Blues Legends: Discovering the 25 Best Blues Singers in the Genre’s History

Photo by Tom Beetz-Wikimedia

Blues Legends: Discovering the 25 Best Blues Singers in the Genre’s History

The blues genre originated among the African-Americans of the Deep South of the United States after the end of the Civil War. Initially, blues incorporated Spirituals, hymns, chants, and narrative ballads from the African-American culture and became more popular in the 1920s.

The music is known to connect with people because of its soulful and emotional sound. Over the years, many blue legends have contributed to the evolution and development of the blues. These include B.B. King “The King of the Blues” to Chicago Blues of Muddy Water.

Let’s explore blues legends: Discovering the 25 best blues singers in the genre’s History.

1. B.B. King

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B.B. King was among the most influential blues singers of all time, dubbed “The King of the Blues.” He began his career as a singer and guitarist on a plantation in Indianola, Mississippi, and officially launched his career in Memphis, Tennessee. Throughout his career, he performed tirelessly and produced hits such as Please Love Me, Sweet Little Angel, Upset Me, Baby, and When Love Comes to Town.

He is credited for introducing a sophisticated style of soloing based on fluid string bending, staccato picking, and shimmering vibrato that influenced many blues electric guitar players. His influence in the music industry made him get inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1987 and, in 2008, into the Hollywood Bowl Hall of Fame.

Also read: 10 Interesting Facts About B.B. King

2. Ray Charles

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Legendary blues singer Ray Charles went blind by age seven due to glaucoma, but this didn’t stop him from pursuing his music career. At 15, he left school and started playing for dance bands in Florida, and he became one of the most successful blues singers of the 20th century.

Throughout his career, he produced hits such as Georgia On My Mind, The Things That I Used to Do and This Little Girl of Mine. He earned 18 Grammy Awards for his musical contribution, received the Kennedy Center Honors and the National Medal of Arts, and was inducted at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1986 and the Country Music Hall of Fame.

3. Etta James

Etta James started singing at the age of five and soon became the star of her church choir. At 14, she met musician Johnny Otis and was able to record her first single in 1954. She rose to prominence with hits such as I’d Rather Go Blind, The Wallflower, and At Last.

Her powerful, earthy, deep voice bridges the gap between rhythm and blues. Her music success won her 17 Blues Music Awards and six Grammy Awards, as well as getting inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame in 2001 and into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1993.

4. Muddy Waters

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Born McKinley Morganfield but professionally as Muddy Waters was a blues singer regarded as an important figure in the post-war blues scene. At age 17, he played the guitar and the harmonica, emulating the local blues artist Robert Johnson and Son House, and from then went on to have a successful music career.

In the early 1950s, Muddy and his band recorded several blues classics such as I’m Ready, I Just Want to Make Love to You and Hoochie Coochie Man. Muddy is often dubbed the “father of modern Chicago blues,” with his style of playing described as “raining down Delta beatitude.”

Additionally, he has influenced various American music genres, including rock and roll and rock music. He won Blue Music Awards and Grammy Awards and, in 1980, was inducted into the Blues Foundation Hall of Fame, among many other accolades.

5. Robert Johnson

Robert Johnson is one of the blues legends who, as a traveling performer, mainly played on street corners, Saturday night dance, and in juke joints. He had little commercial success or public recognition in his lifetime.

His landmark recording in 1936 and 1937 display a combination of singing, guitar skills, and songwriting talent. He has now been recognized as a master of the blues, mainly Delta blues, and one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century.

Over the years, the significance of his music has been recognized by the Grammy, the Rock and Roll, the National Recording Preservation Board, and the Blues Hall of Fame.

Check out: 10 of the most Famous Blues Singers

6. Koko Taylor

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Dubbed “The Queen of the Blues”, Koko Taylor was an American singer whose style encompassed electric, Chicago, soul, and rhythm blues. She became better known by touring in the United States in the late 1960s and early 1970s. She became accessible to a broader record-buying public when she signed a recording contract with Alligator Records in 1975.

Throughout her career, she won the Grammy Award, the Blues Foundation Lifetime Achievement Award in 1999, the Blues Music Award, and the Howlin’ Wolf Award in 1996, and 1997 inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame

7. Ali Farka Touré

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He was a Malian singer and multi-instrumentalist. His music blended traditional Malian music and African-American blues, and he was regarded as a pioneer of African desert blues. His album, Ali Farka Touré, was his breakthrough, establishing his reputation in the world music community.

In 2002, he appeared with Black American blues and reggae performer Corey Harris on the album Mississippi to Mali. Bèrèbèrè, a song by Idrissa Soumaoro featuring Touré, was used in Black Panther in February 2018.

8. Howlin’ Wolf

Howlin’ Wolf was a blues singer and guitarist who began playing guitar at eighteen and performing at nightclubs and house parties. In 1951, he formed his first band in Chicago and started his solo career in the Deep South, playing with other notable blues musicians of the era.

He is regarded as one of the most influential blues musicians of all time who recorded in genres such as blues and rhythm and blues. Wolf helped bridge the gap between Delta blues and Chicago blues. For his contribution to music, he was inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame in 1980 and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1991.

9. Bessie Smith

Dubbed the “Empress of the Blues”, Bessie Smith was an African-American blues singer widely known during the Jazz Age and the most popular female of blues of the 1930s. She is known as a significant influence on fellow blues singers and was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1989.

10. Albert King

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One of the blues legends was Albert King, who began his music career in the late 1940s with a group called the Groove Boys in Osceola, Arkansas. During this time, he interacted with many Delta blues artists, including Robert Nighthawk and Elmore James.

In 1953, he started recording for two different record labels producing hits such as That’s What The Blues Is All About and Don’t Throw Your Love On Me So Strong, with his popularity rising until the day he died. For his success with blues music, King was inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame in 1983 and, in 2013, inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

Also read: 5 Most Talented Black Artists of All Times

11. Lead Belly

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He was a folk and blues singer notable for his solid vocal virtuosity on the twelve-string guitar. Belly covered a wide range of genres, including blues and was a crucial figure in the development of blues and folk music. His music covered many topics, including women, racism, dancing, work, prison life, and cowboys.

In celebration of Lead Belly’s 125th birthday in 2015, several events were held. The Kenndey Centre and the Grammy Museum held Lead Belly at 125:A Tribute to an American Songster.

12. Memphis Minnie

Memphis Minnie was a blues guitarist, songwriter, and singer whose music career spanned three decades. During her career, she recorded over 200 songs. Some of her hit songs include Me and My Chauffeur Blues and When the Levee Breaks.

She is described as the most popular female country blues singer of all time, and in 1980, she was inducted into the Blues Foundation’s Hall of Fame. Minnie influenced other singers such as Erin Harpe, Big Mama Thorton, and Jo Ann Kelly. 

13. Jo Ann Kelly

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Kelly was an English blues singer and guitarist respected for her intense blues vocal style and for playing country blues guitar. She preferred staying in the United Kingdom and expanded to the European club circuit, where she worked with guitarist Pete Emery and other bands.

14. Buddy Guy

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Buddy Guy began learning to play guitar at an early age using a two-string diddley bow he made. In the mid-1950s, he started performing with bands in Baton Rouge. He was an exponent of Chicago blues who influenced generations of guitarists, including Jimmy Page, Eric Clapton, Jimi Hendrix, and John Mayer.

In the 1960s, he became a session guitarist to back Muddy Waters, Koko Taylor, Howlin’ Wolf, Little Walter, and Sonny Boy Williamson. For his contribution to music, he has won eight Grammy Awards, received Kennedy Center Honors, and the National Medal of Arts.

15. John Lee Hooker

The son of a sharecropper, Hooker was an American blues singer who rose to prominence performing an electric guitar-style adaption of Delta blues. He incorporated early North Mississippi hill country blues and talking blues.

Hooker also developed his driving-rhythm boogie style. His best-known songs include Boom Boom, Boogie Chille, Crawling King Snake and One Bourbon, One Scotch, One Beer. As a result, of his success in music, he was inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame in 1980 and has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, among many other accolades.

16. C.W. Stoneking

Stoneking is an Australian blues guitarist, singer, songwriter, and banjo player. His albums have experienced success, such as, Jungle Blues, which won Best Blues and Roots Album at the ARIA Music Awards of 2009.

Also, his album, Gon’ Boogaloo peaked at No. 17 on the ARIA Albums Chart, and the album won Best Blues & Roots Album at the 2015 ARIA Music Awards.

17. Willie Dixon

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In the list is Willie Dixon a blue singer recognized as the most influential person in shaping the post-World War II sound of the Chicago blues. In addition, he was proficient in playing the upright bass and the guitar and sang with a distinctive voice.

Some of his hit compositions include Spoonful, Hoochie Coochie Man, My Babe and I Just Want to Make Love to You. His accolades include an induction into the Blues Hall of Fame, a Grammy Award, and a marker on the Mississippi Blues Trail in Vicksburg.

Also read: 30 Best Music Festivals you have to Attend

18. Junior Wells

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 Junior Wells was a blues singer known for his signature song, Messin’ with the Kid and his 1965 album Hoodoo Man Blues. He performed and recorded with various blues singers such as Buddy Guy, Muddy Water, and Earl Hooker. Throughout his career, Wells remained a fixture on the blues scene but later crossed over to rock audiences while touring with the Rolling Stones.

19. John Mayall

From a very young age, Mayall was drawn to the sounds of an American blues player and taught himself to play the guitars, piano, and harmonica. He began his blues music career playing in a band, and in the 1960s, he founded the John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers. His band produced one of the most famous blues and blues rock musicians, such as Peter Green and Dick Heckstall-Smith.

20. Harrison Kennedy

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Harrison Kennedy is a Black Canadian singer of electric blues, soul blues, and R&B. Kennedy is best renowned for being the lead singer on the Chairmen of the Board. However, he has had a varied solo career since the mid-1970s.

In 2016, he was awarded Blues Album of the Year during Juno Awards for his release This Is From Here. Kennedy also won the Blues Music Awards and several Maple Blues Award nominees.

21. Stevie Ray Vaughan

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Legendary Stevie Ray Vaughan was an American singer renowned as the guitarist and frontman of the blues rock trio Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble. His career spanned only seven years, but he is regarded as one of the most influential musicians in the history of blues music and the greatest guitarist of all time.

Throughout his career revived blues rock, and his work continues to inspire numerous blues artists such as Kenny Wayne Shepherd, Albert Cummings, and Chris Duarte. For his contribution to music, she was inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame in 2000 and won the 1991 Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Blues Album.

22. Big Mama Thorton

Her musical education began in the church but continued through her observation of the rhythm and blues singers Bessie Smith and Memphis Minnie, whom she deeply admired. In 1953, her first single, Hound Dog, was released, topped the R&B charts, and sold two million copies across the US.

She continued music into the 1970s until her demise in 1984, and she was inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame in 1984.

Check out: 30 Greatest Black Singers of All Times

23. Jimmy Reed

Jimmy Reed was a blues singer and songwriter, and his particular style of electric blues was popular with blues. He influenced other artists such as Hank Williams Jr., Elvis Presley, and Rolling Stone who recorded his songs.

Some of his songs include Big Boss Man, Baby What You Want Me to Do, and Bright Lights, Big City. Reed was inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame in 1980 and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1991.

24. T-Bone Walker

T-Bone Walker beim American Folk Blues Festival in Hamburg, Musikhalle, März 1972. Photo by Heinrich Klaffs-Wikimedia

Walker was a blues singer, bandleader, composer, and songwriter. In the 1920s, he started his career as a teenager in Dallas and by 25, he was working in clubs and sometimes featured singer and guitarist with Les Hite’s orchestra.

He went on to have a successful career collaborating with high-profile singers. Walker pioneered and innovated the West Coast blues, jump blues, and electric blues. He was inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame in 1980.

25. Paul Butterfield

Paul Butterfield was an American blues singer and band leader. He produced music from the blues scene in his native Chicago, where he met Muddy Waters and other great blues artists. In 1963, he formed the Paul Butterfield Blues Band, which recorded several successful albums and was popular on the late-1960s concert and festival circuit.

He has been acknowledged for developing an original approach that places him among the best-known blues harp players. In 2006 he was inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame.