‘He loved to share music’: Iconic Rock Hill musician Bobby Plair Sr. dies at 98
Bobby Plair Sr. didn’t just play music for more than nine decades in his hometown of Rock Hill and around America. He taught music to thousands of students, played before huge crowds and shared music with the world.
Plair died Sunday at the age of 98, but his legacy in music and love for community and country remains. He started with the clarinet as a young child and played music for others all the way up until his death.
“He loved to play music, and he loved to share music,” said one of his three children, Bobby Plair Jr.
In Rock Hill, any mention of music since the end of World War II had the name Bobby “B.S” Plair Sr. right smack in the middle of the songs. Plair was so iconic in the community for music that his picture, playing saxophone for two rapt children, once adorned the cover of the Rock Hill telephone directory, his son said.
Rock Hill Mayor John Gettys said Plair spent his life making his community and country a better place through the music he played and his service to the public.
“I have met a lot of people in my lifetime,” Gettys said. “Good people who have done good things for our country, state and communities — especially Rock Hill. I can’t think of someone I respected more than Bobby Plair.”
Earlier this year, Rock Hill leaders honored him with the key to the city.
He was a member of Rock Hill’s Freedom Walkway, a place off Main Street dedicated to civil rights heroes and leaders who championed equality and opportunity for all. He’s been honored by Winthrop University for his lifelong contribution to the arts.
Former S.C. Rep. Gary Simrill of Rock Hill said Plair’s music and love for people are legendary, not just in Rock Hill, but around South Carolina.
“His life was woven into the fabric of this community,” Simrill said.
Music and service: The life of Bobby Plair Sr.
Plair was drafted in World War II into service with the U.S. Marine Corps, serving in the South Pacific. He was a member of the Montford Point Marines, a segregated African-American unit from that era that was awarded the Congressional Gold Medal in 2012.
After the military, he went on to graduate from N.C. A&T University. He came home to Rock Hill and taught music and other subjects at schools in Fort Mill, Great Falls and Chester for more than three decades. He first taught in segregated all-Black schools, then integrated schools.
He started high school bands that thrived over the years — creating both concert bands and marching bands.
“I just enjoyed working with the children,” Plair said in his last interview with The Herald in 2022. “I would teach them marches. I was in the Marine Corps, so I would take them out and march them.”
His namesake band from Rock Hill that still is in action to this day, Plair, played for decades throughout the Southeast. Plair was the bandleader.
He and the Plair band played with countless stars over the years, including The Commodores, Pattie LaBelle, The Platters, and Big Bands such as the Ellington Orchestra.
Around Rock Hill and York County, Plair played at community events, York County’s blues and jazz festival, and other gigs. His clarinet, saxophone and trumpet were the sounds of Rock Hill at concerts and city festivals, and everything in between for generations of people.
When Plair played “Taps” for Veterans Day or Memorial Day crowds over the years, there never seemed to be another sound anywhere nearby. His trumpet was all.
And when he led the kids of a Rock Hill day care with “As the Saints Go Marching In” down the street in an annual July 4th parade for many years, people would line up to walk the street and sing as he and his sons played their horns.
Funeral is Saturday
Plair was married to Juanita Plair for 58 years before she died in 2007. They have three children, Sarah, Bobby Jr. and Victor. Bobby Jr. and Victor still play with the Plair band. And they remain committed to bringing the joy of music their father instilled in them to the public.
Robinson Funeral Home is handling arrangements. Visitation is scheduled for this Friday from 5-7 p.m. at St. Mary Catholic Church, 902 Crawford Road, Rock Hill.
The funeral is Saturday at 11 a.m. at the church.
