Nashville music legend Jimmy Capps has died at the age of 81. For over 50 years, Capps played guitar in the house band of the Grand Ole Opry.

“My first time at the Opry I remember being struck by the fact that legends like Jimmy Capps blended in without fanfare in the background," country superstar Brad Paisley told Nashville's Tennessean newspaper in an interview shortly after Capps’ death. "All the while, the younger acts were most likely unaware of the fact that the guy strumming a guitar on their song also did that on 'He Stopped Loving Her Today.' And 'Stand by Your Man.' And 'Amarillo by Morning.'"

"We will miss this man so much, but I'm so glad I got to be on that stage at the same time he was,” Paisley added.

"The heavenly choir has gained one of the finest players to ever play," the Oak Ridge Boys expressed on their social media pages Tuesday (June 2) about Capps, who played alongside them on the recording of their 1981 hit “Elvira.”  "And quite frankly one of the finest men to ever live."

In 2018, the Grand Ole Opry honored his 60 years at the famed institution by naming one of their rehearsal spaces the Jimmy Capps Music Room. The Country Music Hall of Fame also honored Capps as one of the famed Nashville Cats session players in 2012, and in 2014, Capps was inducted into the Musicians Hall of Fame.

The Grand Ole Opry confirmed Capps' death on Tuesday June 2. His cause of death has not been disclosed publicly.

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