Bill Monroe was born 105 years ago today, September 13, 1911, and passed away 20 years ago last week, September 9, 1996, at the age of 84.

Bill Monroe is known as the creator of bluegrass music, and is the Father of Bluegrass.  He was born and raised in rural Rosine, KY.  He was the youngest of 8 brothers and sisters and learned music from his mother and uncle at family events.  His older brothers already played the fiddle and guitar, so he was relegated to the mandolin.

Like most musicians of his time, Bill had a rough life, growing up in the Depression.  Both of his parents were dead by his 16th birthday.  He moved around with aunts and uncles, including his Uncle Pen, about whom he wrote a song.  In the late '20s he moved to Indiana to work at an oil refinery, but on the side started a band called the Monroe Brothers with his brothers Birch and Charlie. Eventually they disbanded and he played with a few others before starting his band the "Blue Grass Boys."

Bill Monroe and his Blue Grass Boys had their heydey in the mid-1940s to mid-1950s. Things started to wane in the late 50s, only for him and other bluegrass artists to see a resurgence during the 1960s folk era.  Bill also helped start up the bluegrass festival circuit that continues today.  Bill continued a hectic touring schedule well into his 80s.  His final live performance was in March 1996, and he passed away 6 months later.

Bill Monroe was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1970, the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1971, and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (as an "early influence") in 1997. Jimmie Rodgers, Bob Wills, Hank Williams Sr., and Johnny Cash are the only other performers honored in all three. In 1993, he received the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award, and he was awarded the National Medal of Arts in 1995 from President Clinton.

More than 150 musicians played in the Blue Grass Boys over the nearly 60 years of Monroe's performing career. Including Earl Scruggs, Lester Flatt, Jimmy Martin, Carter Stanley, Del McCoury, Peter Rowan, and Vassar Clements.  Monroe tended to recruit promising young musicians who would later move on to become accomplished artists in their own right.