NASHVILLE, Tenn. (October 30, 2026)
Country Music Hall of Fame members The Oak Ridge Boys release Buried Treasures via Lightning Rod Records, a 10-song collection of beloved songs the group had long sung and loved but never before brought together on one record.
Release day brings the Taste of Country exclusive premiere of the music video for “Live Forever,” featuring William Lee Golden on lead vocals and directed by Brandon Wood / Indie Bling Studio, followed by two nights on the Grand Ole Opry – tonight, Friday, October 30, and tomorrow, Saturday, October 31.
Written by the late Billy Joe Shaver, “Live Forever” is a song about the mark a life leaves behind, and it carries a personal connection for Golden, who worked with the legendary songwriter and his son, Eddy Shaver, on past projects. His lead vocal is one of the album’s most heartfelt moments.
Produced and engineered by Anderson East and executive produced and mixed by GRAMMY Award winner Dave Cobb, Buried Treasures was recorded live at Sanctuary Blonde Studio in Nashville. East, who grew up in North Alabama where the Oaks were so familiar they felt like family, set four reclining chairs in a semicircle so the singers could work out their parts together and let each personality come through. Cobb joined the sessions remotely from his studio in Savannah, Georgia, where he also mixed the album.
“The chairs were down on the floor, and the whole album feels like that,” says Duane Allen. “You can listen to this album, and you can have a relaxing, comforting feeling, because these are such great songs. They never get old.”
“Getting to watch them work out parts, and who’s singing what — it was incredible to see it all happen. Everything was in the moment,” East recalls. “It’s so inspiring to see a group of guys at this point in their career still excited, wanting to be there, and thoughtful about everything.”
The album opens with a full-circle moment. In the early 1970s, when the Oaks were still best known for Southern gospel, Allen met Paul Simon at the GRAMMY Awards and complimented him on “Loves Me Like a Rock.” That friendship led to the Oaks singing on Simon’s Top 5 pop hit “Slip Slidin’ Away” in 1977 — the same year they broke through on country radio with “Y’all Come Back Saloon.” Nearly 50 years later, Buried Treasures begins with Simon’s “Bridge Over Troubled Water.”
Every song carries a story. “Deep River” honors Allen’s love of Black gospel and spiritual music and pays tribute to his father, a bass singer who used to sing it. “Stardust” was chosen at the request of the group’s longtime manager, Jim Halsey. Tim Duncan, who toured with the Oaks as a temporary bass singer, adds guest vocals to “What a Wonderful World,” and tenor Ben James closes the album with Joe Cocker’s “You Are So Beautiful.”
The only new song, the title track “Buried Treasure,” was written for the project by GRAMMY Award-winning songwriter Aaron Raitiere. Ahead of today’s release, the Oaks shared “Buried Treasure” in September and a stripped-down recording of “How Great Thou Art” in October.
“Every song on the album is about something that’s dear to us,” Allen says. “These songs are all buried treasures — great songs we’ve loved and sung for years, and this is the first time we’ve brought them all together on one record.”
The sessions also brought comfort after a hard season for the group. Allen lost his wife of 54 years, Norah Lee Allen, in March 2024; longtime tenor Joe Bonsall passed in July 2024; and just days earlier, Golden lost his eldest son, William Lee “Rusty” Golden Jr. Through it all, the Oaks kept touring and recording.
“Music has been a healing thing for each of us when we get together and sing songs. It’s uplifting and it’s something we never get tired of,” Golden says. “Certainly at our age, we realize just how small we are, and how great God is.”
Buried Treasures is the group’s second studio album with Ben James, who joined in January 2024. Bass singer Aaron Lee McCune joined the road lineup in 2026 while Richard Sterban is on a temporary leave from touring for health reasons; Sterban sings on the album and still makes appearances when he can. The album is available on CD, gold vinyl and all digital services.
BURIED TREASURES TRACK LISTING:
Bridge Over Troubled Water
Buried Treasure
Deep River
How Great Thou Art
Lean on Me
Live Forever
Softly and Tenderly
Stardust
What a Wonderful World
You Are So Beautiful
THE OAK RIDGE BOYS ON TOUR
Oct. 30 Grand Ole Opry / Nashville, Tenn.
Oct. 31 Grand Ole Opry / Nashville, Tenn.
Nov. 07 Anderson Music Hall / Hiawassee, Ga.
Nov. 09 The Mansion Theatre for the Performing Arts / Branson, Mo.
Nov. 13 DECC Symphony Hall / Duluth, Minn.
Nov. 14 Meskwaki Bingo Casino Hotel / Tama, Iowa
Nov. 19 UT Tyler Cowan Center / Tyler, Texas
Nov. 20 The Barnhill Center at Historic Simon Theatre / Brenham, Texas
Nov. 21 Ellis Theater / Philadelphia, Miss.
Nov. 27 Beau Rivage Resort & Casino / Biloxi, Miss.
Dec. 03 Opry Country Christmas / Nashville, Tenn.
Dec. 04 Hatfield Hall / Terre Haute, Ind.
Dec. 05 Renfro Valley Entertainment Center / Mt. Vernon, Ky.
Dec. 10 Medina Entertainment Center / Medina, Minn.
Dec. 11 Arcada Theatre / St. Charles, Ill.
Dec. 12 Crystal Grand Music Theatre / Wisconsin Dells, Wis.
Dec. 13 Mayo Civic Center / Rochester, Minn.
