The Blues Brothers

Created in the United States in the late 1970s by Dan Aykroyd and John Belushi as part of the television show Saturday Night Live, The Blues Brothers took the form of a vocal duo portraying Elwood and Jake Blues, backed by a band drawn from the rhythm and blues, soul and blues rock scenes. From the outset the project relied on a repertoire rooted in postwar African‑American music: blues standards, Southern soul, brassy rhythm and blues and rock'n'roll, with a stage approach marked by humor, pastiche and the energy of live revues. Several acclaimed musicians gravitated around The Blues Brothers, including Steve Cropper, Donald “Duck” Dunn, Matt Murphy, Blue Lou Marini, Tom Malone and Paul Shaffer, giving the ensemble strong ties to the American studio and touring bands of the 1960s and 1970s. The Blues Brothers released the live album Briefcase Full of Blues in 1978 and Made in America in 1980, the year John Landis's film The Blues Brothers was released, which greatly expanded the project's visibility. After John Belushi's death in 1982, The Blues Brothers saw various stage and recording continuations in different forms, while remaining associated with the intersection of comic performance, tribute to the blues and American soul culture.