Luther Allison

Luther Allison, (August 17, 1939 - August 12, 1997) was born in Widener, Arkansas. At the age of 12, Luther moved with his family to Chicago in 1951.  His big break came in 1957 when Howlin' Wolf invited him to the stage.  He worked the Chicago club circuit throughout the late 1950s and early 1960s, recording his first single in 1965.  In 1967, Allison released his debut album.

Touring nationwide, in 1972 he was signed to Motown Records, one of the few blues artists to do so.  By the mid-1970s he began touring Europe and moved to France in 1977.  He was known for his powerful concert performances, lengthy soulful guitar solos, and crowd-walking with his Gibson Les Paul guitar. 

Returning back to the US, Allison toured the U.S. and Canada and won four W.C. Handy wards in 1994.  In the middle of his summer 1997 tour, Allison checked into a hospital for dizziness and loss of coordination. It was discovered that he had a tumor on his lung that had metastasized to his brain.  In and out of a coma, Allison died on August 12, 1997, five days before his 58th birthday, in Madison, Wisconsin.

Luther Allison was posthumously inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame in 1998. In 2000, the Chicago Sun-Times called him "The Bruce Springsteen of the blues".

(Luther Allison at 4th Annual Poconos Blues Festival 1995)