Robby Turner, the steel guitar legend known in Nashville as the “Man of Steel,” died on Thursday (Sept. 4). He was 63 years old.
Turner’s son Bobby Turner confirmed the news on Facebook.
“We’re sad, but we know he’s walking without any help, and he’s no longer in pain,” Bobby wrote. “Thank you everyone for reaching out to me and visiting him. He loved you all.”
Turner was best known for his work with Waylon Jennings. He played steel guitar on nine of Jennings’ albums from the mid-1970s to the early 2010s, including Jennings’ Wanted! The Outlaws project with Willie Nelson, Jessi Colter and Tompall Glaser.
His resume reveals that he worked with a massive list of other stars, contributing to albums by Vince Gill, Jerry Lee Lewis, John Prine, Tanya Tucker, Randy Travis, Loretta Lynn and many others.
Chris Stapleton‘s 2017 From A Room: Volume 1 was among the last albums Turner worked on in his career; he played pedal steel guitar throughout the project.
Turner’s parents were Doyle and Bernice Turner, both of whom played in Hank Williams’ Drifting Cowboys backing band in the 1940s. His first instrument was the drums, and at nine years old, he played drums for country duo the Wilburn Brothers.
He picked up the steel guitar at age 10, an instrument he played in Ace Cannon’s band a few years later. From there, Turner became one of country music’s most in-demand players, both as a touring musician and in the studio.
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His work with The Highwaymen in 1989 spurred a lifelong friendship with Jennings, and Turner became the steel guitar player Jennings preferred to work with for the rest of his career.
That bond was so important to Turner that, in 2012, he told Texas Monthly that he “never wanted to play again” after Jennings died in 2002.
“I stayed in bed a week,” he said. “I canceled everything.”
“What I had to come around to, as a believer, is that Waylon’s in my future, not my past. I look forward to seeing him again as much as anything in my life. He’s in my future, not my past,” Turner stated.
After Turner’s death, Jennings’ son, singer Shooter Jennings on social media.
“A once in a lifetime talent and the funniest guy I ever met. What a player,” Shooter wrote. “Was lucky to have toured and recorded with him many times. Rest in Peace, Robby.”
In addition to his lengthy work as a studio musician, Turner produced Ace Cannon’s Sweet Dreams album in 1993. He also self-released two solo projects, Man of Steel in 1996 and Steel Country in 1998.
A day before he died, the musician’s son Bobby shared on Facebook that his father was going through difficult health challenges, and that he was suffering from osteopenia as well as leukemia.
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Gallery Credit: Sterling Whitaker
