Rhonda Lea Vincent (born July 13, 1962) is an American
bluegrass singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist.
Vincent's music career began when she was a child in her family's band The Sally Mountain Show, and it has spanned more than four decades. Vincent first achieved success in the bluegrass genre in the 1970s and 1980s, earning the respect of her mostly male peers for her mastery of the progressive chord structures and multi-range, fast-paced vocals intrinsic to bluegrass music. In media, Vincent has been dubbed the "
Queen of Bluegrass" by several sources.
Vincent is an in-demand guest vocalist for other bluegrass and country music performers, appearing on recordings by
Dolly Parton
Dolly Rebecca Parton (born January 19, 1946) is an American singer, songwriter, musician, actress, and philanthropist, known primarily as a country music, country musician. After achieving success as a songwriter for others, Parton's debut album ...
,
Alan Jackson
Alan Eugene Jackson (born October 17, 1958) is an American country music singer-songwriter. He is known for performing a style widely regarded as "neotraditional country", as well as writing many of his own songs. Jackson has recorded 21 studi ...
,
Tanya Tucker,
Joe Diffie
Joe Logan Diffie (December 28, 1958 – March 29, 2020) was an American country music singer and songwriter. After working as a demo (music), demo singer in the mid 1980s, he signed with Epic Records' Nashville division in 1990. Between then and ...
,
Faith Hill
Audrey Faith McGraw (; born September 21, 1967), known professionally as Faith Hill, is an American Country music, country singer. She is one of the most successful country music artists of all time, having sold almost 50 million albums worldwide ...
and other notables.
Vincent is an eight-time
Grammy
The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as the most prestigious a ...
nominee, winning the
Grammy Award for Best Bluegrass Album
The Grammy Award for Best Bluegrass Album is an award presented at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards, to recording artists for quality works (songs or albums) in the bluegrass mu ...
in 2017. In 2020, she was inducted as a member of the
Grand Ole Opry
The ''Grand Ole Opry'' is a regular live country music, country-music Radio broadcasting, radio broadcast originating from Nashville, Tennessee, Nashville, Tennessee, on WSM (AM), WSM, held between two and five nights per week, depending on the ...
.
Early years
Vincent was born in
Kirksville, Missouri
Kirksville is the county seat of and most populous city in Adair County, Missouri, United States. Located in Benton Township, Adair County, Missouri, Benton Township, its population was 17,530 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Kirk ...
, on July 13, 1962, and raised in nearby
Greentop, Missouri
Greentop is a city in Adair County, Missouri, Adair and Schuyler County, Missouri, Schuyler counties, Missouri, United States. As of the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census, its population was 388.
History
Greentop is considered one of the ol ...
. She is the oldest of three children, and the only daughter of Johnny and Carolyn Vincent. Her brother Darrin is a member of the Award-winning bluegrass group
Dailey & Vincent. Her youngest brother Brian played with the family group, but is now a top executive with the Bimeda Corporation. A fifth-generation musician, Rhonda's musical career started at age five when she sang gospel songs with her family's band, which was later known as the "Sally Mountain Show". Her father bought her a
snare drum
The snare drum (or side drum) is a percussion instrument that produces a sharp staccato sound when the head is struck with a drum stick, due to the use of a series of stiff wires held under tension against the lower skin. Snare drums are often u ...
for her sixth birthday. At age eight, Vincent started playing
mandolin
A mandolin (, ; literally "small mandola") is a Chordophone, stringed musical instrument in the lute family and is generally Plucked string instrument, plucked with a plectrum, pick. It most commonly has four Course (music), courses of doubled St ...
. She later added
fiddle
A fiddle is a Bow (music), bowed String instrument, string musical instrument, most often a violin or a bass. It is a colloquial term for the violin, used by players in all genres, including European classical music, classical music. Althou ...
to her list of instruments at 12. In an interview with ''Ingrams'' magazine, she said, "Dad used to pick me up after school, and Grandpa would come over and we played until after dinner almost every night. There wasn’t a lot going on in Greentop, but it was always hopping at the Vincent house."
Vincent recorded her first single, a version of "
Mule Skinner Blues", in 1970. The family, including the younger brothers when they were old enough to play instruments, traveled and performed extensively across the
Midwest
The Midwestern United States (also referred to as the Midwest, the Heartland or the American Midwest) is one of the four census regions defined by the United States Census Bureau. It occupies the northern central part of the United States. It ...
in the 1970s and early 1980s. Except for living in
Texas
Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...
for a short time in 1974, and two summers (1977, 1978) spent employed as musicians at
Silver Dollar City
Silver Dollar City is a theme park in Stone County, Missouri, near the cities of Branson, Missouri, Branson and Branson West, Missouri, Branson West. The park is located off of Missouri Route 76 on the Indian Point peninsula of Table Rock Lake ...
in
Branson, Missouri
Branson is a city in the U.S. state of Missouri. Most of the city is situated in Taney County, Missouri, Taney County, with a small portion in the west extending into Stone County, Missouri, Stone County. Branson is in the Ozarks, Ozark Mountain ...
, the Vincent family used the Greentop area as home base. The Vincent children all attended
Schuyler County R-1 schools, and following high school Vincent later attended
Northeast Missouri State University, majoring in accounting.
Solo career
Vincent’s life of music evolved into a successful career in bluegrass music after being discovered by Grand Ole Opry Star Jim Ed Brown, and later spending what she calls her musical college years recording for Giant Record. She learned about the music business from Nashville’s best like James Stroud, Jack McFadden, and Stan Barnett. Even while Vincent was still performing regularly with the Sally Mountain Show, she released her first solo album ''New Dreams and Sunshine'' in 1988. In 1985, Vincent had competed in the TV series ''You Can Be a Star'' on the original version of
The Nashville Network
The Nashville Network, usually referred to as TNN, was an American country music-oriented cable television network. Programming included music videos, taped concerts, movies, game shows, syndicated programs, and numerous talk shows. On September ...
. After winning the competition, she was signed to a recording contract; her first professional performance was with country singer and
Grand Ole Opry
The ''Grand Ole Opry'' is a regular live country music, country-music Radio broadcasting, radio broadcast originating from Nashville, Tennessee, Nashville, Tennessee, on WSM (AM), WSM, held between two and five nights per week, depending on the ...
star
Jim Ed Brown
James Edward Brown (April 1, 1934 – June 11, 2015) was an American Country music, country singer who achieved fame in the 1950s with his two sisters as a member of the Browns. He later had a successful solo career from 1965 to 1974, followed b ...
. In the 1990s Vincent branched out into mainstream country music, releasing a pair of albums on the
Giant Records label, but did not have success there.

With the release of her album ''Back Home Again'' in 2000, Vincent returned to bluegrass with the goal of expanding both the musical reach and the accessibility of the genre. The
International Bluegrass Music Association
The International Bluegrass Music Association, or IBMA, is a trade association to promote bluegrass music.
Formed in 1985, IBMA established its first headquarters in Owensboro, Kentucky. In 1988 they announced plans to create the International ...
(IBMA) accorded her its Female Vocalist of the Year award for the years 2000 – 2006, plus IBMA Entertainer of the Year in 2001. The Society for Preservation of Bluegrass Music in America (SPBGMA) designated her its Entertainer of the Year for 2002 – 2006 inclusive. She also performs with her band, Rhonda Vincent & the Rage.
On February 19, 2010, Vincent parted from
Rounder Records
Rounder Records is an independent record label founded in 1970 in Somerville, Massachusetts, by Marian Leighton Levy, Ken Irwin, and Bill Nowlin. Focused on American roots music, Rounder's catalogue of more than 3000 titles includes records by A ...
, after ten years with the label. Vincent released "Taken", her debut album on her own label Upper Management Music on September 21, 2010. Featuring special guests like long-time friend
Dolly Parton
Dolly Rebecca Parton (born January 19, 1946) is an American singer, songwriter, musician, actress, and philanthropist, known primarily as a country music, country musician. After achieving success as a songwriter for others, Parton's debut album ...
,
Richard Marx
Richard Noel Marx (born September 16, 1963) is an American singer-songwriter. He has sold over 30 million albums worldwide.
Marx's first number one success as a songwriter came in 1984 with " What About Me?", which was recorded by Kenny Rogers ...
and
Little Roy Lewis, the album entered the
Top Bluegrass Albums chart at No. 1.
On June 7, 2011, Vincent and
Gene Watson released a duet album on Upper Management entitled ''Your Money and My Good Looks''. The album entered the U.S. ''Billboard''
Top Country Albums
Top Country Albums is a chart published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine in the United States. The 50-position chart lists the most popular country music albums in the country, calculated weekly by Broadcast Data Systems based on physical sales ...
chart at number 71.
''Sunday Mornin' Singin, an album of old-time gospel standards, was released on July 10, 2012.
On April 1, 2017, Vincent's duet with a fellow country singer
Richard Lynch was released as a track on Lynch's album "Mending Fences".
During an appearance at the
Grand Ole Opry
The ''Grand Ole Opry'' is a regular live country music, country-music Radio broadcasting, radio broadcast originating from Nashville, Tennessee, Nashville, Tennessee, on WSM (AM), WSM, held between two and five nights per week, depending on the ...
on April 27, Vincent announced that she and
Daryle Singletary
Daryle Bruce Singletary (March 10, 1971 – February 12, 2018) was an American country music singer. Between 1995 and 1998, he recorded for Giant Records, for which he released three studio albums, '' Daryle Singletary'' (1995), '' All Because ...
had spent the previous months recording a duets album, with further details to follow during
CMA week. She then introduced Singletary and the two performed a couple of
George Jones
George Glenn Jones (September 12, 1931 – April 26, 2013) was an American Country music, country musician, singer, and songwriter. He achieved international fame for a long list of hit records, and is well known for his distinctive voice an ...
and
Tammy Wynette
Tammy Wynette (born Virginia Wynette Pugh; May 5, 1942 – April 6, 1998) was an American country music singer and songwriter, considered among the genre's most influential and successful artists. Along with Loretta Lynn, Wynette helped bring a ...
songs – "
Golden Ring" and "
One
1 (one, unit, unity) is a number, numeral, and glyph. It is the first and smallest positive integer of the infinite sequence of natural numbers. This fundamental property has led to its unique uses in other fields, ranging from science to sp ...
".
It was her pivotal bluegrass album, “Back Home Again” on Rounder Records, that transformed Vincent into the All American Bluegrass Girl. She was crowned the New Queen of Bluegrass by “The Wall Street Journal” in 2000. She is a multi-award winner, with a 2017 Grammy for Best Bluegrass Album, an Entertainer of the Year 2001, Song of the Year 2004, and unprecedented seven consecutive Female Vocalist of the Year awards from the International Bluegrass Music Association 2000 – 2006.
Her powerful vocal style transcends the boundaries of bluegrass music, as evidenced in her collaboration with Dolly Parton on the Elton John / Bernie Taupin Tribute Project “Restoration” 2018. She was invited to become a member of the Grand Ole Opry on February 28, 2020.
Touring
In 2008, Vincent's band performed at Centennial Hall in
London, Ontario
London is a city in southwestern Ontario, Canada, along the Quebec City–Windsor Corridor. The city had a population of 422,324 according to the 2021 Canadian census. London is at the confluence of the Thames River (Ontario), Thames River and N ...
, at a concert organized by the Thames Valley Bluegrass Association.
Gospel DVD
In a 2011 interview with television station
KTVO Vincent announced that she and her band had recently filmed a live all-gospel DVD at a church in her hometown of Greentop, Missouri. The DVD was expected to be released sometime in 2012.
Family life
Vincent married Herb Sandker on Christmas Eve 1983.
While it might have been more convenient to be based out of someplace like
Nashville
Nashville, often known as Music City, is the capital and List of municipalities in Tennessee, most populous city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County in Middle Tennessee, locat ...
, Vincent chose to remain close to her Missouri roots: "My husband and I made the decision early on. I loved being in my home area. My parents are there, our relatives are there. We wanted to raise our children there. So I made the decision to commute."
For a period of time in the late 1990s and early 2000s, they owned, and Sandker managed, a popular restaurant in Kirksville, Missouri, called Bogies.
Vincent's elder daughter Sally wed her mother's fiddle player, Hunter Berry, in Greentop, Missouri, in 2010. Younger daughter Tensel married her mother's dobro player, Brent Burke, in 2013. Sally and Tensel have since performed with their mother, and have begun their own group with their husbands named Next Best Thing.
Since 1987, Rhonda and the entire Vincent family have hosted a large yearly bluegrass festival on land just west of
Queen City, Missouri. The Sally Mountain Bluegrass Festival is traditionally held around July 4, and attracts music fans from across the U.S. and the world.
Discography
Solo studio albums
*''New Dreams and Sunshine'' (1988)
*''A Dream Come True'' (1990)
*''Timeless and True Love'' (1991)
*''Written in the Stars'' (1993)
*''Trouble Free'' (1996)
*''Back Home Again'' (2000)
*''The Storm Still Rages'' (2001)
*''One Step Ahead'' (2003)
*''
All American Bluegrass Girl'' (2006)
*''Beautiful: A Christmas Collection'' (2006)
*''
Good Thing Going'' (2008)
*''Destination Life'' (2009)
*''Taken'' (2010)
*''The House with the Red Light: A Discovery of Faith'' (2013)
*''Only Me'' (2014)
*''Christmas Time'' (2015)
*''Music Is What I See'' (2021)
*''Destinations and Fun Places'' (2024)
Collaborative studio albums
*''Bound for Gloryland'' (with The Sally Mountain Show) (1991)
*''Your Money and My Good Looks'' (with Gene Watson) (2011)
*''American Grandstand'' (with Daryle Singletary) (2017)
Live albums
*''Ragin' Live'' (2005)
*''Sunday Mornin' Singin' Live'' (2012)
*''
All the Rage: In Concert, Volume One'' (2016)
*''Live at the Ryman'' (2018)
Awards
To date, Vincent and her band, The Rage, have won one
Grammy
The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as the most prestigious a ...
, nineteen
IBMA Awards (including the top Entertainer of the Year honor in 2001 and consecutive Female Vocalist of the year wins between 2000 and 2006) and eighty nine SPBGMA Awards.
Other honors
* Missouri Walk of Fame 2012 inductee
* Bluegrass Star Award, Inaugural Recipient (October 16, 2010), presented by the Bluegrass Heritage Foundation of Dallas Texas. The award is bestowed upon bluegrass artists who do an exemplary job of advancing traditional bluegrass music and bringing it to new audiences while preserving its character and heritage.
* Champion, Celebrity Division,
National Cornbread Festival cookoff. Rhonda and husband Herb are the previous owners and operators of a popular restaurant in Kirksville, Missouri.
* Missouri Music Hall of Fame 2017 inductee
*
Member of the Grand Ole Opry
References
External links
Official website*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Vincent, Rhonda
1962 births
Living people
21st-century American women musicians
American bluegrass mandolinists
American bluegrass musicians
American country singer-songwriters
American women country singers
Country musicians from Missouri
Grammy Award winners
People from Adair County, Missouri
People from Kirksville, Missouri
People from Schuyler County, Missouri
Rebel Records artists
Singer-songwriters from Missouri
Truman State University alumni