Musician, songwriter, actor.
Born at Winnipeg on 13 April 1908, son of Harry Nobles and Flora Elizabeth Hussey, he was raised at Winnipeg, Point Hatfield (New Brunswick), and Boston (Massachusetts) before moving to Arizona at the age of 14. After graduating from high school, he travelled around the United States finally settling in 1929 at Los Angeles (California).
His experience as a musician and singer got him work on radio, performing under the name of Bob Nolan. He was the founding member of the western singing group Sons of the Pioneers (1933). The original trio included another young upstart, Roy Rogers.
He was a prolific songwriter amassing more than 1,200 songs during his career. Two of his songs, Tumblin’ Tumbleweeds and Cool Water are considered country classics and each received a Grammy Award. He also ventured into movie acting appearing as a supporting actor and singer in more than 90 Westerns, many with his old friend Rogers. A long list of honours and awards received during his life time included being inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame (1971).
He died at Newport Beach, California on 27 June 1980. He was inducted posthumously into the Canadian Country Music Hall of Fame (1993) and the Western Music Hall of Fame (1993). Cool Water and Tumblin' Tumbleweeds were inducted into the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame (2005). The Sons of the Pioneers were elected to the US Country Music Hall of Fame. Finally, in 2012, Bob Nolan was inducted into the Manitoba Country Music Association Hall of Fame.
Birth registration [Clarence Robert Nobles], Manitoba Vital Statistics.
The Encyclopedia of Manitoba edited by Ingeborg Boyens, Great Plains Publications, 2007.
The Canadian Encyclopedia, Historica Canada, 2025.
This page was prepared by Jim Ingebrigtsen.
Page revised: 11 November 2025
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