Earl Scruggs (born January 6, 1924) created a banjo style (now called Scruggs style) that is one of the defining characteristics of bluegrass. He joined Bill Monroe's Blue Grass Boys in late 1945 and his syncopated, three-finger picking style quickly became a sensation. In 1948 he left Monroe's band and formed Flatt and Scruggs with guitarist Lester Flatt, who had also just left the Blue Grass Boys. In 1968, Flatt and Scruggs broke up and Scruggs started a new band, the Earl Scruggs Revue , featuring several of his sons.

Flatt and Scruggs won a Grammy award in 1968 for Scruggs' instrumental "Foggy Mountain Breakdown". In 2002 Scruggs won a second Grammy award for the 2001 recording of that same tune -- which featured artists such as Steve Martin on 2nd banjo solo (Martin played the banjo tune on his 1970s stand-up comic acts), Vince Gill and Albert Lee on electric guitar solos, Paul Shaffer on piano, Leon Russell on organ, Marty Stuart on mandolin, et al. That CD, Earl Scruggs and Friends, also featured artists such as Elton John, Sting, Johnny Cash, Don Henley, Travis Tritt, Billy Bob Thornton, et al. (Ref: Earl Scruggs and Friends. 2001. MCA Nashville.)