Joe Bonsall, a Country Music Hall of Famer and longtime member of the legendary Oak Ridge Boys, has died. He was 76.
According to a press announcement shared with PEOPLE, the singer died on Tuesday, July 9, of complications from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). His wife Mary Ann, children Jennifer and Sabrina, granddaughter Breanne, grandson Luke, two great-grandsons, Chance and Grey, and sister Nancy survive him. At this time, the family wishes to maintain their privacy.
We will not hold Bonsall’s funeral as he requested, but you can send donations to the ALS Association or the Vanderbilt Medical Center ALS and Neuroscience Research Center.
Bonsall (born Joseph S. Bonsall Jr.) died months after announcing his retirement from traveling with the Oak Ridge Boys. The tenor singer told people that he was taking a step back to focus on his health after a years-long fight, but he kept his specific diagnosis hidden at the time.
“As many of you are aware, I have been dealing with a neuromuscular illness that has gradually developed over the last four years. “I am now to the point where walking is impossible, so I have essentially retired from the road,” he remarked in January. “It has just become too difficult. It has been a wonderful 50 years, and I am grateful to the whole Oak Ridge Boys band crew and staff for their unwavering love and support throughout.”
The artist continued: “I will never forget, and for those of you who have been constantly holding me up in prayer, I thank you and ask for you to keep on praying.”
Bonsall was born and reared in Philadelphia and had been a member of the Oak Ridge Boys for more than 50 years until his death. According to the band’s website, he started singing at the age of four and “fell in love with Southern Gospel music harmony” in his mid-teens.
He joined the legendary group in 1973, before they debuted on the country music scene, where they produced dozens of hits (including 1984’s “American Made”) and a slew of awards that landed them—including Bonsall—in the prestigious Grand Ole Opry, the Vocal Group Hall of Fame, the Gospel Music Hall of Fame, and the Country Music Hall of Fame. In 1994, the Philadelphia Music Hall of Fame inducted Bonsall.
In addition to being a stalwart in one of country music’s biggest bands, Bonsall has achieved milestones outside of music, such as penning 11 books, according to the press release, including a forthcoming memoir titled I See Myself, due out in November.
Prior to his retirement, the singer-songwriter’s band scheduled a farewell tour to celebrate their 50th anniversary. “We’re doing a farewell tour because we owe it to our fans to say goodbye,” William Lee Golden stated in a press statement. “They have always been there for us, in positive times and bad. I will be eternally grateful to everyone who attended a gig, purchased a T-shirt, played our music, and generally liked us enough to spend their hard-earned money whenever they could.” This tour is for you.”
In a statement to people, Bonsall said, “You could have never convinced 25-year-old Joe Bonsall in 1973 that in 50 years the four of us would still be singing together and still loving every second of it.”
“Our mantra has always been Let’s Sing. It still is!” he said. “We have had our share of challenges over all these decades, but we have always persevered as men who have each always cared about doing things right, and God has blessed us for it.”