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Photo: Tom Beetz, 2008 (Wikimedia Commons / Flickr, CC BY 2.0)

Chicago

Buddy Guy

Born: July 30, 1936, Lettsworth, Louisiana• United States

Chicago BluesElectric Blues

The Chicago legend still touring in his nineties — released Ain't Done with the Blues in 2025, won his ninth Grammy in 2026, and is marking his 90th birthday with a tour running through 2026.

Instruments

Polka-dot Stratocaster, Voice

Labels

Chess, Vanguard, Silvertone, RCA / Jive

from

Louisiana → Chicago

Born

July 30, 1936, Lettsworth, Louisiana

Eric Clapton once called Buddy Guy simply "the best guitar player alive," and remembered seeing him at London's Marquee Club in 1965 playing guitar with his teeth and over his head — showmanship that would later resurface, unmistakably, in Jimi Hendrix's own stagecraft. It is a strange kind of justice that the guitarist who taught rock's greatest players their tricks spent his first decade in the business being told by the man who signed him that he was "just making noise." He was born George "Buddy" Guy on July 30, 1936, in Lettsworth, Louisiana, to sharecroppers Sam and Isabel Guy. As a child he picked cotton for $2.50 per hundred pounds and built his first instrument himself — a homemade two-string diddley bow — before eventually receiving a real Harmony acoustic guitar, an instrument now held by the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (Kilde: Wikipedia). In the mid-1950s he played in Baton Rouge bands alongside Big Papa Tilley and Raful Neal while working as a custodian at Louisiana State University. He relocated to Chicago on September 25, 1957. A 1958 cutting-contest against fellow West Side guitarists Magic Sam and Otis Rush landed him his first record deal, and he began recording for Cobra Records and its subsidiary Artistic, including a session with Ike Turner. In 1959 he signed to Chess Records, where founder Leonard Chess dismissed his wild, dynamic playing style as "just making noise" and instead used him almost exclusively as a session guitarist behind Muddy Waters, Howlin' Wolf, Little Walter, Sonny Boy Williamson and Koko Taylor. His only true Chess album under his own name, "I Left My Blues in San Francisco" (1967), buried his guitar under orchestration aimed at the soul market rather than showcasing the sound Chess wouldn't let him make. As late as 1967 he was still driving a tow truck to make ends meet between club gigs (Kilde: Wikipedia). Alongside the Chess years, Guy built the partnership that would define much of his career: with harmonica player Junior Wells, starting with 1965's "Hoodoo Man Blues" for Delmark Records, where contractual obligations forced him to be credited as "Friendly Chap." The two would go on to record together for the next three decades. In 1972 he co-founded the Checkerboard Lounge in Chicago with L.C. Thurman, a room that became a legendary stop for visiting rock royalty (Kilde: Wikipedia). His real breakthrough was still decades away. Eric Clapton, who had idolized him since the 1960s, invited him to perform in the "24 Nights" concert series at London's Royal Albert Hall during the blues revival of the late 1980s. Guy signed with Silvertone Records and released "Damn Right, I've Got the Blues" in 1991 — an album built entirely around the theatrical, too-much style that Chess had refused to record thirty years earlier. It won him wide mainstream recognition for the first time in his career (Kilde: Wikipedia). From there, Guy became one of the last living connections to the founding generation of Chicago blues, recording steadily into his eighties and nineties: "Feels Like Rain" (1993), "Slippin' In" (1994) — which introduced his now-signature polka-dot Stratocaster on its cover — "Sweet Tea" (2001), "Skin Deep" (2008), "Living Proof" (2010), "Rhythm & Blues" (2013), the Grammy-winning "Born to Play Guitar" (2015), "The Blues Is Alive and Well" (2018), "The Blues Don't Lie" (2022) and, in 2025, "Ain't Done with the Blues," which won him a Grammy for Best Traditional Blues Album. He explained the polka-dot motif in a 2022 interview as an homage to his late mother and a lie he once told her — that he had driven to Louisiana in a polka-dot Cadillac (Kilde: Wikipedia). He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2005 by Eric Clapton and B.B. King, received Kennedy Center Honors in 2012 — where chairman David Rubenstein called him "a titan of the blues" — and won a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 2015, on top of nine competitive Grammys. In February 2012 he performed at the White House for President Barack Obama, coaxing the president into singing part of "Sweet Home Chicago" on camera. He appeared in the 2009 film "In the Electric Mist" and, in 2025, in a mid-credits cameo in Ryan Coogler's "Sinners," playing an elder version of the character Sammie with a 1932 Dobro resonator guitar — work for which he received Variety's inaugural Living Legend award (Kilde: Wikipedia). He married Joan Guy in 1959 (six children: Charlotte, Carlise, Colleen, George Jr., Gregory and Geoffrey) and later Jennifer Guy from 1975 to 2002 (two children, including daughter Rashawnna, who records as the rapper Shawnna). He owns and still occasionally performs at Buddy Guy's Legends club in Chicago. Guy retired from touring in early 2024 with the "Damn Right Farewell Tour," which closed with a headlining set at the Chicago Blues Festival — though as of 2024 he maintained he was "not done" with music (Kilde: Wikipedia).

Musical Influence

Buddy Guy is one of the few living direct links between Muddy Waters' generation of Chicago blues and the guitarists who carried it into rock — Eric Clapton, Jimi Hendrix, Jimmy Page, Keith Richards and Stevie Ray Vaughan all cited his showmanship and playing directly. Clapton has said Hendrix's own theatrical stage tricks — playing behind the head, with the teeth — were lifted straight from watching Guy perform in London in 1965. His polka-dot Fender Stratocaster became one of the most recognizable instruments in blues, and his 1991 album "Damn Right, I've Got the Blues" is widely credited with reigniting mainstream interest in traditional Chicago blues (Kilde: Wikipedia).

Influences

Guitar SlimB.B. KingT-Bone Walker

Family and personal life

Father

Sharecropper in Lettsworth, Louisiana.

Mother

The polka-dot motif on his signature guitars honors her.

Brother

Blues musician; frequent recording and touring partner.

First wife

Married 1959; six children together.

Second wife

Married 1975–2002; two children, including Rashawnna (rapper Shawnna).

Formative experiences

•1957: Moves to Chicago on September 25. (Kilde: Wikipedia)
•1958: A cutting contest against Magic Sam and Otis Rush lands his first record deal. (Kilde: Wikipedia)
•1959: Signs to Chess Records as a session guitarist. (Kilde: Wikipedia)
•1965: Begins his decades-long partnership with Junior Wells on "Hoodoo Man Blues." (Kilde: Wikipedia)
•1991: "Damn Right, I've Got the Blues" becomes his mainstream breakthrough at age 54. (Kilde: Wikipedia)
•2005: Inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame by Eric Clapton and B.B. King. (Kilde: Wikipedia)

Instruments & Equipment

Guitar

Fender Stratocaster (polka-dot)

His signature instrument since the mid-1990s; the polka-dot pattern honors his late mother.

Harmony acoustic guitar

His first real guitar as a child; now held by the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

Stories & Anecdotes

"Built his first instrument himself as a child — a homemade two-string diddley bow. (Kilde: Wikipedia)"

"Contractual obligations forced him to be credited as "Friendly Chap" on his early recordings with Junior Wells. (Kilde: Wikipedia)"

"Eric Clapton has said Jimi Hendrix's teeth-and-behind-the-head guitar showmanship was directly inspired by watching Guy perform at London's Marquee Club in 1965. (Kilde: Wikipedia)"

"In February 2012 he performed at the White House and got President Barack Obama to sing part of "Sweet Home Chicago" on camera. (Kilde: Wikipedia)"

"Explained in a 2022 interview that his polka-dot guitar honors a lie he once told his mother — that he had driven to Louisiana in a polka-dot Cadillac. (Kilde: Wikipedia)"

"Retired from touring in 2024 with the "Damn Right Farewell Tour," but maintained he was "not done" with music. (Kilde: Wikipedia)"

Collaborators

Harmonica player and his defining musical partner for three decades, beginning 1965.

Muddy Waters, Howlin' Wolf, Little Walter

Backed all three as a Chess Records session guitarist.

Idolized him from the 1960s; invited him to the "24 Nights" Royal Albert Hall series that sparked his comeback; inducted him into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

Brother and frequent recording/touring partner.

Watch & Listen

Featured

Buddy Guy - Damn Right, I've Got the Blues (Live at Glastonbury Festival 2008)

The title track of his 1991 breakthrough album, built around the theatrical style Chess Records rejected in the 1960s.

BluesyGibby

Stone Crazy

Stone Crazy

Buddy Guy - Damn Right, I've Got The Blues (Live) 2003

Buddy Guy - Damn Right, I've Got The Blues (Live) 2003

Watch & Listen

Henter videoer fra YouTube…

Discography

Year	Title	Producer	Studio	Label	Chart	Sales	Musicians	YouTube	Notes
1967	I Left My Blues in San Francisco	—	—	Chess Records	—	—	—		His only true Chess album under his own name; orchestrated soul arrangements rather than his signature raw style.
1968	A Man and the Blues	—	—	Vanguard Records	—	—	—		—
1965	Hoodoo Man Blues (with Junior Wells)	—	—	Delmark Records	—	—	Junior Wells (Harmonica, vocals)		Credited as "Friendly Chap" for contractual reasons; beginning of his decades-long partnership with Wells.
1979	Stone Crazy!	—	—	Isabel/Alligator/Concord	—	—	—		Includes the title track, ranked among Rolling Stone's 100 Greatest Guitar Songs.
1991	Damn Right, I've Got the Blues	John Porter	—	Silvertone Records	—	—	Jeff Beck (Guitar), Eric Clapton (Guitar), Mark Knopfler (Guitar), Wayne Jackson (Trumpet), Andrew Love (Saxophone), Jack Hale (Trombone)		His mainstream breakthrough at age 54, built around the theatrical style Chess had rejected decades earlier. Guest guitar spots from Jeff Beck, Eric Clapton and Mark Knopfler, with horns from the Memphis Horns.
1993	Feels Like Rain	John Porter	—	Silvertone Records	—	—	—		—
1994	Slippin' In	—	—	Silvertone Records	—	—	—		First album cover to feature his now-signature polka-dot Stratocaster.
2001	Sweet Tea	Dennis Herring	—	Silvertone Records	—	—	—		—
2008	Skin Deep	Tom Hambridge	—	Silvertone/Zomba	—	—	—		—
2010	Living Proof	Tom Hambridge	—	Silvertone Records	—	—	—		—
2013	Rhythm & Blues	Tom Hambridge	—	RCA Records	—	—	—		—
2015	Born to Play Guitar	Tom Hambridge	—	RCA Records	—	—	—		Won the Grammy Award for Best Blues Album.
2018	The Blues Is Alive and Well	Tom Hambridge	—	RCA Records	—	—	—		—
2022	The Blues Don't Lie	Tom Hambridge	—	RCA Records	—	—	—		—
2025	Ain't Done with the Blues	Tom Hambridge	—	RCA Records	—	—	—		Won the Grammy Award for Best Traditional Blues Album.

Famous songs

01Damn Right, I've Got the Blues

02Stone Crazy

03First Time I Met the Blues

04Mustang Sally

05Let Me Love You Baby

External links

YouTube Music Wikipedia

Booking / Contact

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Sources

Buddy Guy — Wikipedia

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