COUNTRY MANAGER SCRUGGS DIES

Country music's first female manager LOUISE SCRUGGS died on Thursday (02FEB06) after suffering complications of a respiratory illness. She was 78.

The wife of banjo star EARL SCRUGGS passed away at Nashville's Baptist Hospital, according to the medical centre's spokesman.

Scruggs was a regular face on the country music scene often accompanying her husband, as well as handling the business side of his career.

She is survived by her husband and three sons.