On Friday, April 24, 2020, Harold Reid died at the age of 80 in Staunton, Virginia, surrounded by his wife and children.
Four days later, something quietly remarkable happened in the hometown Harold Reid had never left.
There was no packed concert hall, no roaring applause, and no crowd of thousands singing along. Instead, on Tuesday, April 28, Mayor Carolyn Dull placed a memorial wreath at the Statler Brothers Tribute monument in downtown Staunton.
Among those gathered was Brenda Reid, Harold Reid’s wife of nearly 60 years.
The ceremony was small. Family members and city officials stood apart because of COVID-19 restrictions. Yet the meaning of that gathering reached far beyond the few people who could attend.
For a man who had spent decades bringing people together through music, the final public tribute in his hometown was almost painfully quiet.
The Man Who Never Forgot Where Home Was
Harold Reid was known across America as the unmistakable bass voice of The Statler Brothers. Alongside Don Reid, Phil Balsley, and first Lew DeWitt, then Jimmy Fortune, Harold Reid helped build one of country music’s most beloved vocal groups.
The Statler Brothers spent years performing with Johnny Cash, earned Grammy Awards, appeared on national television, and eventually entered the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2008.
But success never persuaded Harold Reid to abandon Staunton.
Harold Reid and Brenda Reid married on October 15, 1960. The couple raised their five children in the community where Harold Reid had grown up. Even as The Statler Brothers traveled across America, the group’s business operations remained based in Staunton.
And Harold Reid gave the town something that would become part of its identity.
When 100,000 People Came to Celebrate With Harold Reid
In 1970, The Statler Brothers began a hometown Fourth of July celebration called Happy Birthday U.S.A.
What started as a community gathering grew into an extraordinary annual tradition.
For 25 years, The Statler Brothers brought music, celebrations, and famous country performers to Staunton. At its peak, the event attracted approximately 100,000 people to a town with only a fraction of that population.
Johnny Cash, Conway Twitty, Reba McEntire, and other stars were among the guests who participated over the years.
Families traveled long distances. Fans filled the grounds with lawn chairs. For many people, seeing The Statler Brothers on Independence Day became a treasured family tradition.
The group’s final hometown Fourth of July concert came in 1994.
Twenty-six years later, the contrast could hardly have been greater.
The town that once welcomed enormous crowds to hear Harold Reid sing could now offer only a modest, socially distanced farewell.
Jimmy Fortune Remembered One Last Conversation
One of the most personal memories came from Jimmy Fortune, who joined The Statler Brothers in 1982 and spent two decades performing alongside Harold Reid.
After Harold Reid’s death, Jimmy Fortune told WHSV television that the two had talked a few weeks earlier.
The conversation was not simply about illness or the passing of time. Jimmy Fortune remembered discussing old memories, things the friends missed, and experiences they had shared.
Most importantly, Jimmy Fortune remembered the laughter.
Even near the end, the humor that had made Harold Reid such a memorable presence onstage was still part of the friendship.
Jimmy Fortune later explained how much Harold Reid had meant personally and professionally. Harold Reid had helped give Jimmy Fortune an opportunity that changed the younger singer’s life.
For audiences, Harold Reid was the booming bass voice and the comedian who could make a concert hall laugh. For Jimmy Fortune, Harold Reid was also a friend and mentor.
A Wreath, a Family, and a Hometown That Remembered
On April 28, 2020, the wreath at the Statler Brothers monument represented more than the loss of a celebrated musician.
It honored a songwriter, entertainer, husband, father, brother, and neighbor who had remained part of Staunton throughout an extraordinary career.
Harold Reid’s younger brother Don Reid had shared the stage for decades. Brenda Reid had shared almost 60 years of marriage. Generations of listeners had grown up with the music.
And although the circumstances prevented the kind of large public farewell that Harold Reid’s career might have inspired, the small ceremony carried a meaning of its own.
There is something especially moving about the fact that Harold Reid could have made a home almost anywhere after becoming famous.
Harold Reid chose to stay.
For 25 summers, Staunton had celebrated with The Statler Brothers. On one quiet Tuesday in April, Staunton gathered to remember the man whose music had helped make those summers unforgettable.
The crowds were gone. The concert was over. But the hometown Harold Reid loved was still there.