Top 5 Blues Music Stars You Need to Know
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Check out our list of the top 5 blues music stars you need to know. These artists have been at the top of their game for years and show no signs of slowing down.
Muddy Waters
Muddy Waters was an American blues singer-songwriter and musician who is often cited as the “father of modern Chicago blues”, and an important figure on the post-war blues scene. His unique style of singing and guitar playing influenced a generation of blues and rock musicians.
His life
Muddy Waters was born McKinley Morganfield on April 4, 1913, on Stovall Plantation in Clarksdale, Mississippi. He began his career playing the harmonica and made his first recordings in the early 1940s for Library of Congress field workers. In 1943, he moved to Chicago and began performing with such blues greats as Sunnyland Slim and Little Walter Jacobs. He recorded his first record in 1946, and it was released by Chess Records in 1950.
Waters’ style of electric blues was influenced by Louis Jordan and his music helped to shape the sound of electric blues and rock and roll. He recorded many hits throughout his career, including “Goin’ Home,” “Hoochie Coochie Man,” “I Can’t Be Satisfied” and “Mannish Boy.” He died on April 30, 1983, inWest Caldwell, New Jersey.
His work
Muddy Waters was an American blues singer and musician who is considered the “father of modern Chicago blues.” He is known for his work on the electric guitar and for his powerful vocal style. Waters was born in Mississippi in 1915 and began playing music in the 1930s. He moved to Chicago in the 1940s, where he found success as a performer and recording artist. Waters’s work influenced many subsequent generations of blues and rock musicians, and he is widely considered one of the most important figures in the history of popular music.
B.B. King
Though he passed away in 2015, B.B. King was one of the most influential blues guitarists of all time. He was known for his distinctive style of single-string guitar playing and was a master of the blues genre. B.B. King was also known for his ability to cross over into different genres of music, which helped to popularize the blues among a wider audience.
His life
Born Riley B. King on September 16, 1925, in Itta Bena, Mississippi, he began his career singing spirituals in churches before moving to Indianola in 1947, where he worked as a disc jockey. In the late 1940s he started performing with Johnny Moore’s Three Blazers, and in 1949 recorded his first single, “Miss Martha King,” with the group for RPM Records. In 1955 he recorded “The Thrill Is Gone.” The song became one of his most popular and cemented his status as a blues legend. He won 15 Grammy Awards throughout his career. He died of complications from diabetes on May 14, 2015, at the age of 89.
His work
King’s career began in the 1940s, when he was a young musician playing the blues in the clubs of Memphis, Tennessee. He soon gained a following with his distinctive guitar style and soulful voice. In 1955, he had his first hit record with “The Thrill Is Gone.” Over the next few decades, King toured extensively and released more than 50 albums. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1987. In 2015, he was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
John Lee Hooker
John Lee Hooker was an American blues singer, songwriter, and guitarist. He was born in Clarksdale, Mississippi, and grew up in Memphis, Tennessee. He moved to Detroit, Michigan, in 1943 and became one of the most popular and influential blues musicians of the postwar era.
His life
John Lee Hooker was born in Clarksdale, Mississippi in 1917. He was one of the most important figures in the development of the blues. His unique style of playing was a major influence on other artists, including Muddy Waters, Robert Johnson and Howlin’ Wolf. He recorded for a number of different labels, including Vee-Jay, Chess and Atlantic, and had a number of hit records, including “Boom Boom” and “I’m John Lee Hooker.” He died in 2001.
His work
John Lee Hooker was an American blues singer, songwriter and guitarist. He was born in Mississippi in the early 1920s and played a major role in the development of the genre of electric blues. His work was greatly influenced by the work of other blues musicians such as Muddy Waters and Howlin’ Wolf, but he also integrated elements of gospel, R&B and boogie-woogie into his music.
Hooker’s best-known songs include “Boogie Chillen'” (1948), “I’m in the Mood” (1951) and “Boom Boom” (1962). He recorded over 100 songs during his career, many of which have become classics of the genre. Hooker also had a major impact on the development of rock music, and his work has been covered by a number of well-known rock acts, includingThe Rolling Stones, Cream and Nirvana.
John Lee Hooker died in 2001 at the age of 83. He was posthumously inducted into the Blues Foundation Hall of Fame in 2002 and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2019.
Howlin’ Wolf
If you’re a fan of the blues, then you need to know about Howlin’ Wolf. He was one of the most influential blues artists of all time. He was known for his powerful voice and his unique style of guitar playing. He was also a talented songwriter, and he had a huge impact on the development of the blues.
His life
Born Chester Arthur Burnett in 1910 in White Station, Mississippi, Howlin’ Wolf began his musical career as a member of the Mighty Mouth Harmonica gang. He later joined forces with Willie Dixon and developed a unique style of electric blues that would come to be known as the Chicago sound. Wolf recorded many classic songs during his career, including “Smokestack Lightnin’,” “Moanin’ at Midnight,” and “Spoonful.” He died of cancer in 1976.
His work
Howlin’ Wolf is often considered one of the best blues musicians of all time. He was born Chester Arthur Burnett in 1910 in White Station, Mississippi. He began his musical career in the 1930s, playing the harmonica and guitar with local bands. In 1951, he made his first recordings for Sam Phillips’ Sun Records. These recordings, which featured such songs as “Moanin’ at Midnight” and “How Many More Years,” helped to define the Chicago blues sound.
In the 1960s, Howlin’ Wolf relocated to Chicago, where he continued to record and perform with great success. He appeared at the first Ann Arbor Blues Festival in 1969 and toured Europe with Muddy Waters and other blues legends in 1971. He continued to perform and record until his death in 1976.
Throughout his career, Howlin’ Wolf released dozens of albums, both studio and live recordings. Some of his most essential albums include Moanin’ in the Moonlight (1958), The Howlin’ Wolf Album (1969), and Live at Carnegie Hall (1971).
Albert King
Although lesser known than some of his contemporaries, Albert King was one of the greats of the blues. A towering figure of a man, he was an excellent guitarist and singer, and his style influenced many other blues and rock musicians. If you’re a fan of the blues, you need to know about Albert King.
His life
Albert King (born Albert Nelson on April 25, 1923 in Indianola, Mississippi) was an American blues musician. King was a major influence on both the blues and rock guitarists that followed him. He is best known for his string-bending style of play and his hit songs “Born Under a Bad Sign” and “Crosscut Saw”.
King began his career playing in the Arkansas cotton fields. He later moved to St. Louis, Missouri where he worked as a musician in clubs and bars. By the 1950s, King had signed with Sun Records and released his first album, “The Blues Is Alright”, in 1966.
King continued to record and tour throughout the rest of his life. He died of a heart attack on December 21, 1992, at the age of 69.
His work
Albert King was an American blues guitarist and singer whose playing influenced many other blues guitarists. He is best known for his 1967 hit “Born Under a Bad Sign.” King recorded over 30 albums in his career.
He was born on April 25, 1923, in Indianola, Mississippi. He began playing the guitar at the age of 12 and left home at the age of 18 to play with various blues bands. In 1953 he signed with Meteor Records and released his first single, “Beggin’ My Baby.” His first album, Born Under a Bad Sign, was released in 1967 and reached number two on the Billboard R&B charts. It included the hit title track as well as “Crosscut Saw” and “Personal Manager.”
King toured extensively throughout his career, performing with such artists as B.B. King, Stevie Ray Vaughan, and Johnny Winter. He was inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame in 1983 and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1987. Albert King died of a heart attack on December 21, 1992, in Memphis, Tennessee.
