Jack Cooke, longtime bluegrass musician with Ralph Stanley’s Clinch Mountain Boys, dies at 72

Jack Cooke, bandmate of Ralph Stanley, dead at 72

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — A longtime bluegrass bass player and singer with Ralph Stanley’s Clinch Mountain Boys has died. Jack Cooke was 72.

According to a press release Wednesday from Morris Public Relations, Cooke died Tuesday at a hospital in his hometown of Norton, Va., after collapsing at home.

He joined the Clinch Mountain Boys in 1970 and performed with the group until being sidelined by health problems early this year.

In 2002, he performed on the Grammy-winning album “Lost in the Lonesome Pines,” a collection headlined by Jim Lauderdale and Stanley.

Survivors include three sisters and two brothers. Funeral services will be Thursday in Norton, with burial Friday in Wise County, Va.

Cooke’s biography on Ralph Stanley’s Web site: drralphstanley.com/biography/jackcooke.shtml