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'Pop' music a legend
Web posted Wednesday, March 24, 2004
| Augusta Chronicle Editorial Staff
Roy "Pop" Lewis was a legend long before his death Tuesday at age 98. Starting in Lincolnton, Ga., in the 1940s he and his family became pioneers in making both bluegrass and gospel music enormously popular the world over.
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Under his leadership the First Family of Bluegrass Gospel Music rose to global prominence performing, among many other distinguished venues, at the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville, Tenn., the Lincoln Center in New York City and the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C.
The Lewis family's gospel and music program became one of the longest-running shows in U.S. television history - from 1954 to 1992. Elvis Presley, Mamie Eisenhower and Chet Atkins were among their fans.
"Pop," as Mr. Lewis was known by all those who knew and loved him, received countless honors during his long career, including induction into Georgia's Music Hall of Fame in 1992 and distinguished awards from both the International Bluegrass Music Association and the Southern Gospel Music Association.
Roy Lewis was born in Pickens, S.C. - one of 10 children in his family, which moved to Lincolnton when he was 5 years old. He eloped in 1925 with Pauline Holloway, the love of his life, and was married for 77 years until "Mom" died in February of last year. They had eight children, seven who survive them.
Mr. Lewis, for decades the patriarch of his talented and famous family, was a kind and gentle man - always enthusiastic about his work, appreciative of his fans, and beloved by all whose lives he touched.
"He was a people person," noted Polly Lewis Copsey, the middle of his three daughters and lead vocalist for the family. "No matter where we went, he was the first off the bus to greet everybody."
His last performance was last May - fittingly enough at the family's 16th annual Homecoming & Bluegrass Festival at a state park near Lincolnton. The mark Mr. Lewis has left on the music and entertainment world is enormous, but not nearly so enormous as the mark he has left on the people who were privileged to know and love him.
--From the Thursday, March 25, 2004 printed edition of the Augusta Chronicle
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