Buddy Guy

Raised in the cotton plantations around Lettsworth, Louisiana, Buddy Guy developed a guitar style rooted in rural blues at a young age before moving to Chicago in 1957, where he quickly became part of the South Side scene. As a guitarist and singer associated with electric Chicago blues, Buddy Guy took part in numerous sessions for Chess Records in the 1960s alongside the likes of Muddy Waters, Howlin’ Wolf and Koko Taylor, while asserting a style marked by sharp attacks, heavy use of distortion and striking contrasts between spare passages and more aggressive flights. His first solo album, I Left My Blues in San Francisco, was released in 1967, followed by records such as A Man and the Blues (1968), Stone Crazy! (1979) and Damn Right, I’ve Got the Blues (1991), which established him in a repertoire mixing standards, original compositions and forays into rock, soul and rhythm and blues. His long collaboration with harmonica player Junior Wells, exemplified by Hoodoo Man Blues (1965), together with international tours, placed him at the intersection of blues, rock and festival stages. From the late 1980s onward, Buddy Guy also developed a club presence with the Legends in Chicago, while continuing to record studio albums such as Sweet Tea (2001), Living Proof (2010) and The Blues Is Alive and Well (2018), which extend an expressive approach to electric blues grounded in the Delta and Chicago traditions yet open to contemporary influences.