The family of legendary session musician Ray Edenton recently confirmed his passing. Statement from the Country Music Hall of Fame® and Museum:

“Nashville’s musical legacy is elevated by Ray Edenton’s rock-solid, highly inventive rhythm guitar,” said Kyle Young, CEO of the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum. “He developed new guitar tunings to create sounds that had not been heard before, and he played guitar parts that enhanced famed recordings including the Everly Brothers’ “Bye Bye Love” and “Wake Up Little Susie,” Roger Miller’s “King of the Road,” Webb Pierce’s “There Stands the Glass,” Marty Robbins’s “Singing the Blues,” and Neil Young’s Nashville-produced album Comes a Time. He was a significant factor in more than 10,000 recording sessions. In 2007, the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum honored him as a “Nashville Cat,” a designation that celebrates musicians of great consequence. Ray is one of the many hidden heroes of Music City, and the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum was always eager to shine a light on his virtuosity and ingenuity.”