The Statler Brothers- What Happened To Them? 7 Fascinating Facts

Publish date: 2024-06-22

The Statler Brothers was a Grammy-winning country music group that came to be known as one of the finest in the 1960s and the 1970s. The group was first formed in 1955 and it lasted until 2002 when it finally ended.

The country music group is respected as the first in the genre to move the nostalgia of the rural setting to the suburban setting.

In its close to 4 decades, the group which is made of Harold Reid, Phil Balsley, Jimmy Fortune, and Don Reid, they have won the biggest awards in the business, have been inducted into the Hall of Fame and have albums that sold millions of copies all over the world. Here is all to know about the group.

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Members of The Statler Brothers Band

When the band started in 1955, it had four members; Joe McDorman, Harold Reid, Phil Balsley, and Lew DeWitt. Later, McDorman and DeWitt left the band and Don Reid and Jimmy Fortune took over their places respectively. The band has always had four members.

When The Statler Brothers first began, Joe McDorman was the lead vocalist of the band for the next five years before leaving in 1960. In the same year, Don Reid joined to take his place as the lead vocalist until their retirement. The original group’s tenor, Lew DeWitt was a member from 1955 until 1982 when he called it quits as a result of an illness. He was replaced that same year with Jimmy Fortune who also remained a member till 2002.

What happened to The Statler Brothers?

As easy as can be said, the group enjoyed an overwhelming success mostly in the 1960s and 1970s. Apart from the country music genre that it is mostly known for, it was also celebrated for its gospel and pop music genres.

40 albums after it first started, the Statler Brothers topped the Billboard chart four times among other spectacular achievements. In October 2002, the band disbanded and members retired after its farewell tour. Each member of the band has taken his own path.

1. Jimmy Fortune

Following the band’s retirement, Jimmy Fortune decided he was still not done with music and so he continued as a solo artist. In 2003, he released his first solo album, When One Door Closes and that was followed by 7 more albums including Hits & Hymns of 2015 which is his most successful album thus far, and God & Country which he released in 2019.

More so, he still performs mostly in the United States and Canada and he still works as a songwriter while also producing himself.

2. Don Reid

Reid is a man of more than a single talent even though the music was his first love. After retirement from music, Don decided to invest his energy into writing.

His book, Heroes And Outlaws of The Bible was published in 2002, followed by Sunday Morning Memories in 2004. His third book, You Know It’s Christmas When. . . was released in 2006. His first novel, O Little Town was published in 2008 and since then, he has continued writing and publishing books.

3. Harold Reid

Don’s brother, Harold has also fully retired from music, but he has also tried his hands on writing. Together with his brother, Don published the 2008 book The Statler Brothers: Random Memories. With age no longer on his side, he is now mostly resting.

4. Phil Balsley

Another member of The Statler Brothers who has maintained a very quiet life since leaving music in 2002 is Phil. Although he comments from time to time about the music industry, he mostly stays away. In 2012, he suffered the tragic loss of his son Gregory S. Balsley who died at the age of 49 while swimming.

5. Lew DeWitt

Founding member of the band who decided to leave as a result of ill health, Lew DeWitt, unfortunately, died many years ago in 1990 of heart and kidney disease, more than years before the band finally retired.

6. Joe McDorman

The original lead if the band, Joe McDorman has become the forgotten one since he left in 1960. He decided to also walk away from music as various claims have it that he has shifted to construction and estate. Nonetheless, there is nothing concrete about him.

Interesting facts you should know about the group

1. In its close to 4 decades, the band released 40 albums among other releases that include singles, compilation albums, and music videos.

2. In 2007, the band was inducted into the Gospel Hall of Fame and a year later, it was also inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum. It won three Grammy awards in 1965 and 1972 and also has many other awards including the American Music Awards, Country Music Association, and Academy of Country Music.

3. DeWitt suffered a rare and painful illness and had more than a surgery towards fixing the problem without any help. When he finally decided to call a quit to music, he also thought of calling it quits on life also.

4. After the band was formed, in 1955, it continued performing as a local group. In 1964, the band began backup singing for one of the greatest American country singer, Johnny Cash something it continued for the next 8 years.

5. Since it was Johnny Cash that discovered them and helped them to become popular, The Statler Brothers wrote a tribute song for him, “We Got Paid by Cash”. The also appeared on his hit show The Johnny Cash Show on ABC.

6. They also had their own show on TV, The Statler Brothers Show which ran from 1991 to 1998.

7. When their career first started, it was as The Four Star Quartet and then The Kingsmen before finally billing themselves as The Statler Brothers.

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