Richard Sterban, the bass singer of the Grammy-award winning gospel quartet The Oak Ridge Boys and a c and w hall of famer, passed away Saturday, his household and the band stated in a declaration. He was 83.
Sterban, who had actually been with the band because 1972, passed away in Hendersonville, Tennessee, due to problems from bronchitis and pneumonia after a long fight with cancer, they stated.
Sterban left his task as a backup vocalist for Elvis Presley to sign up with the singing group, which maybe ended up being best understood for its performance of “Elvira.” Sterban visited frequently with the group till 2025, when his health weakened.
The Oak Ridge Boys won 5 Grammy awards and were chosen 23 times. They carried out for presidents, on American Bandstand, at the Grammy Awards event and at the Grand Ole Opry. They visited with Johnny Cash and sang backup vocals on Paul Simon’s hit “Slip Slidin’ Away.”
Picture of the Oak Ridge Boys, delegated right, William Lee Golden, Duane Allen, Richard Sterban, and Joe Bonsall, present at the Poplar Creek Music Theater in Hoffman Estates, Illinois, August 12, 1984. (Paul Natkin/Getty Images)
Sterban and the band’s 3 other members were inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2015, signing up with Presley. They signed up with the Vocal Group Hall of Fame in 2001. And in 2011 they got subscription in the Grand Ole Opry.
A local of Camden, New Jersey, Sterban was inducted into the Philadelphia Music Hall of Fame in 1994 in addition to Joe Bonsall, another Oak Ridge Boys member who passed away in 2024 and who sang with Sterban in the Keystones.
In a declaration, Country Music Hall of Fame CEO Kyle Young stated Sterban “utilized his apparent bass voice to link business c and w to its deep gospel roots” and called him a “stable force and a fundamental figure in c and w.”
“He assisted the supergroup attain seventeen No. 1 strikes, legions of fans the world over, and a well-deserved location in the Country Music Hall of Fame,” Young stated.
The band’s golden duration in the ’80s and beyond consisted of 1981’s “Elvira,” the 1982 hit “Bobbie Sue” and 1983’s “American Made.” “Elvira” was an enormous crossover minute for the group, reaching No. 1 on the nation chart and No. 5 on Billboard’s all-genre Hot 100.
Sterban is made it through by his spouse, Donna; children Lauren and Tori; boys Rich, Doug and Chris; and 11 grandchildren and great-grandchildren.
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