The Charlie Daniels Band

The Charlie Daniels Band is one of the most influential groups in the history of country music and Southern rock, known for blending virtuoso fiddle-playing with patriotic themes. ∙ Before forming his own band, Daniels was a session musician who played on three Bob Dylan LPs: 1969’s Nashville Skyline and 1970’sSelf Portrait and New Morning. ∙ The group’s first hit was the 1973 novelty song “Uneasy Rider,” a tongue-in-cheek commentary on ’60s counterculture that landed in the Top 10 of the Billboard Hot 100. ∙ Fire On the Mountain became the band’s first Platinum album, due in large part to its back-to-back 1975 radio hits, “The South’s Gonna Do It Again” and “Long Haired Country Boy.” ∙ “The Devil Went Down to Georgia”—Daniels’ signature song—won Best Country Vocal Performance By a Duo Or Group honors at the 1979 Grammy Awards. ∙ The 1983 Charlie Daniels Band compilation, A Decade of Hits, went quadruple-Platinum and debuted “Stroker’s Theme,” from the Burt Reynolds/Loni Anderson comedy Stroker Ace. ∙ Daniels had a late-career return to Top 40 success with his controversial country radio hit “This Ain’t No Rag, It’s a Flag,” written as his response to 9/11. ∙ During his prolific career, he was inducted into the Grand Ole Opry (2008), the Musicians Hall of Fame (2009), and the Country Music Hall of Fame (2016).