In the early 1960s, a seven-year-old walked into the Grand Ole Opry to audition and was turned away as too young, even though he had already shared a stage with Bill Monroe at six and appeared on television with Flatt and Scruggs. This deep dive traces Ricky Skaggs from his 1954 birth in Cordell, Kentucky, through his teenage partnership with Keith Whitley, the 1970 invitation to join Ralph Stanley's Clinch Mountain Boys, and his progressive bluegrass years with the Country Gentlemen, J.D. Crowe's New South, and his own band Boone Creek with Vince Gill and Jerry Douglas.

We follow his arrangements for Emmylou Harris' 1980 album Roses in the Snow, his explosive 1981 solo launch with Waitin' for the Sun to Shine, 12 number one hits, the platinum album Highways and Heartaches, eight CMA awards including 1985 Entertainer of the Year, and his 19 ...