Roy Clark Biography, Age, Wife, Cause of Death, Marriages, Children, Net Worth and Songs
Table of Contents
Roy Clark Biography – Roy Clark Wiki
Roy Clark born Roy Linwood Clark, was an American singer, musician and TV Host. He was born on April 15, 1933 in Meherrin, Virginia, United States and grew up in Staten Island, New York.
Clark learned guitar, fiddle, and banjo like his father and the two often performed together while Roy was a teenager. By the age of 15, he had already won two National Banjo Championships and world banjo/guitar flatpick championships.
By age twenty, Roy Clark was a budding professional, having played clubs, toured with Grandpa Jones; performed on a Washington, D.C., TV station; and worked briefly on a show fronted by Hank Williams. Soon Clark was appearing on broadcaster Connie B. Gay’s local Town and Country Time radio and TV broadcasts, as well as at concerts Gay promoted. In the late 1950s, network TV appearances on Arthur Godfrey’s Talent Scouts and a show fronted by George Hamilton IV widened Clark’s reputation.
Clark joined Wanda Jackson’s band in 1960, fronting the group, recording with her, and opening her show at the Golden Nugget Hotel in Las Vegas. As his career progressed, Clark made many more appearances in the “big rooms” of Las Vegas, Reno, Lake Tahoe, and Atlantic City. Meanwhile, Jackson’s former manager, Jim Halsey, lined up spots for Clark on The Tonight Show, which he also guest-hosted several times, and on TV programs including The Beverly Hillbillies, on which he played two recurring characters, Cousin Roy and his mother, Myrtle.
In 1969, when CBS-TV launched a country program modeled on the hit comedy series Laugh-In, executives chose Clark and Buck Owens as co-hosts. Even though the network cancelled it in a purge of rural-leaning programs, the show went into syndication and grew more popular than ever. Clark was a mainstay through its twenty-five-year run, not only hosting and performing, but also singing with Owens, Grandpa Jones, and Kenny Price in the Hee Haw Gospel Quartet and joining guitarist Chet Atkins, pianist Floyd Cramer, mandolin player Jethro Burns, saxophonist Boots Randolph, fiddler Johnny Gimble, harmonica player Charlie McCoy, and trumpet player Danny Davisin the show’s Million Dollar Band.
As a recording artist, Clark’s break came in 1960 when he signed with Capitol Records. The Lightning Fingers of Roy Clark, his first Capitol album, reflected his sure handling of the guitar and was released in 1962. His first chartmaking release was a moving interpretation of the Bill Anderson song “Tips of My Fingers,” which became a #10 country hit while rising to #45 on Billboard’s pop chart. Clark’s subsequent Capitol singles did not repeat this success, but the label gave him the freedom to record a wide array of albums featuring his vocal, guitar, and banjo skills.
Moving to Dot Records, Clark bounced back with 1969’s “Yesterday, When I Was Young,” a #9 country hit that crossed over to #19 pop. Subsequent Top Ten country hits included “I Never Picked Cotton,” “Thank God and Greyhound” (both 1970), “The Lawrence Welk-Hee Haw Counter-Revolution Polka” (1972), the #1 record “Come Live with Me” (1973), “Somewhere Between Love and Tomorrow” (1973–74), “Honeymoon Feelin’” (1974), and “If I Had to Do It All Over Again” (1976). He chartedthrough the 1980s on ABC/Dot, ABC, MCA, and other imprints, and various labels have released his live and studio albums into the twenty-first century.
From the 1970s forward, Clark made TV commercials and guested on numerous television programs. In 1976 he became one of the first American artists to perform in the Soviet Union, and he continued playing to packed houses worldwide. Often, he worked concerts and recorded with musicians from other genres, including the Boston Pops Orchestra and jazz guitarist Joe Pass. In 1983 he opened The Roy Clark Celebrity Theater in Branson, Missouri, heralding the city’s emergence as a tourist destination. In 1987 he joined the Grand Ole Opry.
Clark has been honored with seven CMA Awards; the coveted Entertainer of the Year Award in 1973. He was Comedian of the Year for 1970, won the Instrumental Group of the Year Award (with banjoist Buck Trent) in 1975 and 1976, and was named Instrumentalist of the Year in 1977, 1978, and 1980. His rendition of “Alabama Jubilee” earned him a 1982 Grammy for Best Country Instrumental Performance. Roy Clark was elected to the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2009.
Roy Clark Age
Roy Clark was born on April 15, 1933 in Meherrin, Virginia, United States into a musical family. He died on November 15, 2018 at the age of 85.
Roy Clark Wife
Roy Clark is married to his wife Barbara Joyce Rupard whom he married in 1957. They have four children.
Roy Clark Marriages
Roy Clark divorced his first wife and married his second wife, Barbara Joyce Rupard in 1957.
Roy Clark Children
Roy Clark has six children. Two children from his first wife and four with his second wife, Barbara Joyce Rupard.
Roy Clark Net Worth
Roy Clark has an estimated net worth of $1 million.
Roy Clark Death
Clark died on November 15, 2018 at the age of 85 at his home in Tulsa.
While Roy Clark was still alive, there were rumors of the singer’s demise after a ‘R.I.P. Roy Clark’ post on Facebook on July 05, 2018. The Facebook post read, “At about 11 a.m. ET on Thursday (July 05, 2018), our beloved singer Roy Clark passed away. Roy Clark was born on April 15, 1933 in Meherrin. He will be missed but not forgotten. Please show your sympathy and condolences by commenting on and liking this page.” On July 06 2018, the singer’s reps officially confirmed that Roy Clark was not dead.
On July 12, 2018, Roy Clark posted on Facebook addressing the rumors of his death. Roy wrote, “Rumors of my death are greatly exaggerated! I am still alive, well and pickin’ n grinnin…….”
Roy Clark Cause of Death
Roy Clark Cause of Death was due to complications of pneumonia.
Roy Clark Songs
- Yesterday When I Was Young
- Dueling Banjos
- Thank God and Greyhound
- Tips of My Fingers
- Come Live With Me
- I Never Picked Cotton
- Riders in the Sky
- Malagueña
- Somwhere Between Love and Tomorrow
- If I Had to Do It All Over Again
- Honeymoon Feelin’
- Yesterday
- Right or Left at Oak Street
- Orange Blossom Special
- The Lawrence Welk-Hee Haw Counter-Revolution Polka
- Under the Double Eagle
- Folsom Prison Blues
- Think Summer
- Somewhere My Love
- Then She’s A Lover
- Magnificent Sanctuary Band
- Love Is Just a State of Mind
- When The Wind Blows in Chicago
- Another Lonely Night With You
- Racing The Mule
- Happy To Be Unhappy
- Roy’s Guitar Boogie
- We Can’t Build a Fire in the Rain
- Through The Eyes of A Fool
- The Great Pretender
- Overdue Blues
- Love Takes Two