Richard Sterban dies at 83, his family and the Oak Ridge Boys said on Saturday, closing a career that took the bass singer from singing behind Elvis Presley to the Country Music Hall of Fame.
Richard Sterban dies in Hendersonville, Tennessee, of complications from bronchitis and pneumonia after a long battle with cancer. He was 83. His family and the band announced the death in a statement on Saturday, November 14.
The statement was brief. “We appreciate all of your love, support, and prayers. Please continue to lift us up in this difficult time, we find comfort knowing that he is currently face to face with Jesus.”
Richard Sterban dies after a long illness
Sterban revealed in September 2025 that he had been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer earlier that year. He stepped back from performing as he went through treatment, and he stayed away from the road through most of 2025.
He returned to the stage in January 2026, joining his bandmates at the Grand Ole Opry on January 30 and 31 to sing “Elvira”. The audience rose to its feet. It was his last public performance with the group, and Richard Sterban dies about nine months after that night at the Opry.
Less than a month before his death, Sterban attended the Country Music Hall of Fame Medallion Ceremony on October 18 with his wife, Donna, where the hall inducted its class of 2026. Richard Sterban dies less than a month after that appearance.
The voice behind Elvira
Before the Oak Ridge Boys, Sterban sang behind Elvis Presley. He left that job in 1972 to join the group, a move he later described as the fulfilment of a goal he had set for himself as a young man. Richard Sterban dies 54 years after he joined the group he had wanted to be part of since his youth.
The group’s best-known lineup was completed the following year, when tenor Joe Bonsall joined Sterban, Duane Allen and William Lee Golden. Sterban spent more than five decades with the group, and his low voice carried the “oom papa mow mow” refrain in “Elvira”, the group’s 1981 hit, which became one of the most recognisable records in American music.
Sterban took leave from the group after its appearance at the 60th Academy of Country Music Awards on May 8, 2025, and he stayed away from the road through most of that year. Richard Sterban dies a little more than a year after he stepped back from performing.
The group came out of gospel music, and Sterban’s bass voice helped carry it into mainstream country, where “Elvira” became its biggest crossover hit. The Oak Ridge Boys were a Grammy-winning gospel quartet, and their later country success made them one of the most successful vocal groups in the genre.
The Oak Ridge Boys were inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2015. Kyle Young, the chief executive of the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum, called Sterban “a musical bridge builder” in a statement released on Saturday.
Richard Sterban dies two years after Joe Bonsall
Sterban’s death comes a little more than two years after the loss of Bonsall, who died on July 9, 2024, at 76.
Sterban wrote about his own path in his 2012 memoir, “From Elvis to Elvira: My Life on Stage”, written with Steven Robinson. The book tells the story of his move from Presley’s stage to the Oak Ridge Boys, and of the five decades that followed.
Richard Sterban dies as tributes arrive from across country music. The Country Music Association said it was “deeply saddened to learn of the passing of Richard Sterban of The Oak Ridge Boys”. The family’s statement was shared by the group on social media.
The Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum paid tribute to Sterban on Saturday, remembering him as a foundational figure in country music whose career connected the genre’s gospel roots with mainstream success.
Funeral arrangements have not yet been announced.