Buck Trent, ‘Hee Haw’ cast member who played on Dolly Parton’s ‘Jolene,’ dead at 85

Banjo player Buck Trent, who was part of the cast of the country music variety show “Hee Haw” and performed on Dolly Parton’s albums, died Monday. He was 85.

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The news of Trent’s death was shared in a Facebook post by his wife, Jean Trent.

“It is with great sorrow and a broken heart to say my husband, my love, Buck Trent, went to be with Jesus this morning,” Jean Trent wrote. “I lost my best friend and the world lost a master musician and country music legend.”

Buck Trent was a two-time Country Music Association Instrumentalist of the Year who toured with Roy Clark, the Tulsa World reported.

According to his website, Buck Trent was “born and raised in Spartanburg, South Carolina. He began performing on WORD Radio when he was 10 and arrived in Nashville, Tennessee, in 1959.

He joined the “Bill Carlisle Show” and appeared at the Grand Ole Opry that year, KOLR-TV reported.

In addition to “Hee Haw,” Buck Trent appeared on the “Porter Wagoner Show” and the “Roy Clark Show,” according to the musician’s website.

Trent’s talents on banjo were visible on albums such as “Sounds of Now & Beyond,” “Bionic Banjo,” “Pair of Fives,” “Banjo Bandits” and “Oh Yeah!” which was his signature phrase during his time on “Hee Haw” from 1974 and 1983, KOLR reported.

He played lead guitar and electric banjo on Parton’s 1973, hit, “Jolene” and on “I’ll Always Love You,” according to his website.

For many years, Buck Trent played the banjo and was a “down-home humorist” in the “Buck Trent Country Music Show,” the World reported.

“I worked with him for years as a partner with the Roy Clark Show,” Jim Halsey, who once operated the world’s largest country agency out of Tulsa, told the newspaper. “Buck Trent is one of the greatest banjo players ever. We will all miss him. Thank you, Buck Trent, for being in all our lives.”

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