Buddy Greene (born October 30, 1953) is an American

singer Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or without ...

songwriter A songwriter is a musician who professionally composes musical compositions or writes lyrics for songs, or both. The writer of the music for a song can be called a composer, although this term tends to be used mainly in the classical music gen ...

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected stri ...

player and

harmonica The harmonica, also known as a French harp or mouth organ, is a free reed wind instrument used worldwide in many musical genres, notably in blues, American folk music, classical music, jazz, country, and rock. The many types of harmonica inclu ...

player. Most of his recordings consist of

gospel music Gospel music is a traditional genre of Christian music, and a cornerstone of Christian media. The creation, performance, significance, and even the definition of gospel music varies according to culture and social context. Gospel music is com ...

with a distinctly

Southern gospel Southern gospel music is a genre of Christian music. Its name comes from its origins in the southeastern United States. Its lyrics are written to express either personal or a communal faith regarding biblical teachings and Christian life, as ...

flavor. Much of his music is influenced by

country music Country (also called country and western) is a genre of popular music that originated in the Southern and Southwestern United States in the early 1920s. It primarily derives from blues, church music such as Southern gospel and spirituals, ...

and

bluegrass music Bluegrass music is a genre of American roots music The term American folk music encompasses numerous music genres, variously known as ''traditional music'', ''traditional folk music'', ''contemporary folk music'', ''vernacular music,'' or ...

. Greene grew up in

Macon, Georgia Macon ( ), officially Macon–Bibb County, is a consolidated city-county in the U.S. state of Georgia. Situated near the fall line of the Ocmulgee River, it is located southeast of Atlanta and lies near the geographic center of the state of Geo ...

. He has written the music for many songs and also co-wrote the Christmas song "

Mary, Did You Know? "Mary, Did You Know?" is a Christmas song addressing Mary, mother of Jesus, with lyrics written by Mark Lowry in 1984, and music written by Buddy Greene in 1991. It was originally recorded by Christian recording artist Michael English on his self ...

" with

Mark Lowry Mark Alan Lowry (born June 24, 1958) is an American singer, comedian, minister and songwriter. He is best known for co-writing the song "Mary, Did You Know?" and being a member of the Gaither Vocal Band from 1988 to 2001, and 2009 to 2013, alo ...

; Greene also wrote "Recovering Pharisee" recorded by

Del McCoury Delano Floyd McCoury (born February 1, 1939) is an American bluegrass musician. As leader of the Del McCoury Band, he plays guitar and sings lead vocals along with his two sons, Ronnie McCoury and Rob McCoury, who play mandolin and banjo respec ...

, and "He Is" recorded by

Ashley Cleveland Ashley Cleveland (born February 2, 1957) is an American singer/songwriter best known as a background vocalist and gospel singer. Ashley Cleveland was born in Knoxville, Tennessee. She has been married to Kenny Greenberg since April 27, 1991, a ...

. He is considered a harmonica legend by many, and once played a classical harmonica medley at

Carnegie Hall Carnegie Hall ( ) is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan in New York City. It is at 881 Seventh Avenue (Manhattan), Seventh Avenue, occupying the east side of Seventh Avenue between West 56th Street (Manhattan), 56th and 57th Street (Manhatta ...

Discography

*''Praise You, Lord'' (Fortress) - 1986 *''Praise Harmonica'' (Fortress) - 1987 *''Slice of Life'' (Fortress) *''Sojourner's Song'' (Word) - 1990 *''Grace for the Moment'' - 1994 *''Buddy Greene & Friends Live'' (Fortress) - 1992 *''Minstrel of the Lord'' (Fortress) - 1995 *''Simple Praise'' (Fortress) - 1996 *''Christmas …Not Just Any Night'' - 1998 *''Re: Sinners & Saints'' (Ministry Music) - 2000 *''Rufus'' (Rufus) - 2002 *''Pilgrimage: A Collection of Favorites'' (Spring Hill) *''*Hymns and Prayer Songs'' (Spring Hill Music) - 2004 *''Happy Man'' (Rufus) - 2007 *''A Few More Years'' - 2009 *''The Best of Buddy Greene: From the Homecoming Series'' (Gaither Music Group) - 2010 *''Harmonica Anthology'' (Rufus) - 2011 *''December's Song'' - 2013 *''Someday'' - 2016 *''Looking Back'' (Rufus) - 2017

Charts

References

External links

Homepage"Classical Medley" by Buddy Greene (Harmonica)Buddy Greene harmonica performance at Carnegie Hall, standing ovation
1953 births Living people American gospel singers American harmonica players Musicians from Macon, Georgia Southern gospel performers {{US-musician-stub