Big Bill Broonzy was the royal ambassador of the blues in his day, setting a precedent for the expansive pathways later charted by B.B. King. Broonzy was one of the most prolific recording artists of [...]

When the Blues Hall of Fame conducted balloting for the first group of inductees in 1980, Muddy Waters received more votes than any other artist. The kingpin of Chicago blues during its glory days, Muddy [...]

Widely regarded as the premier blues composer of the post-World War II era, Willie Dixon (born July 1, 1915, in Vicksburg, Mississippi) was also probably the single most influential figure in shaping the Chicago blues [...]

Marion Walter Jacobs revolutionized the way blues harmonica was played with his swooping, amplified attack in the early 1950s. He remains the model to which multitudes of blues harpists aspire; questions continue to circulate about [...]

Riley B. King became the most popular blues artist among African American audiences early in his recording career, in the 1950s; during the late '60s and '70s, he widened his appeal to become not only [...]

While Robert Johnson may be the artist most associated today with the title “King of the Delta Blues,” if such a title had been bestowed back when the music was first being recorded, the premier [...]

Mathis James “Jimmy” Reed was one the first bluesmen to achieve “crossover” success, scoring hits on both the rhythm & blues and pop charts with “Honest I Do,” “Big Boss Man,” “Baby What You Want [...]

Bessie Smith, 'The Empress of the Blues',  is regarded by many as the greatest female blues vocalist ever. Born in Chattanooga, Tennessee, on April 15, 1894, Bessie Smith was a protege of Ma Rainey who [...]

Otis Spann, the first piano player inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame, did more than anyone to define the pianist's role in postwar Chicago blues. His rock-solid support of Muddy Waters throughout the '50s [...]

Aaron Thibeaux “T-Bone” Walker is widely acknowledged as the father of electric blues guitar, the first bluesman of note to not only amplify his guitar but to elevate its role as a solo instrument within [...]