Charles Edward Daniels (born October 28, 1936) is an American singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist known for his contributions to Southern rock, country, and bluegrass music. He is best known for his number-one country hit “The Devil Went Down to Georgia“. Daniels has been active as a singer and musician since the 1950s. He was inducted into the Cheyenne Frontier Days Hall of Fame in 2002, the Grand Ole Opry in 2008, the Musicians Hall of Fame and Museum in 2009, and the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2016. Daniels was born October 28, 1936, in Wilmington, North Carolina, and raised on a musical diet that included Pentecostal gospel, local bluegrass bands, and the rhythm & blues and country music from Nashville’s 50,000-watt radio stations WLAC and WSM (AM). In 2016, he shared memories of his youth and baseball in Wilmington when he wrote the foreword for a book on the Tobacco State League. As a teenager, Daniels moved to the small town of Gulf, Chatham County, North Carolina. He graduated from high school in 1955. Already skilled on guitar, fiddle, banjo, and mandolin, he formed a rock ‘n’ roll band and hit the road. In 1964, Daniels co-wrote “It Hurts Me” (a song which Elvis Presley recorded) with his friend, producer Bob Johnston, under Bob’s wife’s name, Joy Byers. He worked as a Nashville session musician, often for Johnston, including playing guitar and electric bass on three Bob Dylan albums during 1969 and 1970, and on recordings by Leonard Cohen. Daniels recorded his first solo album, Charlie Daniels, in 1971 (see 1971 in country music). He also produced the 1969 album by the Youngbloods, Elephant Mountain.