Who is this famous banjo player?

Earl Eugene Scruggs was a talented American musician, who popularized his own three-finger banjo-picking style. He perfected this manner of playing, which later became known as "Scruggs style". The style became the main feature of the bluegrass music.

Scruggs was born on the 6th of January, 1924 in the Flint Hill community in Cleveland County, North Carolina. His father used to play banjo and has fostered a love of music in his children. Earl's mother also played the organ. Unfortunately, the father of the family, George Elam Scruggs, died when Earl was only 4 years old.

But Earl never gave up on his dream of becoming a famous musician. He joined Bill Monroe's Blue Grass Boys in late 1945, and quickly popularized his syncopated, three-finger picking style. In 1948, Scruggs and guitarist Lester Flatt left Monroe's band and formed the Foggy Mountain Boys, also later known simply as Flatt and Scruggs. Flatt and Scruggs became members of the Grand Ole Opry in the 1950s. In 1969, they broke up. Earl's sons followed his footsteps as well, and he started a new band featuring the two of them (he is the father of three children, Randy Scruggs, Gary Scruggs and Steve Scruggs).