Eddie Tigner is a longtime Music Maker artist, a national treasure, and a living legend. Born in 1926, Eddie is approaching his 93rd birthday. With each passing year, this original Ink Spot and Atlanta mainstay keeps performing and only gets better.

As long as Eddie performs, he is sustained by the music.

After noticing he was forgetting things, Eddie was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s. First Eddie asked the doctor what that was, and she told him, “Eddie if you don’t know. you’ll find out.”

Eddie asked, “Should I stop playing?” The doctor told him “No, just keep playing.”

When Eddie asked “What if I forget how to play?” the doctor replied, “Eddie, you won’t forget your music.”

Years later and Eddie still hasn’t forgotten the music. In spite of all of the issues that come with age, Eddie has never stopped playing. The music is what keeps him going.

Eddie has been a Music Maker artist since 1998, and over the course of the last two decades, Music Maker has recorded albums and booked gigs for Eddie all over the U.S. and Europe, empowering him to share his amazing talent with tens of thousands of people.

As Eddie got older, he became a Music Maker sustenance recipient which has enabled the veteran musician pay for medication, new instruments after his gear was stolen, and much needed home repairs.

Eddie recently celebrated his 92nd birthday at a performance in Valdosta, GA. Just before intermission, the lights dimmed, and the band, lead by Eddie’s daughter Sandra Hall, launched into “Happy Birthday.”

When the kind folks at the Annette Howell Turner Center for the Arts in Valdosta emerged from the side stage with a birthday cake, Eddie bowed his head with his usual modesty, but his ear-to-ear smile was visible from across the room. Although he was choked up, Eddie mustered up a thank you to audience, the venue, his daughter, and his band.

The cake headed towards Eddie and although they couldn’t fit 92 candles on it, the glow was still bright enough to light his smiling face.  Eddie blew them all out as he continues to blow us all away with his commitment to music and his zeal for life.

Music Maker’s efforts have kept Eddie working, but his life-giving music has sustained all of us.

Donate to Music Maker Relief Foundation today and your contribution directly supports important American musicians like Eddie Tigner.