Steel Guitarist Pete Finney, Known for Work with Reba McEntire and Patty Loveless, Dies at 70
Pete Finney, a highly respected steel guitarist who toured extensively with Patty Loveless for over two decades and recorded with a diverse range of artists including Reba McEntire, the Chicks, and Vince Gill, has died. He was 70 years old.
The Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum confirmed Finney’s death on Saturday, , in a statement earlier this week. No cause of death was disclosed. The museum described him as “a widely admired Nashville musician” who “exemplified how top instrumentalists can adapt to a remarkable range of styles, and settings.”
Born in Maryland in , Finney began playing music in Washington, D.C., with singer-songwriter Liz Meyer before she moved to the Netherlands in the mid-1980s. He later relocated to Austin, Texas, in the late 1970s and then to Nashville in the mid-1980s.
In Nashville, Finney quickly established himself as a sought-after session musician, touring with Foster & Lloyd and contributing to the solo projects of Radney Foster and Bill Lloyd. His versatility led to collaborations with artists spanning multiple genres, including Beck, Jon Byrd, Shemekia Copeland, Justin Townes Earle, Jon Langford, Jim Lauderdale, Allison Moorer, Ron Sexsmith, and Candi Staton.
Ray Benson, frontman of Asleep at the Wheel, remembered Finney fondly, writing on Facebook, “RIP old friend! Pete came to a concert in 1970 and saw Asleep at the Wheel – he told me that was when he decided to play pedal steel… and play he did with style, grace and total command of that instrument! Hard to lose a great friend who was there at the beginning of it all for me and so many in those early Wash DC days.”
Beyond his performance career, Finney demonstrated a deep passion for music history. He co-curated the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum’s 2015-2018 exhibition, “Dylan, Cash, and the Nashville Cats: A New Music City,” and co-authored the exhibit’s accompanying book, which received the 2016 Chet Flippo Award for excellence in country music journalism from the International Country Music Conference.
The museum noted that the exhibit’s concept originated from Finney’s research into the numerous non-country artists who traveled to Nashville in the 1960s and 1970s to record with the city’s talented studio musicians.
Finney’s career took a dramatic turn in when he was touring with Reba McEntire. A plane carrying eight members of her band and two crew members crashed into a mountain near San Diego, tragically claiming their lives. Finney, along with another band member, was traveling on a separate plane that night and was spared from the disaster. A spokeswoman for McEntire told the Los Angeles Times at the time that the planes took off three minutes apart, and the second plane was diverted to Nashville after losing radio contact with the first.
Years later, Finney joined the revived lineup of Michael Nesmith’s country-rock group, the First National Band, in , stepping in to replace founding member Red Rhodes, who had passed away in . Former Los Angeles Times music writer Randy Lewis noted that Finney skillfully incorporated elements of Rhodes’ original parts while adding his own unique dimensions to the arrangements, bringing “an orchestra’s worth of color, texture and shading” to the music.
He continued to perform with the Monkees, including a final tour in , and contributed to Mickey Dolenz’s 2021 tribute album, “Dolenz Sings Nesmith.”
The Hall of Fame also highlighted Finney’s frequent performances in Nashville nightclubs, where he collaborated with prominent musicians such as Mac Gayden, Jen Gunderman, Jimmy Lester, Chris Scruggs, Kenny Vaughan, and others.
Singer-songwriter and podcaster Otis Gibbs recalled seeing Finney regularly at Nashville music venues. “I’d sometimes run into him 4, or 5 nights a week at shows,” Gibbs wrote on his website. “If there were 9 people in attendance, Pete would usually be one of them.” Gibbs last saw Finney three weeks prior at a Jon Byrd show in East Nashville.
Finney is survived by his wife, Carol Tully, whom he married on . A remembrance gathering will be held on Sunday at the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum’s Ford Theater in Nashville.
