Rusty and Chris Golden, the sons of longtime Oak Ridge Boys singer William Lee Golden known for his wild-haired mountain-man persona, grew up in Brewton, AL. Immersed from childhood in Southern gospel music, the brothers each mastered multiple instruments. Chris handled drums, keyboards, guitar, and mandolin, while Rusty began drumming at age eight and discovered the piano four years later after encountering Elton John. At 15 Chris joined gospel ensemble the Telestials on piano; at 18 he entered Cedar Creek and sang on Hee Haw the following year. Meanwhile Rusty sat in occasionally with his father’s backing band at 15 and, at 18, signed on with Larry Gatlin’s group. He spent several years recording and touring with Gatlin while honing his songwriting, then departed to launch the pop-oriented Boys Band, whose self-titled Asylum album appeared in 1982. Chris contributed during his final high-school years, yet the project dissolved quickly. In 1984 the brothers joined friend Marc Speer to form Golden Speer, though the resulting sessions yielded nothing. By 1987 Rusty and Chris had assembled their own outfit, the Goldens, with Rusty on keyboards and Chris supplying lead vocals; the lineup also featured guitarist Skip Mitchell, fiddler and steel guitarist Bobby Randall, bassist Don Breland, and drummer Buster Phillips. Their self-titled Epic debut spawned the singles “Put Us Together Again” and “Sorry Girls,” neither of which reached the country audience. The duo switched to Capitol in 1989 and released Rush for Gold the next year. Additional singles charted modestly but never secured lasting commercial traction, prompting the group’s dissolution shortly afterward. Both brothers remained active as session players; Rusty later performed with Dallas County Line, and in 1998 Chris became the Oak Ridge Boys’ drummer.
