NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Richard Sterban, the deep bass voice of The Oak Ridge Boys and a Country Music Hall of Fame member, died Saturday at 83, his family and the band said, according to the Associated Press.
Sterban died in Hendersonville, Tennessee, of complications from bronchitis and pneumonia after a long battle with cancer, they said.
He left a job as a backup singer for Elvis Presley to join the group in 1972. His bass line became a signature of the band’s biggest hit, 1981’s “Elvira,” which reached No. 1 on the country chart and No. 5 on Billboard’s Hot 100. The group followed with hits including “Bobbie Sue” and “American Made.”
The Oak Ridge Boys won five Grammy Awards on 23 nominations and earned 17 No. 1 hits. They toured with Johnny Cash and sang backup on Paul Simon’s “Slip Slidin’ Away.” Sterban toured with the group until 2025, when his health declined.
The band was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2015, the Vocal Group Hall of Fame in 2001 and became Grand Ole Opry members in 2011.
Country Music Hall of Fame CEO Kyle Young said Sterban “used his unmistakable bass voice to connect commercial country music to its deep gospel roots.”
A Camden, New Jersey, native, Sterban is survived by his wife, Donna, five children and 11 grandchildren and great-grandchildren. Bandmate Joe Bonsall died in 2024.
Sources: Associated Press via KTAR News. Thee Arizona Times uses AI-assisted reporting reviewed against the sources listed.
Photo: Jumpy542 / CC0 via Wikimedia Commons.
