Ricky Skaggs & Kentucky Thunder Comes to The Princess Theatre August 14

Ricky Skaggs & Kentucky Thunder Comes to The Princess Theatre August 14

Fifteen-time GRAMMY® Award winner Ricky Skaggs will bring his legendary sound to The Princess Theatre on August 14. With a career widely regarded as one of the most influential in modern country music, Skaggs has long been celebrated for both honoring tradition and pushing the genre forward. In fact, legendary guitarist Chet Atkins once credited him with “single-handedly saving country music.”

Born on July 18, 1954, in Cordell, Kentucky, Skaggs displayed extraordinary musical talent from a young age. He performed on stage with bluegrass pioneer Bill Monroe at just six years old and appeared on television with Lester Flatt and Earl Scruggs by age seven. By 1971, he had launched his professional career, joining Ralph Stanley’s Clinch Mountain Boys alongside his friend Keith Whitley.

Skaggs went on to perform with groundbreaking bluegrass groups including the Country Gentlemen and J.D. Crowe & the New South, whose 1975 debut album remains a landmark recording in the genre. He later formed Boone Creek, featuring acclaimed Dobro player Jerry Douglas.

In the late 1970s, Skaggs transitioned into mainstream country music, joining Emmylou Harris’s Hot Band. His solo career soared with the 1981 release of Waitin’ for the Sun to Shine, which topped the charts and produced two No. 1 hits. During his time with Epic Records, he earned 12 No. 1 singles and eight Country Music Association Awards, including Entertainer of the Year in 1985.

As part of the “new traditionalist” movement alongside artists like Randy Travis, Skaggs played a key role in revitalizing country music in the 1980s by blending bluegrass roots with the contemporary Nashville sound.

In 1997, he returned to his bluegrass foundation with Bluegrass Rules!, released on his own Skaggs Family Records label. Since then, he has continued to record and perform with his band Kentucky Thunder, an eight-time IBMA Instrumental Group of the Year winner. His label has also supported other roots artists, including The Whites.

More than 60 years after first picking up a mandolin, Ricky Skaggs continues to shape and celebrate American roots music. His enduring passion and artistry promise an unforgettable evening for audiences at The Princess Theatre.

Presale to The Princess Theatre members will begin April 29. Public tickets will go on sale May 1. Day of show, doors will open at 6:00 p.m. with performance beginning at 7:00 p.m.

More information and tickets can be found at www.princesstheatre.org.