Born to Edward and Lula Wade on December 16, 1934, in Norfolk, Va., Herman “Pete” B. Wade moved to Nashville in 1954. The guitarist made the trip on a bus with $3, his suitcase, and two ham sandwiches. (He forgot his sandwiches on the bus.) He had telephone numbers for Don Helms and Jerry Rivers, musicians in Hank Williams’ band.
Wade was 19 years old and, with Helms’ help, soon joined Price’s band, the Cherokee Cowboys, which briefly included Willie Nelson. He had given himself two weeks to find a job in Nashville, and the gig with Price slid in at his deadline.
“It was a miracle, and I couldn’t believe what was happening,” Wade told Peter Cooper at the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2016. “It just started happening. When I got that job with Price and was on the Opry, we were just doing dates and having a good time. I hadn’t been out of Virginia, and I was getting to see everything. I was having a ball.”
Wade stayed with Price from 1954 to 1958, then rejoined from 1960 to 1963. He was also part of Faron Young’s Country Deputies from 1957 to 1958.
While Price once called Wade his favorite electric lead guitar player, he was also skilled on bass, steel guitar, and many other instruments. Wade’s playing was heavily featured in Price’s “Crazy Arms,” a No. 1 hit, which was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1999.
Pete Wade Played With Ray Price, Faron Young, Elvis Presley, More
Wade played with Elvis Presley and Country Music Hall of Famers Kitty Wells, Ferlin Husky, Faron Young, Roger Miller, and Jean Shepard before shifting his career to become a full-time session guitarist.
He began recording session work in the 1950s—a practice he kept for the next 60 years. He and Country Music Hall of Fame pianist Hargus “Pig Robbins” and steel guitar player Lloyd Green were early and essential members of Nashville’s A Team, a revered group of studio players. Wade was also part of the musician-driven group Area Code 615, which released an album in 1969.
Wade released a book about his life in 2021, and Nelson wrote the forward.
According to an obituary from Spring Hill Funeral Home and Cemetary, Wade died surrounded by his friends and family. He was preceded in death by his wife, Mary, of 62 years, and is survived by their three children, two grandchildren, and four great-grandchildren.
Funeral services will be private.
