If you love the sound of today's country, thank Chet Atkins. Known as "Mister Guitar," the Tennessee native has been a staple in the country music industry since the early ‘50s.

Born Chester Burton Atkins in 1924, he moved to Georgia with his touring evangelist piano teacher father after the mountainous ranges of his hometown proved to be too much for the asthmatic, guitar strumming boy. At 18 he was hired as a fiddler for the Knoxville radio station WNOX. His music deemed too arty for standard hillbilly stations, his love of jazz and country finally emerged when his instrumental assistance caught the attention of Nashville producers, Steve Sholes becoming Atkins' presence at RCA.

The instrumentalists work spread quickly in the soon-to-be-aptly-named Music City, Atkins helping to fashion this sound of Nashville. He finally released his debut LP, Gallopin' Guitar, found his first hit with a version of "Mr. Sandman," and began consulting RCA's Nashville division. By the late ‘50s, his records sold well and he even designed guitars for Gibson and Gretsch, models still popular today.

Atkins's continued to play throughout the ‘60s, performing at the Newport Jazz Festival and at the White House, and pioneering a country sound that was unlike anything heard before. The mid-1960's saw Atkins producing 25-acts simultaneously, including Willie Nelson and Charlie Rich, while maintaining his own work. He produced for RCA's Nashville acts, and has his last major hit single, "Country Gentleman," in 1969. He was the youngest person ever to be inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1973. He published an autobiography in '74 and developed his own Gibson Guitar in '77.

In 1982 he left RCA and signed with Columbia, releasing Work It Out With Chet Atkins, departing from his more traditional country roots and creating a more jazzy sound. He created many more albums with the new label, before dying of cancer in 2001.