Buddy Guy

Born George Guy on July 30, 1936 in Lettsworth, Louisiana, Buddy Guy began playing professionally in the Baton Rouge area in the early 1950s. The young Buddy Guy was mainly influenced by T-Bone Walker, Lightnin' Hopkins, Lightnin' Slim, and Guitar Slim.  Throughout his career, Guy has sat in many recording sessions with other blues giants like Muddy Waters, Howlin' Wolf, Willie Dixon, Little Walter, Sonny Boy Williamson, and Koko Taylor. In 1965, Buddy Guy toured England and inspired many British musicians like the young Eric Clapton.

Regarded as an innovator of the blues and a virtuoso guitar player, Buddy Guy has won countless awards: an inductee of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, five Grammy Awards, 23 W.C. Handy Awards, Billboard Magazine's Century Award, the title of Greatest Living Electric Blues Guitarist, and the Congressional Medal of Arts, just to name a few.  Buddy Guy is one of Rolling Stone Magazine's 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time. In 2006, Buddy Guy received his doctoral hood and degree from Columbia’s School of Fine and Performing Arts and School of Liberal Arts and Sciences but today he is most notably “Chicago’s blues king.”  Known for his showmanship on stage, playing his guitar with drumsticks, or strolling into the audience while playing solos, Guy delivers a show you don’t want to miss.