Greg Corbett, North Carolina banjo player, died yesterday (August 24). He was 41 years old, set to turn 42 this next week.
Not much information has been released about his passing. Greg died in his sleep Saturday morning, of a suspected heart attack.
In the 1990s, he was the banjo player for The Country Gentlemen, remaining with the band until the passing of founding member Charlie Waller in 2004. That final edition of the Gentlemen also included Darin Aldridge on mandolin and Ronnie Davis on bass.
After Charlie’s death, Corbett and Aldridge formed a band called The Circuit Riders, taken from the title of a classic Country Gentlemen song.
Greg was a big man, with a bigger heart, and was a friend to everyone he met. Though he had left active touring as his children were born, he is widely remembered in bluegrass both for his crisp playing and his outsized personality.
He leaves behind a wife, Amanda, and two young children, Calvin and Kensy.
R.I.P., Greg Corbett.
