The best blues singers

They say that the blues is when a good man feels bad. We’ve rounded up some of the best-known blues singers whose work reflects the workings of this troubled world.

B.B. King

B.B. King (real name Riley B. King) is a famous American blues guitarist, songwriter and singer. According to a 2011 Rolling Stone magazine poll, he was ranked #6 in the top 100 most famous guitarists of all time.

Riley King was born on September 16, 1925, on a farm in Mississippi, where he spent his entire childhood. At 13, he bought his first guitar for a couple of dollars and began practicing in his spare time.

In 1946 B.B. King decided to leave the farm and begin a career as a musician in Memphis, but his first attempt was a failure. Two years later he was able to get a job at a radio station. It was at this time that he chose the resounding pseudonym BB King.

King called all of his guitars “Lucille. There is a concert story connected with this name. One day during a performance two men got into a fight and overturned a kerosene stove. It caused a fire, all the musicians hurriedly left the place, but B.B. King, risking himself, came back for his guitar.

Later, after learning that a woman named Lucille was the cause of the fight, he named his guitar as a sign that no woman is worth such foolishness.

For more than 20 years King struggled with diabetes, which caused his death at age 89 on May 14, 2015.

Robert Leroy Johnson

Robert Leroy Johnson, a bright but rapidly fading star in the world of blues music, was born May 8, 1911. As a young man he met famous blues musicians San House and Willie Brown and decided to start playing the blues professionally.

Muddy Waters

Muddy Waters, the founder of the Chicago school, was born on April 4, 1913, in the small town of Rolling Fork. As a child he learned to play the harmonica, and as a teenager he mastered the guitar.

Gary Moore

Gary Moore, the famous Irish guitarist, singer and songwriter, was born on April 4, 1952. In his career he experimented a lot with different kinds of music, but he still preferred blues.

Eric Clapton

Eric Clapton, one of the most influential figures in British rock, was born on March 30, 1945. He is the only musician to have been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame three times – twice as a member of bands and once as a solo artist. Clapton played in various genres, but always gravitated toward the blues, which made his playing recognizable and distinctive.

Sonny Boy Williamson I and II

Sonny Boy Williamson was an American blues harmonica player and singer, born December 5, 1912.

There are two famous Sonny Boy Williamson’s in the world. The fact is that Sonny Boy Williamson II took his namesake after his idol, Sonny Boy Williamson I. The fame of the second Sonny greatly overshadowed the legacy of the first, though he was the innovator in his own right.

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