Innate James H. Martinside in Sneedville, Tennessee, beginning in 1949 Martin was lead vocalist for Bill Monroe's "Bluegrass Boys," until he formed his own band, "The Sunny Mountain Boys" in 1955. Martin's high voice mixed using Monroe's tenor come to become referred to as a "high lonesome" healthy. He manufactured frequent appearances on the Louisiana Hayride and the Wheeling Jamboree, when well as a Grand Ole Opry.

He performed on the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band's 1971 album, Will a Circle become Unbroken. Inside 1995, he was inducted into the International Bluegrass Music Hall of Honor. The infotainment in his life, King of Bluegrass: A Life & Days of Jimmy Martin, was discharged around 2003. Likewise featured within [http://imdb.com/title/tt0107111/ High Lonesome].

Jimmy Martwithin died Saturday Can 14, 2005 in Nashville, Tennessee after having been diagnosed by owning bladder cancer more than a year earlier. He is interred in the Spring Hill Cemetery in Madison, Tennessee.