Tony Rice (born David Anthony Rice in Danville, Virginia, on June 8, 1951; died December 25, 2020 in Reidsville) was an American bluegrass guitarist, singer and songwriter (earlier in his career he was also an excellent bluegrass singer). He was an influential acoustic guitar player in the genres of bluegrass, progressive bluegrass, newgrass and flattop acoustic jazz. He was inducted into the International Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame in 2013. As well as his solo recordings and as The Tony Rice Unit, he was a founding member of The David Grisman Quintet (setting the guitar standard for the bluegrass-jazz fusion music often called Dawg after the bearded facial appearance of David Grisman) and The Bluegrass Album Band. He has also recorded as Ricky Skaggs & Tony Rice, Norman Blake & Tony Rice, Tony Rice & David Grisman, Tony Rice & John Carlini, Jerry Garcia, David Grisman & Tony Rice, Peter Rowan & Tony Rice, and John Hartford, Tony Rice & Vassar Clements. Rice spanned the range of acoustic music, from straight-ahead bluegrass to jazz-influenced new acoustic music, to songwriter-oriented folk. He is remembered as perhaps the greatest innovator in acoustic flatpicked guitar since Clarence White. Over the course of his career, he played alongside J.D. Crowe and the New South, David Grisman (during the formation of “Dawg Music”), led his own groups, collaborated with fellow picker Norman Blake and recorded with his brothers. He recorded with drums, piano, soprano sax, and with