Bill Monroe was born William Smith Monroe on 13 September, 1911, near Rosine, Kentucky.

As a child he learned to play mandolin, but when his parents died he went to live with his Uncle Pen (later the subject of one of Monroe's compositions). Having moved to Indiana, where he worked as a manual labourer during the day and played msic at local dances at night, Bill and his brother, Charlie, formed the Monroe Brothers in 1935 and recorded some numbers for Victor Records. In 1938, Bill formed a larger group, the Kentuckians, which would later become the Blue Grass Boys.

Bill Monroe and his Blue Grass Boys recorded the original version of "I Hear A Sweet Voice Calling," which Monroe himself wrote, on 27 October, 1947 and it was released as a single on Columbia 20459.

Bill Monroe died on 9 September, 1996, just short of his 95th birthday.