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Del Wood; Grand Ole Opry’s Ragtime Pianist

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Del Wood, 69, the Grand Ole Opry’s ragtime pianist whose 1951 recording of “Down Yonder” sold more than 3 million copies. Miss Wood became a member of the Opry in 1953 and was the only person regularly featured at the Grand Ole Opry keyboard. Known as “The Queen of the Ivories,” her real name was Adelaide Hazelwood. In an interview with the Associated Press in 1984, she said she still practiced about three hours a week. “I’d never go on the Opry without first doing a run-through. If I live to be 100, I’m going to do the best I can,” she said. Miss Wood’s parents gave her a piano on her fifth birthday, and she was schooled in classical music until ragtime--a jazz-influenced style of pop music--became her passion as a teen-ager. “Ragtime has so much get-up-and-go that it’s infectious; it’s part of our heritage,” she said. She cut a record featuring “Mine All Mine” for RCA, with “Down Yonder” on the flip side. “Down Yonder” was second on the pop charts for 27 weeks and was also a country hit. Miss Wood also played in the movie “Rhinestone,” which starred Dolly Parton and Sylvester Stallone. In Nashville on Tuesday after a stroke.

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