Buck White born 13 December 1930

Buck White (December 13, 1930 - January 13, 2025) was a legendary American country and bluegrass musician, patriarch of the Grammy-winning family group The Whites. 

Born in Oklahoma City to Edward Shelton and Lucille White he was raised in Texas, Buck grew up within a rich musical environment. As a young child, he changed his name to Buck to be like the cowboy actor, Buck Jones. He grew up listening to the radio and he loved all genres of music. He enjoyed going to the movies watching Gene Autry and especially Roy Rogers with the Sons of the Pioneers. He began playing piano and mandolin as a teenager, and following high school he performed in various honky tonk country bands in Texas and Oklahoma, and even went on to play back up for some of the greats of that era, such as Hank Snow and Ernest Tubb. 

Sharon, Cheryl, Buck and Pat White

While in Abilene, he met his future brother-in-law, Bob Goza, who introduced him to the love of his life, Patty Goza whom he married in 1952 and moved to Wichita Falls, Texas where he began working as a plumber and playing music on the side. In 1962, Buck and Patty moved the family to the country in Arkansas. For over twenty-five years, his full-time trade was plumbing. In September of 1971, he and his family moved to Nashville and settled in Hendersonville. He continued to work as a plumber several years before finally becoming a full-time musician. 

It’s when Buck White’s daughters Sharon White (born December 17, 1953) and Cheryl White (born January 27, 1955) showed early promise in music that Buck White started to take it more seriously as a career. Buck White and The Down Home Folks formed in 1972 and did well, although Pat retired from the group the following year. Buck recorded a solo album for Sugar Hill in 1979 called More Pretty Girls Than One. But it’s when The Whites formed officially in the early 1980’s as a family band signed to Curb Records that things started to click. 

                                   

The Whites earned multiple Top 10 hits through memorable songs like “Give Me Back That Old Familiar Feeling,” “Pins And Needles,” You Put The Blue In Me,” "If It Ain’t Love (Let’s Leave It Alone),” and “When The New Wears Off of Our Love” among others. Buck White’s mature age didn’t hold the group back at all. It gave The Whites a venerated and wholesome appeal. 

Just as much as Buck White and The Whites are revered for their songs, they’re perhaps best known for their collaborations, as well as their long-standing membership to the Grand Ole Opry, and their countless appearances on the program. The Whites were signed on as Grand Ole Opry members in 1984, and have been Opry mainstays ever since, including Buck White making appearances into his 90s. 

Daughter Sharon White married Ricky Skaggs in 1981, and this commenced a relationship where The Whites would regularly perform in Ricky’s band, and Skaggs would regularly perform with The Whites, including collaborations on songs, albums, and on the Grand Ole Opry regularly. Sharon White and Ricky Skaggs minted the hit song “Love Can’t Ever Get Better Than This” in 1987, and in 2008, The Whites won a Grammy for the album Salt of the Earth in collaboration with Skaggs. 

Buck White and The Whites were nominated numerous times by both the CMA and ACM for Vocal Group of the Year during the ’80s decade. But perhaps their biggest recognition came through their contribution to the Grammy Album of the Year-winning soundtrack to the acclaimed movie Oh Brother Where Art Thou in 2001. Their rendition of “Keep on the Sunny Side” introduced The Whites to an entirely new generation and audience. . They were also part of the accompanying musical event at Nashville’s Ryman Auditorium, which was released as the documentary film and album Down From the Mountain. 

The Whites are members of the Texas Music Hall of Fame, and celebrated 40 years at the Grand Ole Opry on March 2, 2024. That was Buck’s last official performance. Father and grandfather of The Whites, the oldest member of the Grand Ole Opry, and a grand patriarch of country music passed away peacefully on January 13, 2025, at the age of 94. The group entered a short hiatus after his death, but returned to performing on the Opry in August 2025. 

(Edited from Saving Country Music, Wikipedia & RFD-TV)