Buddy Guy

George "Buddy" Guy (born July 30, 1936) is an American blues guitarist and singer. He is an exponent of the Chicago blues and has influenced white blues-rock musicians such as Eric Clapton, Jimmy Page, and Stevie Ray Vaughan. In the 1960s Guy was a member of Muddy Waters' band and was a house guitarist at Chess Records, as well as a long musical partnership with harmonica player Junior Wells.  Guy was ranked 30th in Rolling Stone magazine's list of the "100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time".  Guy's autobiography, When I Left Home: My Story, was released on May 8, 2012

Born and raised in Lettsworth, Louisiana, Guy began learning guitar on a two-string diddley bow he made. Later he was given a Harmony acoustic guitar, which, decades later in Guy's lengthy career was donated to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. In the early 1950s, he began performing with bands in Baton Rouge. Soon after moving to Chicago in 1957, Guy fell under the influence of Muddy Waters.

Guy’s early career was held back by both conservative business choices made by his record company (Chess Records) and "the scorn, diminishment, and petty subterfuge from a few jealous rivals. Chess, from 1959 to 1968, refused to record Buddy Guy’s novel style that was similar to his live shows.  Chess used Guy mainly as a session guitarist to back Muddy Waters, Howlin' Wolf, Little Walter, Sonny Boy Williamson, Koko Taylor, and others.

Guy's career finally took off during the blues revival period of the late 1980s and early 1990s. It was sparked by Clapton's request that Guy be part of the '24 Nights' all-star blues guitar lineup at London's Royal Albert Hall and Guy's subsequent signing with Silvertone Records.

While Buddy Guy's music is often labeled Chicago blues, his style is unique and separate. His music can vary from the most traditional, deepest blues to a creative, unpredictable, and radical gumbo of the blues, avant-rock, soul, and free jazz that morphs at each night’s performance.

For almost 50 years, Guy has performed flamboyant live concerts of energetic blues and blues rock, predating the 1960s blues rockers. As a musician, he had a fundamental impact on the blues and rock and roll, influencing a new generation of artists, and has been called the bridge between the blues and rock and roll.

Guy previously served on the Hall of Fame’s nominating committee. He has won six Grammy Awards both for his work on his electric and acoustic guitars and for contemporary and traditional forms of blues music. In 2003, he was awarded the National Medal of Arts. This medal is awarded by the President of the United States of America to those who have made extraordinary contributions to the creation, growth, and support of the arts in the United States. By 2004, Guy had also earned 23 W.C. Handy Awards, Billboard magazine's "The Century Award" for distinguished artistic achievement, and the title of Greatest Living Electric Blues Guitarist.

In 2008, Buddy Guy was inducted into The Louisiana Music Hall of Fame. On December 2, 2012, Guy was awarded the 2012 Kennedy Center Honors.  Guy was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame on March 14, 2005, by Eric Clapton and B.B. King. Clapton recalled seeing Guy perform in London’s Marquee Club in 1965, impressing him with his technique, his looks, and his charismatic showmanship. He remembered seeing Guy pick the guitar with his teeth and play it over his head—two tricks that later influenced Jimi Hendrix. 

On September 20, 1996, Guy was inducted into Guitar Center's Hollywood Rockwalk.

On January 28, 2014, Guy was inducted into the Musicians Hall of Fame and Museum.

(Buddy Guy at River Blues Festival at Penn's Landing 1990's)