With a sound that is duplicated and revered around the world, its not hard to understand why Memphis in May developed the Beale Street Music Festival which annually attracts over 120,000 music fans from throughout the United States and around the world. Four stages of rock & roll, the Blues, soul, R&B, alternative and new rock, the Beale Street Music Festival hosts the legends and the leaders in the industry. But the Blues is without question the musical genre that separates Beale Street Music Festival from other great music festivals. Over its history, the Beale Street Music Festival has hosted the legends of blues including Memphis blues legends Albert King, Bobby ‘Blue’ Bland, B.B. King and Furry Lewis. Stevie Ray Vaughan’s last Memphis performance was at the Beale Street Music Festival. Other blues legends who have graced the stages include: Gatemouth Brown, James Cotton, Pinetop Perkins, Etta James, John Lee Hooker, R.L. Burnside, Luther Allison, Charlie Musselwhite, Koko Taylor, Buddy Guy, and Hubert Sumlin just to name a few. And while Memphis in May salutes Memphis musical heritage through the Festival, it also puts the blues in the international spotlight with coverage of the event by media from all over the world including CNN, the BBC, Rolling Stone, Cashbox, National Geographic, Discovery Channel, People Magazine, Amusement Business, Pollstar and others.
