Dierks Bentley mourned the loss of bluegrass legend Ronnie Bowman in a heartfelt tribute on Sunday (March 22).

Bowman died of his injuries in a motorcycle accident over the weekend in Ashland City, Tennessee, outside of Nashville, per reports from Bluegrass Today, The Independent and other outlets. He was 64. Bentley said it’s “going to take awhile for it to sink in that Ronnie Bowman is gone. He was the favorite bluegrass and country singer of everyone I know. And he was everyone’s favorite hang.”

Bentley, a longtime fan of bluegrass music, reflected on moments he shared with Bowman, including at The Station Inn in Nashville and at the first-ever DelFest, an annual music festival in Cumberland, Maryland.

“My wife loved Ronnie’s song ‘It’s Getting Better All the Time’ (which Brooks and Dunn cut),” Bentley wrote in his tribute to Bowman on Instagram. “Obsessed really. And while she was sleeping in a bunk on the bus, I went and found Ronnie and asked him if he would come serenade her! He came up on the bus with his guitar, snuck back into the middle bunk section which is very dark, hit the first chord and ‘I don’t stop breathing every time the phone rings….’ Imagine sleeping and all of a sudden you hear someone who’s voice you love but hadn’t met, singing your current all time fav song, six inches away from your head on the other side of a bus bunk curtain, in the pitch dark. Shock and confusion followed by tears and laughs.

“It was the sweetest thing to do, and that’s just how he was,” Bentley remembered. “Listening to that song takes on a whole new meaning now. Can’t imagine what Garnet [Bowman’s wife, singer Garnet Imes Bowman], his family and all his close friends are feeling right now. Thoughts and prayers for them, and for all the RoBo fans out there, as he’s affectionally referred to in my band. We all loved him.”

Others, including John Carter Cash, Sierra Hull, Rhonda Vincent and Allison Krauss shared tributes of their own in Bowman’s memory. The Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame stated that Bowman “will be remembered for something even more meaningful [than his music]—his encouragement and his friendship. He had a unique way of making people believe in themselves.”

Bowman’s career spanned decades and played a significant role in shaping the genre in the 90s, per Bluegrass Today. The North Carolina-born artist was known for solo projects, his work with the Lonesome River Band and The Travelin’ McCoureys, his songs he wrote that other artists recorded (including Chris Stapleton and Kenny Chesney), and earned numerous honors from the International Bluegrass Music Association. The Independent notes that Bowman is survived by his wife and the couple’s daughter, Chassidy Bowman.

“Ronnie was beloved by so many in our music community, whom he loved so dearly… and we are beyond grateful for all of the love & outpouring toward us already,” Bowman’s family said in a statement shared by Rolling Stone. “Right now, as we process, we just covet your prayers. We have no words at this time, but thank you and graciously request that you honor our privacy while we try to put our heads around this and grieve.”

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