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American guitarist, producer, and record executive known as 'Mr. Guitar' and the principal architect of the Nashville Sound.Born in rural Tennessee, Atkins overcame childhood poverty and health issues to become RCA Victor's Nashville studio manager. His innovative production techniques and virtuosic fingerstyle guitar playing helped modernize country music, earning him 14 Grammy Awards and inductions into both the Country Music and Rock & Roll Halls of Fame.

• Atkins taught himself guitar after trading a pistol for his first instrument, developing his signature thumb-and-three-fingers technique due to childhood asthma limiting his breath for wind instruments.
• He endured extreme poverty during the Great Depression, often living without electricity, and witnessed his brother's accidental death at age 2.
• As RCA's Nashville executive, he revolutionized country by blending orchestral strings and background vocals with traditional instrumentation, creating the smoother 'Nashville Sound' that crossed over to pop audiences.
• Despite his polished image, Atkins secretly battled depression throughout his career and was known for his dry wit, once quipping: 'I don't think I'm a great guitarist. I just play a great guitar.'
• He died at age 77 from colorectal cancer at his Nashville home, with his final album 'The Day Finger Pickers Took Over the World' released posthumously.