NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — We're saying goodbye to a longtime Nashville performer and someone a few of us at NewsChannel 5 knew well. After living with cancer, Carlos DeFord Bailey has died at 66. He did tireless work to promote the story of his Grand Ole Opry star grandfather, DeFord Bailey. We take a look back at stories forever connected, a grandfather and grandson.

Over nine years, I had many visits with Carlos DeFord Bailey.

"This is DeFord Bailey," he told me in a 2022 interview, sitting next to a picture of his grandfather. "He traveled throughout the south with Roy Acuff, Bill Monroe, and he was one of the superstars known as the harmonica wizard. It feels like my grandfather's blood runs through my veins. Very proud."

DeFord Bailey began getting hits on the radio in the 1920s. H

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