'Hee Haw' star, 'first lady of the banjo' Roni Stoneman dies at 85

Roni Stoneman, banjo player and beloved "Hee Haw" star has died at the age of 85.

Born in 1938 to Ernest V. "Pop" and Hattie Stoneman, Roni was the second-youngest of her father's 23 children. She played banjo in the Stoneman family band, one of country music's earliest family groups. As of several years ago, Roni and her sister Donna, a mandolin player, continued to perform. With Roni's passing, Donna is the last surviving member of the Stoneman Family band.

While an accomplished banjo player, Stoneman became known for her comedic roles on "Hee Haw" including her character Ida Lee Nagger, known for her part in the Buck Owens and Buddy Allan song "Pfft You Were Gone!"

Kyle Young, CEO of the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum, said of Stoneman in a statement that she was known as the "First Lady of the Banjo."

"Country music was a birthright and her life’s work," Young's statement read. "Roni was an integral part of a bedrock country music family, who were longtime fixtures in the country music scene of Washington, DC. For 18 years on 'Hee Haw,' she stole scenes as both a skillful banjo player and as a comical, gap-toothed country character. She was a great talent and a strong woman."

She resided in Nashville, and the cause of her death is unknown.

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Roni Stoneman: ‘Hee Haw' star passes away at 85