Earl Scruggs, the North Carolina-born banjoist whose syncopated three-finger picking technique became the driving force of the bluegrass style and one of the signature sounds of American music, has died at 88.
An obituary by Christopher Lehman-Haupt in The New York Times:
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/29/arts/music/earl-scruggs-bluegrass-banjo-player-dies-at-88.html?_r=1