Born 95 Years Ago Today in North Carolina, the Legendary Music Row Mogul Who Made Stars of Kris Kristofferson, Roy Orbison, and Dolly Parton

Born on a farm in Rutherford Country, North Carolina on this day (July 26) in 1931, Fred Foster left an indelible mark on the country music industry without ever singing a note. As co-founder of the highly influential Monument Records, Foster developed a keen eye for talent, giving artists like Roy Orbison, Dolly Parton, and Kris Kristofferson their start in country music.

Today, we’re remembering his immeasurable contributions to country music on what would have marked his 95th birthday.

Who Was Fred Foster?

A lifelong lover of music, Fred Foster left his family farm at age 18 and moved to Washington, D.C., taking a job in the food service industry.

He met Jimmy Dean there, overseeing the country singer’s first recording session, which yielded the Top 10 hit “Bumming Around”.

Foster would go on to work for Mercury Records and ABC-Paramount. At Mercury, he unsuccessfully tried to convince the label’s marketing director to sign a then-unknown Elvis Presley—an early sign of his sharp musical insight.

At ABC-Paramount, he picked up the master to George Hamilton IV’s recording of “A Rose and a Baby Ruth” from the tiny Colonial label, helping push it to number six on the pop charts.

Founding Monument Records

In March 1958, Fred Foster co-founded Monument Records and publishing company Combine Music with business manager Jack Kirby and Baltimore DJ “Buddy” Deane.

That same year, Monument landed its first hit with Billy Grammer’s “Gotta Travel On”. Then, in early 1959, the label signed a struggling singer named Roy Orbison. He had previously released just two singles with Sun Records, neither of which gained commercial traction.

Reaching number two on Billboard’s all-genre Hot 100 chart, “Only the Lonely” was the first of 18 hit singles and five best-selling albums.

Foster produced all of Orbison’s early hits, including “Pretty Woman”, “Running Scared”, “Blue Bayou”, and “Crying”.

The Move to Nashville

At the time, New York City was still the center of all things musical. However, preferring Nashville’s more down-home vibe, Fred Foster and Monument Records set up shop in downtown Music City in 1960.

“The union up there [in New York] gave me hassles,” Foster told Billboard in 2016. “Then I came down here, and everything was just so friendly and so family-like, you know. I thought, ‘This is where I need to be.’ ”

Although Roy Orbison departed Monument Records in 1965, that was far from the end of the label’s success. In fact, Foster signed a singer-songwriter named Dolly Parton that very same year, seeing immense crossover potential in the 19-year-old.

She recorded her first two Top 40 country hits, “Dumb Blonde” and “Something Fishy,” for the label before going on to become a star on The Porter Wagoner Show and with RCA Records.

“You saw things in me that nobody else did,” Parton told Foster during his Country Music Hall of Fame induction ceremony in 2016.

Throughout his prolific career, Foster also produced songs by Willie Nelson, Jeannie Seely, Larry Gatlin, Billy Joe Shaver, and more.

He received a songwriting credit on the Kris Kristofferson-penned “Me and Bobby McGee” after suggesting the title’s track and theme.

In 1971, Janis Joplin took the song to the top of the Billboard Hot 100.

[RELATED: On the Charts 55 Years Ago, Janis Joplin Started a Two-Week Run at No. 1 With Someone Else’s Song]

Fred Foster died from complications of a stroke in Nashville on February 20, 2019, at age 87.

Featured image by Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images