Joe Bonsall’s legacy with the Oak Ridge Boys is MUCH bigger than just music

When I read the news of Oak Ridge Boys singer Joe Bonsall’s death on Tuesday (July 9), my first thought was one of sadness at the loss of someone who will be remembered by all in the country music scene as one of the industry’s truly shining stars.

My second thought was, “Wow… what a truly irreplaceable loss for this group.”

When I say “irreplaceable,” I don’t necessarily mean musically. Bonsall retired as a touring member of the Oak Ridge Boys in January and was actually replaced by a young singer named Ben James, who sang his old parts quite capably during the group’s farewell tour.

Any singer can be replaced, but what Joe Bonsall brought to the Oak Ridge Boys was so much more important than any vocal part, song or stage performance. The Country Music Hall of Fame – which inducted Bonsall along with the other Oaks singers in 2015 – said it best when it called Bonsall the group’s “sparkplug” in an online tribute.

Joe Bonsall was the Oak Ridge Boys’ biggest cheerleader, their most unabashed fan, PR man and tireless promoter all in one.

I first interviewed Joe Bonsall in 2014 for ToC’s sister site, The Boot, and what struck me immediately was his obvious, unbridled and genuine passion and enthusiasm for the group he was in.

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“Far from displaying the cynicism of many professional musicians who have seen it all before, Bonsall instead speaks enthusiastically about the new project and his bandmates as if this were his first album, and it’s infectious,” I wrote. “It’s not hard to imagine that the irrepressible singer would use his trademark blend of enthusiasm, charm and wit to persuade anyone who ever tries to resist the Oak Ridge Boys in their career aspirations to go along with whatever he wants – and they wouldn’t even realize it wasn’t their idea in the first place.”

It was clear that Bonsall was not putting on a show when he talked about how the Oaks maintained their longevity:

Well, we’re all as different as night and day. Everyone’s an individual, everyone brings a different kind of talent and energy to the table in my opinion, and we all love and respect each other as friends. And over the years, it’s all actually gotten easier. There’s no weird egos here, nothing. It’s, “Let’s get on the bus and go sing.”

Look, I’ve always believed – and this might be a message to the kids singing today – that the music business can be as easy or as hard as you want to make it. I mean, how about this – let’s all get along, let’s get on stage, let’s give it everything we’ve got, let’s hug and get back on the bus, get the check, shake hands and go to the next town. It can be that easy, you know.

When I interviewed Bonsall again in 2015 for a book project, he again spoke in the most glowing terms about the band and his bandmates.

“I have to tell you, I can’t remember a single bad word we’ve heard in years,” he said. “And even if I did, you might disagree about something, then you say it openly, talk about it, talk it through and put it on the table. You don’t sit back and keep something in your head. You always have to be open to the fact that your brother or partner might have a better idea than you.”

By this time, Bonsall was already forty years into his career, and when asked if the group had ever thought about how their career would end, he responded humorously.

“I think the end scares us a little bit. We never talk about it,” he said. “I think we were able to plan every aspect of our career except how we end it, so I guess we just have to leave that to God.”

“I think God will tell us when the Oak Ridge Boys are no more. It won’t be us. We’ll probably fall over singing somewhere out there and that’ll be the end,” he said with a laugh. “We’ll be done for then, man. ‘Where’s Joe?’ ‘Uh… he’s not coming back,’ he added with another laugh. “‘God said he’s done.’ I guess that’s pretty much how we see it.”

To the surprise of absolutely no one, Bonsall sang and performed until nearly the end of his life. He even performed seated at some shows in 2023 due to his ongoing battle with ALS. And while the Oak Ridge Boys still have concerts on their schedule through December, those shows will surely be bittersweet for a group that Bonsall says never wanted to see an end.

“The great thing is that all four of the Oak Ridge Boys are forward-thinking guys. None of them give up,” he told ToC. “These guys just don’t give up. It’s always, ‘What do we do next? How can we make things better tomorrow than we did today?’ And that’s the glory, because it only takes one guy… I don’t think anyone in this group wants this legacy to end. All these decades, all these miles, all these songs, all this water that’s been washed down the bridges — who wants to be the guy that says, ‘Let’s end it’? Nobody. Not even close.”

Sterling Whitaker is a senior writer and managing editor at Taste of Country. He focuses on celebrity real estate as well as coverage of Yellowstone and related shows such as 1883 and 1923. He has interviewed cast members such as Cole Hauser, Kelly Reilly, Sam Elliott and Harrison Ford and Whitaker is also known for his in-depth interviews with country legends such as Don Henley, Rodney Crowell, Trace Adkins, Ronnie Milsap, Ricky Skaggs and more.