NORTHWEST
LOUISIANA
WALK OF STARS
2026 INDUCTEE SPOTLIGHT
The Cox Family
GRAMMY® Award-Winning Legends of Bluegrass, Gospel & Country
Deep in the heart of Webster Parish, in the small community of Cotton Valley, Louisiana, a musical legacy was quietly taking root — one that would eventually earn the highest honors in American music and leave an indelible mark on the worlds of bluegrass, gospel, and country. The Cox Family is that legacy: a multi-generational family ensemble whose soaring harmonies, rooted authenticity, and unwavering devotion to traditional music have made them one of the most beloved acts in American roots music history.
On Monday, April 27, 2026, the Northwest Louisiana Walk of Stars is proud to honor The Cox Family with one of its most prestigious recognitions. The induction ceremony will take place at 10:00 a.m. at Chamber Plaza, 400 Edwards St., Shreveport, LA. The Walk of Stars itself is located under the Texas Street Bridge in Shreveport’s vibrant Red River Entertainment District, where it recognizes and pays tribute to individuals and entities of national and international acclaim with roots in Northwest Louisiana. Then on the following Wednesday evening, The Cox Family will take the stage at the Shreveport Municipal Auditorium — the storied home of the historic Louisiana Hayride — as the opening act for their longtime friend and collaborator, Alison Krauss. It promises to be a day of extraordinary celebration for Northwest Louisiana’s musical heritage.
Humble Roots: Cotton Valley to the Country Music World
The Cox Family story begins with patriarch Willard Cox (June 9, 1937 – November 4, 2019), a Cotton Valley oilfield worker whose true passion lay in the fiddle and in song. Willard had begun his musical career as early as 1964, performing with a group called Dewey Keene and the Country Squires. Over time, he shared that love of music with his wife Marie and their children, forming the family band in the early 1970s. Willard’s dedication to his music was so absolute that, when the band’s growing performance schedule conflicted with his day job, he made a defining choice — he walked away from his oilfield career, leaving behind 13 years of earned retirement, so that The Cox Family could take to the road full time.
The band first began performing regularly together at fairs and festivals in the mid-1970s, gradually building a loyal following throughout Louisiana and beyond. Their sound — a blend of traditional bluegrass, heartfelt gospel, and classic country — was never easy to categorize. As Willard himself once said, “We never did like to categorize ourselves as hard-core bluegrass.” That refusal to be boxed in became one of their defining strengths.
Founding / Original Members
Willard Cox (fiddle, vocals)
The patriarch and founder. A lifelong musician whose vision, sacrifice, and deep love of traditional music laid the foundation for everything the family would achieve. Willard remained an active presence in the band until his passing in 2019.
Marie Cox (vocals)
Wife of Willard and the heart of the family. Marie’s harmonies graced the band’s early recordings, and her influence on the family’s musical identity was immeasurable. She passed away in February 2009 after a courageous battle with cancer.
Evelyn Cox (guitar, vocals)
Born June 20, 1959, in Springhill, Louisiana, Evelyn served as one of the band’s primary lead vocalists. Her ethereal voice became one of the Cox Family’s most immediately recognizable signatures.
Lynn Cox (bass, vocals)
One of the original Cox daughters, Lynn contributed her alto vocals and bass playing to the family’s early sound. She stepped away from regular touring in the early 1990s.
Sidney Cox (banjo, dobro, guitar, vocals)
Born July 21, 1965, in Homer, Louisiana, Sidney is not only a gifted multi-instrumentalist but one of the most accomplished songwriters to emerge from the bluegrass world. His compositions have been recorded by Alison Krauss, appearing on her Grammy-winning albums, and he was inducted into the Songwriter’s Guild Hall of Fame in 1995.
Suzanne Cox (mandolin, vocals)
Born June 5, 1967, in Springhill, Louisiana, Suzanne’s high tenor harmony is a cornerstone of the Cox Family’s sound. Her mandolin work and vocal brilliance have been central to the group’s identity across decades.
Current Members
Today, the legacy of Willard Cox lives on through his son Sidney Cox and Sidney’s daughters — Anna, Sara, and Lydia Cox. The third generation has stepped into the family tradition with the same harmonious grace that defined the original lineup, carrying more than 70 years of musical legacy into the present day. The current group continues to record and perform, appearing at major bluegrass and gospel festivals across the country and abroad, including a celebrated international performance at the world-renowned Matt Malloy’s in Westport, Ireland.
Achievements & Milestones
The GRAMMY Awards
The pinnacle of The Cox Family’s recording career came with their 1994 collaboration with Alison Krauss on I Know Who Holds Tomorrow (Rounder Records). The album earned The Cox Family and Krauss the 1995 Grammy Award for Best Southern, Country, or Bluegrass Gospel Album — one of the most celebrated recordings in bluegrass gospel history. The Cox Family also shared a Grammy Award for their contribution to the various-artists project Amazing Grace: A Country Salute to Gospel. Additionally, their 1995 album Beyond the City earned a Grammy nomination for Best Bluegrass Album, cementing their status as one of the genre’s premier acts.
The Alison Krauss Connection
Few relationships in American roots music have been as fruitful as that between The Cox Family and Alison Krauss. The connection began in the late 1980s when the two acts crossed paths at a Texas festival. Krauss was so taken with the family’s music that she personally brought one of their home recordings to Rounder Records, eventually producing their 1993 major debut, Everybody's Reaching Out for Someone. Krauss went on to record several of Sidney Cox’s original compositions for her own Grammy-winning albums, including “I’ve Got That Old Feeling,” “Steel Rails,” and “New Fool.” The friendship and musical partnership between the two acts has endured for more than three decades.
O Brother, Where Art Thou? — A Cultural Touchstone
In 2000, The Cox Family contributed to what became one of the most celebrated film soundtracks in American music history. Their recording of “I Am Weary (Let Me Rest)” appeared on the Coen Brothers’ O Brother, Where Art Thou? soundtrack — a multi-Grammy-winning project that rose to number one on the pop, country, bluegrass, and soundtrack charts. The family also made a cameo appearance in the film itself. On May 24, 2000, they performed at a sold-out Ryman Auditorium as part of the Down from the Mountain concert tour, live album, and concert film. The Cox Family also appeared on the 1997 motion picture soundtrack for Traveller, contributing renditions of the Carter Family classics “I’m Thinking Tonight of My Blue Eyes” and “Sweeter Than the Flowers.”
Sidney Cox: Songwriter & Hall of Famer
Beyond his role as a performer, Sidney Cox earned recognition as one of bluegrass’s most gifted songwriters. In 1995, he was inducted into the Songwriter’s Guild Hall of Fame — a rare honor that speaks to the literary quality and emotional resonance of his compositions. His songs have been recorded by some of the biggest names in roots music, most notably Alison Krauss.
Additional Honors & Milestones
In 1996, The Cox Family received the Big Easy Entertainment Award for Best Country/Folk Artist. That same year, their 1994 Counting Crows tour — a remarkable pairing that introduced The Cox Family to massive mainstream audiences — reflected the universal appeal of their sound across genre lines. In 2015, after nearly two decades away from the studio, the family released Gone Like the Cotton — a long-lost album whose original tapes had been rediscovered and completed with Krauss’s help — to wide critical acclaim. Most recently, their 2024 single “The First Time I Heard About Heaven” reached the #2 spot on the Mountain Bluegrass Gospel Top 12 on WSBB Radio, proving their music remains as resonant as ever.
What The Cox Family Is Most Known For
Above all else, The Cox Family is known for their shared-DNA harmonies — a quality that critics and fellow musicians alike have long described as something almost supernatural. Music critics have noted that their voices blend with an organic, effortless quality that can only come from a lifetime of singing together as a family. As one reviewer put it, The Cox Family represents “pure American music, plain and simple” — an amalgam of folk, blues, country, and gospel that joyfully defies easy categorization.
Their production philosophy has always emphasized acoustic purity — minimal overdubs, unprocessed tones, and a natural, in-the-room feel that mirrors the intimate atmosphere of a family gathering around the porch. This dedication to authenticity is as much a spiritual commitment as an artistic one; for The Cox Family, music is inseparable from faith, from family, and from the red-clay roots of Northwest Louisiana.
They are also celebrated for the extraordinary multigenerational resilience of their story: through Willard’s career-defining sacrifice of his oilfield retirement, through a devastating automobile accident in 2000 that left Willard paralyzed, through the loss of Marie Cox, and through the passage of leadership to a new generation — the Cox Family has endured. Music, as Willard once said, “has been a way of life for us from the word go.”
April 29 — A Night to Remember at Shreveport Municipal Auditorium
On the evening of Wednesday, April 29, 2026, The Cox Family will take the stage at the legendary Shreveport Municipal Auditorium — the storied home of the historic Louisiana Hayride, the launching pad for icons including Elvis Presley, Hank Williams, and Johnny Cash — as the opening act for their dear friend and longtime collaborator Alison Krauss and Union Station. It is a pairing that carries the full weight of music history: two acts whose intertwined careers helped define American roots music for more than three decades, reuniting on one of the most historically significant stages in the South. For fans of bluegrass, gospel, and country music across the region, this performance represents a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to witness a Northwest Louisiana treasure on home soil.
SAVE THE DATE
Walk of Stars Induction Ceremony
Monday, April 27, 2026 • 10:00 a.m.
Chamber Plaza, 400 Edwards St., Shreveport, LA
The Walk is located under the Texas Street Bridge, Red River Entertainment District
The Northwest Louisiana Walk of Stars recognizes persons and entities that have achieved national and/or international acclaim and have roots in Northwest Louisiana.
LOUISIANA
WALK OF STARS
2026 INDUCTEE SPOTLIGHT
The Cox Family
GRAMMY® Award-Winning Legends of Bluegrass, Gospel & Country
Deep in the heart of Webster Parish, in the small community of Cotton Valley, Louisiana, a musical legacy was quietly taking root — one that would eventually earn the highest honors in American music and leave an indelible mark on the worlds of bluegrass, gospel, and country. The Cox Family is that legacy: a multi-generational family ensemble whose soaring harmonies, rooted authenticity, and unwavering devotion to traditional music have made them one of the most beloved acts in American roots music history.
On Monday, April 27, 2026, the Northwest Louisiana Walk of Stars is proud to honor The Cox Family with one of its most prestigious recognitions. The induction ceremony will take place at 10:00 a.m. at Chamber Plaza, 400 Edwards St., Shreveport, LA. The Walk of Stars itself is located under the Texas Street Bridge in Shreveport’s vibrant Red River Entertainment District, where it recognizes and pays tribute to individuals and entities of national and international acclaim with roots in Northwest Louisiana. Then on the following Wednesday evening, The Cox Family will take the stage at the Shreveport Municipal Auditorium — the storied home of the historic Louisiana Hayride — as the opening act for their longtime friend and collaborator, Alison Krauss. It promises to be a day of extraordinary celebration for Northwest Louisiana’s musical heritage.
Humble Roots: Cotton Valley to the Country Music World
The Cox Family story begins with patriarch Willard Cox (June 9, 1937 – November 4, 2019), a Cotton Valley oilfield worker whose true passion lay in the fiddle and in song. Willard had begun his musical career as early as 1964, performing with a group called Dewey Keene and the Country Squires. Over time, he shared that love of music with his wife Marie and their children, forming the family band in the early 1970s. Willard’s dedication to his music was so absolute that, when the band’s growing performance schedule conflicted with his day job, he made a defining choice — he walked away from his oilfield career, leaving behind 13 years of earned retirement, so that The Cox Family could take to the road full time.
The band first began performing regularly together at fairs and festivals in the mid-1970s, gradually building a loyal following throughout Louisiana and beyond. Their sound — a blend of traditional bluegrass, heartfelt gospel, and classic country — was never easy to categorize. As Willard himself once said, “We never did like to categorize ourselves as hard-core bluegrass.” That refusal to be boxed in became one of their defining strengths.
Founding / Original Members
Willard Cox (fiddle, vocals)
The patriarch and founder. A lifelong musician whose vision, sacrifice, and deep love of traditional music laid the foundation for everything the family would achieve. Willard remained an active presence in the band until his passing in 2019.
Marie Cox (vocals)
Wife of Willard and the heart of the family. Marie’s harmonies graced the band’s early recordings, and her influence on the family’s musical identity was immeasurable. She passed away in February 2009 after a courageous battle with cancer.
Evelyn Cox (guitar, vocals)
Born June 20, 1959, in Springhill, Louisiana, Evelyn served as one of the band’s primary lead vocalists. Her ethereal voice became one of the Cox Family’s most immediately recognizable signatures.
Lynn Cox (bass, vocals)
One of the original Cox daughters, Lynn contributed her alto vocals and bass playing to the family’s early sound. She stepped away from regular touring in the early 1990s.
Sidney Cox (banjo, dobro, guitar, vocals)
Born July 21, 1965, in Homer, Louisiana, Sidney is not only a gifted multi-instrumentalist but one of the most accomplished songwriters to emerge from the bluegrass world. His compositions have been recorded by Alison Krauss, appearing on her Grammy-winning albums, and he was inducted into the Songwriter’s Guild Hall of Fame in 1995.
Suzanne Cox (mandolin, vocals)
Born June 5, 1967, in Springhill, Louisiana, Suzanne’s high tenor harmony is a cornerstone of the Cox Family’s sound. Her mandolin work and vocal brilliance have been central to the group’s identity across decades.
Current Members
Today, the legacy of Willard Cox lives on through his son Sidney Cox and Sidney’s daughters — Anna, Sara, and Lydia Cox. The third generation has stepped into the family tradition with the same harmonious grace that defined the original lineup, carrying more than 70 years of musical legacy into the present day. The current group continues to record and perform, appearing at major bluegrass and gospel festivals across the country and abroad, including a celebrated international performance at the world-renowned Matt Malloy’s in Westport, Ireland.
Achievements & Milestones
The GRAMMY Awards
The pinnacle of The Cox Family’s recording career came with their 1994 collaboration with Alison Krauss on I Know Who Holds Tomorrow (Rounder Records). The album earned The Cox Family and Krauss the 1995 Grammy Award for Best Southern, Country, or Bluegrass Gospel Album — one of the most celebrated recordings in bluegrass gospel history. The Cox Family also shared a Grammy Award for their contribution to the various-artists project Amazing Grace: A Country Salute to Gospel. Additionally, their 1995 album Beyond the City earned a Grammy nomination for Best Bluegrass Album, cementing their status as one of the genre’s premier acts.
The Alison Krauss Connection
Few relationships in American roots music have been as fruitful as that between The Cox Family and Alison Krauss. The connection began in the late 1980s when the two acts crossed paths at a Texas festival. Krauss was so taken with the family’s music that she personally brought one of their home recordings to Rounder Records, eventually producing their 1993 major debut, Everybody's Reaching Out for Someone. Krauss went on to record several of Sidney Cox’s original compositions for her own Grammy-winning albums, including “I’ve Got That Old Feeling,” “Steel Rails,” and “New Fool.” The friendship and musical partnership between the two acts has endured for more than three decades.
O Brother, Where Art Thou? — A Cultural Touchstone
In 2000, The Cox Family contributed to what became one of the most celebrated film soundtracks in American music history. Their recording of “I Am Weary (Let Me Rest)” appeared on the Coen Brothers’ O Brother, Where Art Thou? soundtrack — a multi-Grammy-winning project that rose to number one on the pop, country, bluegrass, and soundtrack charts. The family also made a cameo appearance in the film itself. On May 24, 2000, they performed at a sold-out Ryman Auditorium as part of the Down from the Mountain concert tour, live album, and concert film. The Cox Family also appeared on the 1997 motion picture soundtrack for Traveller, contributing renditions of the Carter Family classics “I’m Thinking Tonight of My Blue Eyes” and “Sweeter Than the Flowers.”
Sidney Cox: Songwriter & Hall of Famer
Beyond his role as a performer, Sidney Cox earned recognition as one of bluegrass’s most gifted songwriters. In 1995, he was inducted into the Songwriter’s Guild Hall of Fame — a rare honor that speaks to the literary quality and emotional resonance of his compositions. His songs have been recorded by some of the biggest names in roots music, most notably Alison Krauss.
Additional Honors & Milestones
In 1996, The Cox Family received the Big Easy Entertainment Award for Best Country/Folk Artist. That same year, their 1994 Counting Crows tour — a remarkable pairing that introduced The Cox Family to massive mainstream audiences — reflected the universal appeal of their sound across genre lines. In 2015, after nearly two decades away from the studio, the family released Gone Like the Cotton — a long-lost album whose original tapes had been rediscovered and completed with Krauss’s help — to wide critical acclaim. Most recently, their 2024 single “The First Time I Heard About Heaven” reached the #2 spot on the Mountain Bluegrass Gospel Top 12 on WSBB Radio, proving their music remains as resonant as ever.
What The Cox Family Is Most Known For
Above all else, The Cox Family is known for their shared-DNA harmonies — a quality that critics and fellow musicians alike have long described as something almost supernatural. Music critics have noted that their voices blend with an organic, effortless quality that can only come from a lifetime of singing together as a family. As one reviewer put it, The Cox Family represents “pure American music, plain and simple” — an amalgam of folk, blues, country, and gospel that joyfully defies easy categorization.
Their production philosophy has always emphasized acoustic purity — minimal overdubs, unprocessed tones, and a natural, in-the-room feel that mirrors the intimate atmosphere of a family gathering around the porch. This dedication to authenticity is as much a spiritual commitment as an artistic one; for The Cox Family, music is inseparable from faith, from family, and from the red-clay roots of Northwest Louisiana.
They are also celebrated for the extraordinary multigenerational resilience of their story: through Willard’s career-defining sacrifice of his oilfield retirement, through a devastating automobile accident in 2000 that left Willard paralyzed, through the loss of Marie Cox, and through the passage of leadership to a new generation — the Cox Family has endured. Music, as Willard once said, “has been a way of life for us from the word go.”
April 29 — A Night to Remember at Shreveport Municipal Auditorium
On the evening of Wednesday, April 29, 2026, The Cox Family will take the stage at the legendary Shreveport Municipal Auditorium — the storied home of the historic Louisiana Hayride, the launching pad for icons including Elvis Presley, Hank Williams, and Johnny Cash — as the opening act for their dear friend and longtime collaborator Alison Krauss and Union Station. It is a pairing that carries the full weight of music history: two acts whose intertwined careers helped define American roots music for more than three decades, reuniting on one of the most historically significant stages in the South. For fans of bluegrass, gospel, and country music across the region, this performance represents a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to witness a Northwest Louisiana treasure on home soil.
SAVE THE DATE
Walk of Stars Induction Ceremony
Monday, April 27, 2026 • 10:00 a.m.
Chamber Plaza, 400 Edwards St., Shreveport, LA
The Walk is located under the Texas Street Bridge, Red River Entertainment District
The Northwest Louisiana Walk of Stars recognizes persons and entities that have achieved national and/or international acclaim and have roots in Northwest Louisiana.
