Doc Watson, the blind Grammy-award winning folk pioneer whose mountain-rooted sound was embraced by generations and whose lightning-fast style of flatpicking influenced guitarists around the world, died Tuesday at a North Carolina hospital, aged 89. Reportedly, Watson had been admitted to Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center on May 21st, after suffering a fall at his home in nearby Deep Gap, in the Blue Ridge Mountains.

Watson underwent abdominal surgery while in the hospital and had been in critical condition for several days. Arthel "Doc" Watson's mastery of flatpicking helped make the case for the guitar as a lead instrument in the 1950s and 1960s, when it was often considered a backup for the mandolin, fiddle or banjo. Though he went blind at age one following an eye infection and quickly grew, his fast playing could intimidate other musicians, even his own grandson, who performed with him.

Richard Watson said in a 2000 interview with The Associated Press that his grandfather's playing had a humbling effect on other musicians.

"Everybody that's picked with you says you intimidate them, and that includes some of the best," Richard Watson told him.

The ever-humble Doc Watson found it hard to believe. Country and bluegrass singer Ricky Skaggs said Tuesday evening, "An old ancient warrior has gone home." "He prepared all of us to carry this on," Skaggs also said. "He knew he wouldn't last forever. He did his best to carry the old mountain sounds to this generation."

Doc Watson was born March 3, 1923, in Deep Gap, about 100 miles northwest of Charlotte. He lost his eyesight by the age of 1 when he developed an eye infection that was worsened by a congenital vascular disorder, according to a website for Merlefest, the annual musical gathering named for his late son Merle.