Charlie McCoy is best known for his relentless work as a studio musician based out of Nashville. During his career, he has recorded on thousands of sessions with a dazzling array of music luminaries. Although he is best known as a harmonica player who paved the way for harmonica in modern country music, he also plays many other instruments including guitar, bass, drums, and trumpet.

McCoy was born in West Virginia in 1941, but he grew up in Miami. In 1959 he moved to Nashville, where he launched his studio career recording with Roy Orbison, and his career as a live musician playing with Stonewall Jackson's band. By the mid-1960s he was a sought-after studio musician, recording with Elvis Presley and backing Bob Dylan on four of his most well-known albums. Other top musicians on the long list that McCoy recorded with include Frank Sinatra, Simon and Garfunkle, Johnny Cash, and Chet Atkins.

Although he has curtailed most of his session work, McCoy is still an active performer and recording artist today.