1. Billy Strings was born on William Lee Apostol, October 3,1992 and is an American guitarist, singer, songwriter, and bluegrass musician.
22 Facts About Billy Strings
1. 2.
Billy Strings has released four studio albums, with his album Home winning the Grammy Award for Best Bluegrass Album in 2021, an award he won again in 2025 for Live Vol.
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Billy Strings was born William Lee Apostol on October 3,1992, in Lansing, Michigan.
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Billy Strings's father died of a heroin overdose when he was two, and his mother remarried Terry Barber, an accomplished amateur bluegrass musician, whom Strings regards as his father.
5.
Billy Strings left the family home at the age of 13 and went through a period of hard drug usage.
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In 2012, Don Julin, a mandolin player from Traverse City, Michigan, and author of Mandolin for Dummies, asked Billy Strings to join him on a paying gig.
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Billy Strings planned to play over 200 shows in 2018.
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Billy Strings has been invited to play on stage with artists including Phish, Dierks Bentley, Del McCoury, Bill Kreutzmann, Bob Weir, David Grisman, Tommy Emmanuel, Larry Keel, Sam Bush, The Marcus King Band, Greensky Bluegrass, The Infamous Stringdusters, The String Cheese Incident, Leftover Salmon, Widespread Panic, Tool, and more.
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Billy Strings has appeared on famous PBS musical TV programs Austin City Limits and Bluegrass Underground.
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Billy Strings has toured with Greensky Bluegrass, The Infamous Stringdusters, Leftover Salmon, I'm With Her, Cabinet and others.
11.
In February 2017, Billy Strings was named one of the six new rising stars of bluegrass by Acoustic Guitar.
12.
Billy Strings collaborated with Molly Tuttle on the songs "Sittin' on Top of the World" and "Billy in the Lowground".
13.
In March 2018, PBS announced that Billy Strings was to be the inaugural performer at the new cave for the renowned series Bluegrass Underground in the caverns of Pelham, Tennessee.
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Billy Strings released his album Home under the label on September 27,2019.
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On September 26,2019, Billy Strings was voted the International Bluegrass Music Association Guitar Player of the Year in Raleigh, North Carolina.
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Billy Strings' touring band was expanded from a quartet to a five piece when frequent guest fiddler Alex Hargreaves was asked to become a permanent member during a show in Baltimore on July 3,2022.
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The band consists of Billy Strings Failing, Royal Masat, Jarrod Walker and Alex Hargreaves.
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At the 2022 International Bluegrass Music Awards, Billy Strings was nominated for six awards, winning Entertainer of the Year for the second consecutive year, while "Red Daisy" won Song of the Year.
19.
On December 8,2023, Billy Strings released his first official live recording.
20.
On July 12,2024, Billy Strings released his first full-length live album, Live Vol.
21.
The album reached the first No 1 on Billboard's all-genre Top Album Sales survey dated Oct 12,2024 On November 1,2024, during a fall tour stop in Baltimore Maryland in support of the album Billy Strings performed the album in its entirety for the first set of the concert On January 24,2025, Billy Strings launched his Winter Tour in continued support of the album with three shows at Denver's Ball Arena.
22.
Billy Strings began dating yoga instructor Ally Dale in 2014 after meeting at the Ore Dock Brewing Co.