Michael Rhodes, award-winning Hall of Fame bass guitarist, Nashville favorite, dead at 69

I read somewhere once that Rhodes was the most recorded bass player in American music history.

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Michael Rhodes -- a peerless bass guitarist credited by Kenny Chesney as "[inspiring] us all with his playing and his incredible musical spirit" -- passed away at his home in Nashville, Tennessee, on the morning of Mar. 4, 2023.

The 2019 Musicians Hall of Fame inductee may be best regarded for his work on a series of impactful '90s-era country, pop and rock hits, including both LeAnn Rimes and Trisha Yearwood's versions of the Dianne Warren-penned 1997 hit "How Do I Live," Shawn Colvin's 1998 Grammy Record and Song of the Year "Sunny Came Home," plus Lee Ann Womack's 2000-released Country Music Association Single and Academy of Country Music and BMI Awards Song of the Year "I Hope You Dance."

Thus, his additional award-winning acclaim -- work on Ashley Cleveland's 1998 Grammy Best Rock Gospel Grammy-winning "You Are There," plus Grammy-nominated albums by Joe Bonamassa (2016's jazzy "Live at the Greek"), Larry Carlton (2010's guitar-driven "Take Your Pick"), Vince Gill (2006's "These Days," a four-disc box set) and in 2004 with the Notorious Cherry Bombs supergroup of Gill, producer Tony Brown, Richard Bennett, Hank DeVito and Country Music Hall of Famer Eddie Bayers -- fit in a broad musical profile.

"Rest in Peace my friend. I can't even get my head around this right now," stated Bonamassa via Twitter.

Moreover, Rhodes achieved being a ten-time Academy of Country Music Bass Player of the Year but also worked alongside other Country Music Hall of Fame members Bobby Braddock and Harlan Howard, plus Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame inductee Curly Putnam in the house demo band at Nashville's Tree Publishing -- the last major music publisher owned and operated in Music City (it was sold to the CBS Records Group (now Sony Music) in 1989.

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the tennesean