Road" early this morning. I have to keep reminding myself he's gone.

[Bob Hoffnar]

I am heartbroken over this. The way I see it is that Buddy Emmons didn't just play the pedalsteel, Buddy Emmons is the pedalsteel. He made such a massive contribution that every time somebody plays there steel part of Buddy is with us.

R.I.P.

[Skip Ellis]

Right you are, Bob!!

[Jimmy Youngblood]

He walked on water ~ RIP Buddy

[Arnold Hofer]

R.I.P Buddy.

[Brian Straub]

A true inspiration for all steel players..RIP Buddy.

[ROBERT MYERS]

RIP Buddy you have touched a lot of lives

[Zachary Walters]

Junior said it best in the first post.

Rest in peace, Buddy.

[Marlin Gengenbach]

I feel honored I had the opportunity for a couple of conversations with Buddy... and watch him play several times over the years. May he rest in peace.

[Jay Dee Maness]

I am so glad I got to spend a day and a half with Buddy just two months before his death. We go back almost 50 years. I will miss him.

[Sonny Jenkins]

Jay Dee,,,,since you saw Buddy a couple of months ago,,,was he in bad health then?

[Glenn Suchan]

While the tens of thousands of (and probably a lot more) people who've admired and befriended him over the last 60+ years come to grip with the enormity of his passing, they can take small comfort in knowing that Buddy's in paradise.

Likewise, as I come to grip with the fact that (selfishly) I can no longer hope to hear some new song with Buddy playing the PSG, or read a new post on The Forum that is authored by Buddy Emmons, I have comfort in the knowledge that, finally, he is with Peggy in the loving grace of his and my Lord.

Rest easy, Mr. Emmons. Peace and grace be within you....


Keep on pickin'!
Glenn

[Martin Johannesson]

So sad news! Mr. Emmons' playing was the main reason I started playing steel back in 1980. I'll always cherish the memory visiting the ISGC in 1984 seeing Buddy perform live! What great times it was. Thank you for all the fantastic music! You will be greatly missed by so many! Rest in peace Maestro!

[Rick Collins]

...sorry to hear of this __ a great loss to many.
Like many who have said it, he was my favorite too.
The steel guitar titan was also unfailingly nice.

[William Litaker]

I was so sorry to hear this......

[James Taylor]

Very sad news but now his great talent will be shared with the angels above. Buddy's recordings will live on as a testimony to the master musician he was and aid future generations in the study of the pedal steel guitar. JAMES TAYLOR

[Mark Durante]

Like many of you, my main influence for pedal steel playing was Buddy, as a matter of fact my two pedal guitars are an Emmons PP and a fingertip Sho-BUD

[Brian Henry]

Rest in peace dear friend, may your passing remind the rest of us to prepare for the time when we too, must leave this world. "Lord help us to repent and place our faith and trust in you!" Amen

[Geoff Cline]

I wore out several needles on the turntable just stopping and starting the "Buddies" album (Emmons,Sphicher)
I wanted that sound.

Me too Eddie. "Buddies" and "Steel Guitar Jazz" and then "Minors Aloud" were my "atypical" entree into pedal steel. Of course, I found and heard all the rest, got the bug, etc. Buddy defined, redefined and refined the pedal steel.

A unique genius who will never be equaled.

[Richard Tipple]

RIP Buddy and play for the angels

[Bill Hatcher]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UIF1g5bRXiQ

"Dickens sent a telegram to Emmons in Detroit with travel arrangements, flew the kid to Nashville, picked him up at the airport and took him out to WSM’s Studio C for the “Friday Night Frolics.” By the time Dickens played the “Grand Ole Opry” that Saturday night, word was out.

“It was like a lightning bolt struck,” says Steve Fishell, the steel guitarist who has just produced a multi-artist tribute album called “The Big E: A Salute to Steel Guitarist Buddy Emmons.” “You can see photos from that day with Dickens onstage and other steel players like Jimmy Day waiting in the wings, watching Buddy. His execution was flawless, and his ideas were brilliant. It was like nothing ever heard before on the ‘Opry’ stage. Buddy was dropped into the hottest band in country music, and it was an incredible launching pad for him.”

[John Gretzinger]

The last time I saw Buddy play was with the Everly Brothers and Albert Lee. What a wonderful night that was.

I'm really gonna miss him.

jdg

[Michael Johnstone]

I've been away from the internet for a few days so I just heard about this. It's depressing is what it is. I had the good fortune to meet him and hear him play on a dozen or more occasions and took part in a group seminar with Buddy and Jeff Newman once in St Louis. I also spoke on the phone and corresponded thru email with Buddy on a few occasions including when Joaquin passed away and Buddy wrote a few words for me to say on his behalf at Murph's funeral. I'm glad I got to connect with him like that. Like Joaquin before him he was really something special and in a class by himself. Rest easy Buddy.

[Skip Cole]

Buddy, May you rest in God's peace.

Skip

[Johnny Case]

My words are inadequate to express the great sorrow I feel. Sometime ago, I realized that Buddy Emmons would not be playing again, and ever since that sad day I've dreaded the finality of today's news. May he rest in peace, and be reunited with the love of his life.