Famed musician is ‘truly humbled by the honor’
Tapoco – Eighteen months after a seven-mile stretch of U.S. Hwy. 129 in Graham County was named in his honor, Ronnie Milsap Highway signs have been installed between Yellow Creek Road and just past Meadow Branch Road, not far from the community where Milsap was raised.
The N.C. Department of Transportation board adopted a resolution in late 2020 to dedicate that section of highway in honor of the six-time Grammy winner and Country Music Hall of Fame member, who was born and raised in Graham County.
“I am truly humbled by the honor of having a road named for me in my hometown of Robbinsville, N.C.,” Milsap wrote to the Graham County Board of Commissioners. “It was there that I learned at a young age to be a proud son of Graham County and the State of North Carolina.”
Milsap, 79, grew up in Robbinsville and the Meadow Branch community. Milsap was born blind and raised by his grandparents in Graham County.
“No matter how many miles and years since I left there, I will always remember the lessons I learned at Meadow Branch Primitive Baptist Church or going down to Faset Jenkins Store, where as a boy, almost all of my clothes were purchased,” Milsap wrote. “Every time I sing or hear one of my earlier recordings of a song called, ‘Streets of Gold,’ it takes me back home to western North Carolina: ‘I’m a Western North Carolinian, made
of stone and red clay soil.’”
Milsap discovered music and his aptitudes while attending the N.C. State School for the Blind. He later recorded dozens of No. 1 hits across various charts to become one of the most popular artists in the late 1970s and early ’80s. He won six Grammys, Country Music Association Entertainer of the Year in 1977 and four Album of the Year awards. The video for his song, “She Loves My Car,” became the first country video played on MTV.
During his music career, he recorded 40 No. 1 hits, including “Smoky Mountain Rain.”
Milsap, who worked with the likes of Elvis Presley and Dolly Parton early in his career, spanned generations with his wide-ranging appeal and influenced the likes of modern country entertainers Jason Aldean, Luke Bryan and Little Big Town, according to the N.C. Board of Transportation news release announcing the highway naming.
The Graham County Board of Commissioners unanimously passed a resolution on Sept. 17, 2019 to rename the section as part of the N.C. Department of Transportation application process.
“Milsap has made a significant contribution to the national music industry,” the Graham County Board of Commissioners said in its application for the highway naming. “(He) is widely known by residents and visitors of Graham County as a national music entertainer … (and) embodies the values and heritage that make Graham County strong in its cultural heritage.”