Melvin Goins (December 30, 1933 - July 29, 2016) was an American bluegrass guitarist and singer, among the first generation of bluegrass stars. He and his younger brother, Ray Goins (January 3, 1936 – July 2, 2007) an American bluegrass banjoist, performed as teenagers in West Virginia and played their first radio show in 1951.
The brothers worked as The Shenandoah Playboys, until the Lonesome Pine Fiddlers asked them to join their band a few years later. As the Goins Brothers, they recorded more than 30 albums and performed around the world. They had a Saturday morning television program in Kentucky that ran for years. Melvin played bass for Ralph and Carter Stanley and did a comedy act on the 'Grand Ole Opry' with Mike Snider. In the ’70s and ’80s, Melvin got into event promotion, putting on bluegrass festivals in West Virginia, Kentucky and Ohio. Melvin continued performing after Ray retired, working a heavy schedule each year. Ray died from cancer in 2007. In October 2009, Melvin, Bobby Osborne, and Paul Williams were inducted into the International Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame for their work with the Lonesome Pine Fiddlers. In 2011, Melvin was honored along with his late brother into the Kentucky Music Hall of Fame. Goins died unexpectedly while touring in Canada. Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.