It’s a heartbreaking day for The Oak Ridge Boys, and their fans. Joe Bonsall, a member of the group for 50 years, has died. Bonsall was 76 years old when he passed away on July 9, of complications of Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, commonly known as ALS.
Born on May 18, 1948, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Bonsall was 25 years old when he joined The Oak Ridge Boys. Bonsall celebrated being with the iconic group for five decades in a post he shared on social media last year.
“I am 75 years old in 2023 and I am STILL an Oak Ridge Boy.,” Bonsall said in September. “I was the last to join a group that had already been a part of music history. Richard Sterban had joined the year before in 1972 after touring with The Stamps Quartet and ELVIS for a few years. Before that Richard and I sang together for almost 6 years. I loved the OAKS… they were cutting [edge] Gospel group and I was a huge fan.”
“William Lee [Golden] and Duane [Allen] and I became great friends as well long before I joined,” he continued. “In fact Duane produced 10 albums on The Keystones, the group I sang with before joining the OAKS. WLG first joined the group in 1965 and Duane has been singing here since 1966 and together the four of us have managed to live out every dream we have ever dreamed and a whole lot more.”
In January, Bonsall announced he was retiring from touring, while The Oak Ridge Boys were in the middle of their final American Made: Farewell Tour, due to his deteriorating health, although he declined to call his condition ALS at the time.
“Many of you know I have been battling a slow onset (over four years now) of a neuromuscular disorder,” Bonsall shared. “I am now at a point where walking is impossible, so I have basically retired from the road. It has just gotten too difficult. It has been a great 50 years, and I am thankful to all the Oak Ridge Boys, band, crew, and staff for the constant love and support shown to me through it all. I will never forget, and for those of you who have been constantly holding me up in prayer, I thank you and ask for you to keep on praying.”
Bonsall was replaced on the tour by Ben James, a decision Bonsall wholeheartedly supported, and encouraged fans to do the same.
“There is a young man named Ben James singing for me out there, and he needs your love and encouragement … his sound is different than mine, but he brings a ton of talent to the table!” Bonsall says. “The Oak Ridge Boys will finish the Farewell Tour without me, but rest assured, I am good with all of it! God’s Got It!!!”
Bonsall struggled with his mobility on the road for a while before he retired, crediting his bandmates for helping him when he struggled.
“One year ago today I was at a hotel in Galveston trying to make it down an incline to get to the tour bus. I was on a cane at the time but my legs froze on the hill and I couldn’t move,” Bonsall recalled in January. “Duane Allen came flying out of the bus to help me … one just does not forget things like that! My heart is with him and the BOYS today!!”
Bonsall has authored 11 books, including the forthcoming memoir, I See Myself, out in November. He is survived by his wife, Mary Ann, plus two daughters Jennifer and Sabrina, two grandchildren and two great-grandchildren, plus a sister Nancy.
Per Bonsall’s request, a funeral service will not be held. The family requests that donations be made to The ALS Association or the Vanderbilt Medical Center ALS and Neuroscience Research Center.
Everything Nash extends our deepest condolences to Bonsall’s family and loved ones.