<\/p>\n
Richard Sterban, a longtime member of The Oak Ridge Boys<\/a>, has been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer.<\/p>\n The 82-year-old musician shared his diagnosis in a statement<\/a> posted to the group\u2019s website Thursday, Sept. 25.<\/p>\n \u201cIn March of this year, I was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer,\u201d Sterban wrote. \u201cBut I am under the care of the best cancer doctors in the country and, with the help of the Good Lord above, I believe I will be able to get through this.\u201d<\/p>\n Sterban, who has been with The Oak Ridge Boys since 1972, added that \u201cMost days I\u2019m feeling very good, and I hope to be back out on the road in several months.\u201d<\/p>\n He went on to thank everyone, especially the fans, for their support. <\/p>\n \u201cI would appreciate your continued prayers,\u201d Sterban wrote. <\/p>\n Sterban, who sings bass for The Oak Ridge Boys, is arguably best known for his resounding vocals heard on songs such as \u201cElvira,\u201d one of the group\u2019s biggest hits.<\/p>\n The legendary group recorded \u201cElvira\u201d for their 1981 album \u201cFancy Free.\u201d The song climbed to No. 1 on Billboard\u2019s Hot Country Songs chart in May of that year, and reached No. 5 on the Hot 100 chart two months later.<\/p>\n The Oak Ridge Boys won a Grammy Award in 1982 for \u201cElvira,\u201d in the category of Best Country Performance by a Duo or Group With Vocal. The song also became a platinum-selling single.<\/p>\n \u201cElvira\u201d continues as a beloved staple in the band\u2019s concerts, along with songs such as \u201cBobbie Sue,\u201d \u201cThank God For Kids,\u201d \u201cAmerican Made,\u201d \u201cY\u2019All Come Back Saloon\u201d and more.<\/p>\n Sterban stopped touring with the band in spring 2025. Although fans were aware he was dealing with health issues, Sterban\u2019s cancer diagnosis was not revealed until Thursday.<\/p>\n Singers Aaron McCune and Tim Duncan have been filling in for Sterban on tour. His last appearance with the Oak Ridge Boys was at the ACM Awards on May 8. <\/p>\n The Oak Ridge Boys originally planned to retire after they first announced their \u201cAmerican Made: Farewell Tour\u201d in 2024. However, the band extended<\/a> the tour earlier this year.<\/p>\n The Oak Ridge Boys now has shows<\/a> scheduled through the end of 2025, including several \u201cAmerican Made Christmas\u201d shows<\/a> in December, an annual tradition for the band. It is unclear if Sterban will be joining them on those shows.<\/p>\n If you purchase a product or register for an account through a link on our site, we may receive compensation. By using this site, you consent to our User Agreement<\/a> and agree that your clicks, interactions, and personal information may be collected, recorded, and\/or stored by us and social media and other third-party partners in accordance with our Privacy Policy.<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n \u2018 The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n \u2018 Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.masslive.com \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Richard Sterban, a longtime member of The Oak Ridge Boys, has been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. The 82-year-old musician shared his diagnosis in a statement posted to the group\u2019s website Thursday, Sept. 25. \u201cIn March of this year, I was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer,\u201d Sterban wrote. \u201cBut I am under the care of the best […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[25172],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2051648","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-entertainment"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2051648","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2051648"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2051648\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2051648"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2051648"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2051648"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}