“They performed Gospel with a Rock approach, had a full band, wore bell-bottom pants and grew their hair long. “They were the most innovative quartet in Gospel music,” says Bonsall. Both admired the distinctive, highly popular Oaks. Among the Oaks’ many acquaintances in the Gospel field were Bonsall, a streetwise Philadelphia kid who embraced Gospel music and Sterban, who was singing in quartets and holding down a job as a men’s clothing salesman. In the mid-fifties, they were featured in Time magazine as one of the top drawing Gospel groups in the nation.īy the late ‘60s, with more than 30 members having come and gone, they had a lineup that included Duane Allen, William Lee Golden, Noel Fox, and Willie Wynn. They called themselves the Oak Ridge Quartet, and they began regular Grand Ole Opry appearances in the fall of ‘45. The original group, based in Knoxville, Tennessee, began performing Country and Gospel music in nearby Oak Ridge where the atomic bomb was being developed.

The Oaks represent a tradition that extends back to World War II. They've scored 12 gold, three platinum, and one double platinum album, plus one double platinum single, and had more than a dozen national Number One singles and over 30 Top Ten hits. Their string of hits includes the pop chart-topper Elvira, as well as Bobbie Sue, Dream On, Thank God For Kids, American Made, I Guess It Never Hurts To Hurt Sometimes, Fancy Free, Gonna Take A Lot Of River and many others. The two, along with tenor Joe Bonsall and baritone William Lee Golden, comprise one of Country's truly legendary acts. Being in the Oak Ridge Boys is the fulfillment of a lifelong dream.” “Like everyone else in the group,” adds bass singer extraordinaire Richard Sterban, “I was a fan of the Oaks before I became a member. “This is the only job I've ever wanted to have.” “When I go on stage, I get the same feeling I had the first time I sang with the Oak Ridge Boys,” says lead singer Duane Allen. And each remains as enthusiastic about the process as they have ever been.

Every time they step before an audience, the Oaks bring three decades of charted singles, and 50 years of tradition, to bear on a stage show widely acknowledged as among the most exciting anywhere. The four-part harmonies and upbeat songs of the Oak Ridge Boys have spawned dozens of Country hits and a Number One Pop smash, earned them Grammy, Dove, CMA, and ACM awards and garnered a host of other industry and fan accolades. Theirs is one of the most distinctive and recognizable sounds in the music industry.

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