Lester Flatt (June 19, 1914 - May 11, 1979) was one of the pioneers of bluegrass music. A singer and guitarist, he first came to prominence as a member of Bill Monroe's Blue Grass Boys in the 1940s. In 1948 he started a band with fellow Monroe alumnus Earl Scruggs, and for the next twenty years Flatt and Scruggs and the Foggy Mountain Boys were one of the most successful bands in bluegrass. When they parted ways in 1969, Flatt formed a new group, the Nashville Grass, hiring most of the Foggy Mountain Boys. He continued to record and perform with that group until his death in 1979.