Tony Rice was born in 1951 in Virginia, but grew up in Los Angeles, California. He moved to Louisville, Kentucky in 1970 to join the Bluegrass Alliance. Shortly thereafter, he joined J.D. Crowe's New South. He performed in the group alongside fiddler Ricky Skaggs, who joined in 1974, and of course, legendary banjo picker J.D. Crowe.

Rice ultimately left the New South to join the David Grisman Quintet, an all-instrumental group headed by mandolinist David Grisman. He left the group in 1979 to pursue solo and other ventures, including the Bluegrass Album Band (which released six albums from 1980-1996), the Rice Brothers (with his brothers Larry, Wyatt, and Ronnie), and the Tony Rice Unit.

Rice has won one Grammy Award (in 1983, for Best Country Instrumental Performance), and won a number of IBMA (International Bluegrass Music Association) awards—six times for Guitarist of the Year, three times for Instrumental Group of the Year (twice with the Tony Rice Unit and once with the Bluegrass Album Band), and twice for Instrumental Album of the Year.