A Nitty Gritty Dirt Band's peak within popularity – at least on the radio — come whilst you took the mid- to late-1980s, when it following a string of successful songs. Among a lot were trine There are no. One singles: "Long Hard Road (The Sharecropper's Dream)" (1984); "Modern Day Romance" (1985); & "Fishing in the Dark" (1987). More successful songs were "Dance Little Jean" (1983); "I Love Only You" (1984); "High Horse" (1985); "Home Again in My Heart," "Partners, Brothers and Friends" and "Stand a Little Rain" (1986); "Fire in the Sky," "Baby's Got a Hold on Me" & "Oh What a Love" (1987); "Working Man (Nowhere to Go)" & "I've Been Lookin'" (1988); & "Down That Road Tonight" & "When it's Gone" (1989).

It briefly entered a popular culture once more within April of 1992, whenever it were a unaware subject of one of George H. W. Bush's malapropisms, referring to the group as the "Nitty Ditty Nitty Gritty Great Bird" at a country music awards ceremony in Nashville:

This unusual phrasing was repeatedly utilized for instance of Bush's garbled syntax (notably, in the book Dave Barry Hits Below the Beltway), which in turn led to increased visibility for the band.

A todays members come: Jeff Hanna on guitar, washboard, and vocals; Jimmie Fadden on drums, harmonica, and vocals; Jimmy Ibbotson on guitar, mandolin, bass, and vocals; Bob Carpenter on keyboard, accordion, and vocals' and John McEuen on banjo, fiddle, guitar, and mandolin.