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The Oak Ridge Boys

American country and gospel vocal quartet

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General referenceInterpretive dossier study · Crown Archives visual atlas
Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionSep 25, 2026
Entity authoritySource title only
Source-derived summary

The Oak Ridge Boys are an American vocal quartet. The group consists of Duane Allen (lead), William Lee Golden (baritone), Richard Sterban (bass), and Ben James, who replaced Joe Bonsall as tenor in December of 2023. Allen, Bonsall, Golden, and Sterban comprised the group's longest-lasting lineup, from 1973 until 2023, except for the period between 1987 and 1995 when Golden was replaced by Steve Sanders.

Editorial summary

The public source identifies “The Oak Ridge Boys” as american country and gospel vocal quartet. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Ridge, Boys and American.

Editorial reviewA concise reference frame for defining the subject, testing terminology and identifying the institution closest to the evidence. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—2023, 1973, 1987, 1995—that can be checked directly. The selected authority fields contribute no independent date. Its value is orientation rather than verdict, with Ridge, Boys and American providing the first useful test.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

A short description can identify a subject without explaining its stakes. For “The Oak Ridge Boys”, the useful work is to connect “american country and gospel vocal quartet” to the records capable of establishing context and consequence.

Evidence profile

Named sources, stable identifiers and responsible institutions provide the strongest route from overview to verifiable evidence. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 25, 2026. The first chronological checks are 2023, 1973, 1987 and 1995.

Critical limits

Overview language is designed for orientation and should not be treated as a substitute for the evidence cited beneath it. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Use the entry as an orientation point, then follow its citations and revision history. Names, dates and institutional relationships should be checked against the original record.

Best used for
  • Subject orientation
  • Search vocabulary
  • Locating named sources
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The closest primary source, responsible institution and strongest cited specialist reference.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “The Oak Ridge Boys”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow The Oak Ridge Boys primary sources, The Oak Ridge Boys archive and Ridge research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

  1. Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “The Oak Ridge Boys”?
  2. Which institution is responsible for the underlying evidence?
  3. What terminology or title could unlock a more precise catalogue search?
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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from “The Oak Ridge Boys” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.