List of electric blues musicians

The electric blues is a type of blues music distinguished by the amplification of the guitar, the bass guitar, and/or the harmonica and other instruments. Electric blues is performed in several regional subgenres, such as Chicago blues, Texas blues, Delta blues and Memphis blues. Though most interpretations of electric blues have a solemn tone through the common uses of the minor pentatonic scale, slow backing, and extended soloing periods, that extend through all subgenres. The following is a list of electric blues musicians.

A

• C. C. Adcock - Born in Lafayette, Louisiana, Adcock combines zydeco and electric blues music to create his own unique sound. He has performed with artists like Bo Diddley.
• Luther Allison - (August 17, 1939 – August 12, 1997) Born in Widener, Arkansas and then moving to Chicago as a teen, Allison was a major force on the Chicago blues scene. Predominantly an electric guitarist and also a singer, Allison released many albums for the Alligator Records label based in Chicago.
• Linsey Alexander - Born July 23, 1942, Holly Springs, Mississippi and moved to Chicago in 1959. Songwriter/singer/guitarist Alexander has been a fixture of Chicago blues for more than two decades and is known for his own electric blues style influenced by soul, R&B, and funk.^[1][2] His first internationally released CD was named "Blues CD of the Year".^[3]
• James Armstrong - Born April 22, 1957, Los Angeles, California, Armstrong has, to date, released three albums on HighTone Records.

B

• Chico Banks - (March 7, 1962 – December 4, 2008) Born in Chicago, Banks released one album in 1997 on Evidence Records, and played with plenty of other blues musicians, before his death at the age of 46.
• Barrelhouse Chuck - (born July 10, 1958, Columbus, Ohio)
• Johnnie Bassett - (October 9, 1935 - August 4, 2012) Born in Marianna, Florida, Bassett, was a guitarist and vocalist who did session work for Fortune Records in the 1950s. He enjoyed a renewed career in the 1990s, and released six albums since 1994. Johnnie Bassett died from complications of liver cancer on August 4, 2012 at Saint John Hospital in Grosse Pointe, Michigan. He was 76 years old.
• Chris Beard - Born August 29, 1957 in Rochester, New York, Beard has released four albums to date, the first one of which was nominated for a Blues Music Award.
• Carey Bell - (November 14, 1936 – May 6, 2007) Born in Macon, Mississippi as Carey Bell Harrington, Carey is an acoustic and electric harmonica blues and Chicago blues multi-instrumentalist, performing on bass guitar, guitar, drums and harmonica and vocals. He has released several albums for labels like Alligator Records and Delmark Records.
• Lurrie Bell - Born December 13, 1958 in Chicago, Illinois, guitarist and vocalist Bell is the son of blues harp player Carey Bell. Like his father, he is a Chicago blues musician who performs on electric guitar. He has recorded numerous albums, most of which have been for Delmark Records.
• Tab Benoit - Born November 16, 1967 in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, Benoit plays swamp blues on electric guitar. He is also a singer and songwriter. He has released at least fourteen albums to date.
• Duffy Bishop - born in Redding, California, Bishop is a singer and songwriter. She is in the Cascade Blues Association and Washington Blues Society Halls of Fame, and has been given a Lifetime Achievement Award by both bodies. In a career spanning over forty years, Bishop has also been a costume designer and an actress in musical theatre. To date her and her band have released seven albums.
• Bobby "Blue" Bland - (January 27, 1930 – June 23, 2013) Born in Rosemark, Tennessee as Robert Calvin Bland, he was an American singer of blues and soul. He was an original member of the Beale Streeters, and was sometimes referred to as the "Lion of the Blues". Along with such artists as Sam Cooke, Ray Charles, and Junior Parker, Bland developed a sound that mixed gospel with the blues and R&B.
• Juke Boy Bonner - (March 22, 1932 – June 29, 1978) Born in Bellville, Texas as Weldon Bonner, Bonner was a Texas blues and West Coast blues guitarist and blues harp player as well as a vocalist. Though based primarily in Texas for most of his career, he did work in the 1950s in Oakland, California and recorded there for Irma Records. Like so many of the early blues musicians, Bonner was forced to work in a meat processing plant in his later career just to make ends meet. He performed in both acoustic and electric blues environments.
• Boston Blackie - (November 6, 1943 – July 11, 1993). Stage name of Benjamin Joe "Bennie" Houston, born and raised in Alabama who established himself as a guitarist and singer on Chicago's West Side. He he was shot dead by fellow musician Tail Dragger Jones.
• Pat Boyack - Born June 26, 1967 in Price, Utah, Boyack is a contemporary blues guitarist who performs modern electric blues and blues-rock. He has released at least four albums since 1994 for both the Doc Blues and Bullseye Blues record labels.
• Eddie Boyd - (November 25, 1914 – July 13, 1994) Born in Stovall, Mississippi, Boyd was a piano blues pianist, singer/songwriter and a fixture of the Chicago blues scene, touring Europe with Buddy Guy in 1965. Though he performed electric and acoustic Chicago blues, Boyd left the United States and lived abroad due to racial discrimination. He recorded for labels like Love Records and Decca Records.
• Diana Braithwaite - Born in Toronto, Canada, Braithwaite is a Black Canadian electric blues singer, songwriter and screenwriter. She is a multiple Maple Blues Award winner. More recently she has teamed up with Chris Whiteley and they have been acclaimed as "blues icons" by the Toronto Star,^[4] and collectively have won nine Maple Blues Awards and had six Juno Award nominations.^[5] Although they are little known in the United States, Diana Braithwaite and Chris Whiteley are mainstays of the Canadian blues scene.^[6]
• Doyle Bramhall - Born February 17, 1949 in Dallas, Texas, Bramhall is strictly a Texas blues musician, a talented guitarist, drummer and singer who worked with Stevie Ray Vaughan and his brother Jimmie Vaughan. His son, Doyle Bramhall II is also a blues musician. He has released several solo albums.
• Billy Branch - Born October 3, 1951 in Great Lakes, Illinois, blues harp player and vocalist Branch is a harmonica blues performer who plays electric Chicago blues. He leads his own band, "The Sons of Blues" and has released several albums for labels such as Evidence Records and Alligator Records.
• Curley Bridges - (February 7, 1934 – November 27, 2014) Born in Fuquay-Varina, North Carolina, United States, Bridges spent most of his adult life living in Canada. He recorded four albums for Electro-Fi Records before his death in 2014, aged 80.
• John Brim - (April 10, 1922 – October 1, 2003) Born in Hopkinsville, Kentucky, Brim was an acoustic and electric Chicago blues guitarist, harmonica player and singer who performed regularly with his wife Grace on drums. He recorded for Fortune Records and Chess Records among others.
• Ronnie Baker Brooks - Born Rodney Dion Baker in Chicago, Illinois on January 23, 1967, is a blues singer and guitarist. His father, blues guitarist Lonnie Brooks, was a strong musical influence on Ronnie, as were Buddy Guy, Junior Wells and other Chicago blues luminaries who jammed at the Brookses' home while Ronnie was growing up. Wayne Baker Brooks is Ronnie's brother; the three Brookses often appear as guests in each other's shows.
• Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown - (April 18, 1924 – September 10, 2005) Born in Vinton, Louisiana, Brown was one of the regulars of the Texas blues scene. A multi-instrumentalist, he performed on guitar, harmonica, mandolin, bass guitar, violin and sang. Brown was the first artist to record for Peacock Records, and his style of play was influential on burgeoning talent in Texas. Later in his career he moved more away from acoustic modes of play in favor of electric blues, often fusing in his sound elements of calypso and zydeco.
• J. T. Brown - (April 2, 1918 – November 24, 1969) Born in Mississippi, Brown was an electric and acoustic Chicago blues tenor saxophonist and singer. He performed with musicians like Washboard Sam and Eddie Boyd, and backed other artists like Elmore James.
• Bob Brozman - Born March 8, 1954 in New York, New York, Brozman is a slide guitarist who performs in various blues music mediums, including electric blues, country blues and even some traditional folk music. He has recorded at least fifteen albums to date for labels like Kicking Mule, and has worked with a variety of musicians performing not just in the blues medium.
• Nora Jean Bruso - Born June 21, 1956 in Greenwood, Mississippi, Bruso has released two solo albums to date and been nominated for several Blues Music Awards.
• Michael Burks - (July 30, 1957 – May 6, 2012) was a Milwaukee born blues guitarist who recorded for Alligator Records.
• Jimmy Burns - Born 1943 in Dublin, Mississippi.
• Cedric Burnside
• Aron Burton - Born June 15, 1938 in Senatobia, Mississippi, Burton has played with Albert Collins, Freddie King and Champion Jack Dupree, and has released a number of solo albums, including Good Blues to You (1999, Delmark).
• George "Wild Child" Butler - Born October 1, 1936 in Hernando, Mississippi, George Butler is an electric guitarist, blues harp player and vocalist performing Chicago blues. He recorded in the 1960s and 1970s for various labels like Mercury Records with nominal success. In the 1980s he moved to Canada and continued recording and performing, his last album being for APO Records in 2001.
• The Butler Twins
• Paul Butterfield - (December 17, 1942 – May 4, 1987) Born in Chicago, Illinois, Butterfield was an amplified harmonica blues blues harp player, guitarist, vocalist and flautist who performed blues-rock and Chicago blues. He recorded for a variety of labels during his career, including Bearsville Records and Elektra Records, among many others.

C

• Chris Cain
• Goree Carter - (December 31, 1930 – December 29, 1990) Born in Houston, Texas, he was a Texas Blues singer, songwriter and guitarist, known for "Rock Awhile", a 1949 single considered a contender for the "first rock and roll record" title.
• Albert Castiglia - Born August 12, 1969 in New York City, New York, is an electric blues singer, songwriter and guitarist. After working for Junior Wells and Sandra Hall, Castiglia has released eight solo albums to date.
• Grady Champion - (born October 10, 1969) is an American electric blues harmonicist, singer, guitarist and songwriter. He has released eight albums to date.
• Good Rockin' Charles - (March 4, 1933 – May 17, 1989) Born Henry Lee Bester in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, Charles released one album in his lifetime, and is best known for his work with Johnny "Man" Young, Otis "Big Smokey" Smothers, Arthur "Big Boy" Spires and Jimmy Rogers.
• Chicago Blues All-Stars - An American blues band based in Chicago and formed in 2007.
• W. C. Clark - Born November 16, 1939 in Austin, Texas, Clark was one of the originators of blues in the city of Austin. A soul music singer and electric Texas blues guitarist, he had his start performing with T.D. Bell. He also can be seen performing onstage with Stevie Ray Vaughan for a 1980s episode of Austin City Limits. Following a tragic car wreck in 1997 that resulted in the death of his fiance and drummer, Clark has slowed down on touring and recording in the years since.
• William Clarke - (March 29, 1951 – November 2, 1996) Born in Inglewood, California, harmonica blues player and singer William Clarke was an electric Chicago blues musician. He performed for a variety of labels, such as Alligator Records, Watch Dog Records and Rivera Records.
• Eddy Clearwater - Born January 10, 1935 in Macon, Mississippi, Clearwater moved to Chicago at the age of fifteen. He is a modern electric rhythm and blues and Chicago blues guitarist and singer, and has recorded numerous solo albums for Rounder Records, Delmark Records, and many other labels.
• Climax Blues Band - Formed in 1968 and based in Stafford, England, this band performs blues-rock in the Chicago blues vein. In their later years, they have also ventured into the arena of soft rock, roots rock and pop rock. The band has released numerous albums for labels like Sire Records and Warner Bros. Records, among others.
• Michael Coleman - Born June 24, 1956 in Chicago, Coleman has played with James Cotton, Eddy Clearwater, Syl Johnson, and John Primer. Since 1995, he has released five albums, including releases on Delmark Records.
• Albert Collins - (October 1, 1932 – November 24, 1993) Born in Leona, Texas, Collins was one of the true greats of the Texas blues scene. An original songwriter, as well as an accomplished guitarist and singer, Collins performed with some of the best musicians the state of Texas had to offer. He released many recordings over his career, and enjoyed renewed appreciation for his art during the blues revival of the 1960s.
• Eli Cook - Born April 24, 1986 in Nelson County, Virginia, United States, Cook has released six albums before his 30th birthday.^[7]
• Johnny Copeland - (March 27, 1937 – June 3, 1997) Born in Haynesville, Louisiana, Copeland was both an acoustic and electric Texas blues guitarist and vocalist who only enjoyed real success late in his career during the 1990s. He recorded numerous solo albums, many for Rounder Records.
• Shemekia Copeland - Born April 10, 1979 in Harlem, New York, Copeland is a soul-blues singer who is backed by an electric blues band. She is the daughter of Johnny Copeland (the Texas blues guitarist) and has released four solo albums for Alligator Records.
• Bob Corritore - (born September 27, 1956 in Chicago, Illinois), Corritore is a harmonicist, songwriter and record producer. He received a Blues Music Award in 2011 for his collaborative album, Harmonica Blues, and been involved in a number of recordings in the last three decades, both as a solo performer and with other musicians.
• Sean Costello (April 16, 1979 - April 15, 2008), from Atlanta, Georgia, was a blues guitarist and singer, whose early records were remarkably faithful to the original Chicago blues. His music later developed a strong soul influence, though his death at the age of 28 cut his career short.
• James Cotton - Born July 1, 1935 in Tunica, Mississippi, James Cotton is a harmonica blues player and singer who got his start performing the Delta blues, later moving to Chicago and performing Chicago blues. Performing both in acoustic and electric settings, Cotton has recorded dozens of albums for labels like Alligator Records and Verve. He also leads his own James Cotton Blues Band.
• Pee Wee Crayton - (December 18, 1914 – June 25, 1985) Born in Rockdale, Texas, Crayton was a frequent member of the Texas blues scene. Both an acoustic and electric blues guitarist and singer, he also performed rhythm and blues and West Coast blues when moving to Los Angeles, California in 1935. He recorded at least nine albums over his career, in addition to collaborations with other artists. Among the labels he worked for were Crown Records and Charly Records, among others.
• Arthur "Big Boy" Crudup - (August 24, 1905 – March 28, 1974) Born in Forest, Mississippi, Crudup was a guitarist and singer that began his career performing Delta blues. He later moved to Chicago, where he continued performing Delta blues and also Chicago blues, both in acoustic and electric environments. It was not until the blues revival of the 1960s that Crudup received widespread appreciation from audiences, performing until his death.
• Eddie Cusic - (January 4, 1926 – August 11, 2015) Born in Leland, Mississippi, Cusic was an African American, Mississippi blues guitarist, singer, and songwriter. In 1998, he released the album, I Want to Boogie.

D

• Larry Dale - (January 7, 1923 – May 19, 2010) Born in Wharton, Texas, Dale was an R&B guitarist and occasional singer active in the 1950s and 1960s. He performed in New York City with a band that included Champion Jack Dupree and Mickey Baker. He was an exponent of East Coast blues, and released several recordings for Grover Records.
• Lester Davenport - Born January 16, 1932 in Tchula, Mississippi and moving to Chicago, Illinois in 1945, Davenport is an electric Chicago blues harmonica player and vocalist. He is also sometimes called "Mad Dog" Davenport. He recorded his first album in 1991 for Earwig Records, and then in 2002 released I Smell a Rat for Delmark Records.
• Debbie Davies - Born August 22, 1952 in Los Angeles, California, Davies is a modern electric blues guitarist and singer who has performed for a variety of bands. She has also done some solo work and worked with John Mayall, recording at least nine albums. Her current record label is Telarc.
• James "Thunderbird" Davis – (November 10, 1938 – January 24, 1992)^[8] Born in born in Prichard, Alabama, United States, Davis recorded several singles for Duke Records in the early 1960s, enjoying moderate success with "Blue Monday" (1963). Dropping from public attention, his career was revived in 1989 with the release of his album, Check Out Time.^[9]
• Larry Davis - (December 4, 1936 – April 19, 1994) Born in Kansas City, Missouri but raised in Little Rock, Arkansas, Davis was an acoustic and electric Texas blues and soul blues musician who was greatly influenced by Albert King. He recorded often with Fenton Robinson. He released albums for many labels, including Bullseye Blues, Duke Records, and many others.
• Maxwell Street Jimmy Davis - (March 2, 1925 – December 28, 1995) Born in Tippo, Mississippi, Davis played with John Lee Hooker, recorded an album for Elektra Records in the mid 1960s, and remained a regular street musician on Maxwell Street, Chicago, for over 40 years.
• Jimmy Dawkins - Born October 24, 1936 in Tchula, Mississippi and moving to Chicago, Illinois in 1955, Dawkins is a guitarist and vocalist and a fixture of the modern electric Chicago blues scene. His first album was Fast Fingers, recorded in 1969 for Delmark Records, for whom he recorded several others. He has also worked for the Earwig Music label, among others.
• Bo Diddley - (December 30, 1928 – June 2, 2008) Born in McComb, Mississippi, Bo Diddley was a guitarist, vocalist and songwriter and was universally recognized as one of the founding fathers of rock and roll music and a pioneering figure in electric Chicago blues and rhythm and blues. He had a very long career that began in the 1950s and continued nearly until his death. He recorded well over thirty albums for labels like Checker Records, Chess Records and Atlantic Records, among others.
• Willie Dixon - (July 1, 1915 – January 29, 1992) Born in Vicksburg, Mississippi, double-bassist, singer–songwriter, record producer and guitarist Dixon was a key figure on the acoustic and electric Chicago blues scene. He was heavily involved in helping start the careers of artists such as Bo Diddley and Muddy Waters. He recorded for numerous labels. He also performed jump blues and would sometimes sing Jive.
• Lefty Dizz – (April 29, 1937 – September 7, 1993) Born Walter Williams in Osceola, Arkansas, and before his four-year tour of duty in the U.S. Air Force ended in 1956, Lefty began to play the guitar. When he returned to Chicago later that year, he came under the tutelage of Lacy Gibson and Earl Hooker. In 1958, Lefty joined Sonny Thompson's road band, playing rhythm 'n' blues throughout the country. During a gig in Seattle, a teenage guitarist named Jimi Hendrix, hung out with, and was influenced by, Lefty Dizz. In 1960, Lefty moved to Detroit, where he remained for four years, working with Junior Cannady and John Lee Hooker. From 1964 to 1971, Lefty worked with Junior Wells, during which time they toured the U.S., Canada, Africa, Europe, Southeast Asia, the Fiji Islands and Indonesia. Lefty then joined Hound Dog Taylor and the Houserockers, performing extensively until Hound Dog's passing in late 1975. He then formed his own band, Lefty Dizz and Shock Treatment, which became the vehicle for his unique brand of flamboyant and humorous showmanship featuring raucous performances of "low-down and dirty" Chicago Blues throughout Chicago and on numerous international tours. Lefty performed regularly at the Kingston Mines and B.L.U.E.S on Chicago's North Side, and at the Checkerboard Lounge on the City's South Side, where he hosted the Blue Monday Blues Jam for a decade, beginning in the late 1970s. International rock stars, including members of the Rolling Stones, Foghat and many others would come to sit in on Lefty's gigs, and the City's best blues musicians also were regulars at the Blue Monday Blues Jam. His most well-known compositions include "Bad Avenue", "I Found Out", If I Could Just Get My Hands on What I Got My Eyes On", Funny Acting Woman", "Somebody Stole My Christmas" and "Ain't It Nice to be Loved". Lefty Dizz succumbed to esophageal cancer on September 7, 1993 at age 56.
• Little Arthur Duncan – (February 5, 1934 – August 20, 2008)
• Johnny Dyer - (December 7, 1938 - November 11, 2014) Born in Rolling Fork, Mississippi, Dyer released five albums.

E

• Robert Ealey (December 6, 1925 – March 8, 2001)
• Ronnie Earl - March 10, 1953. Born Ronnie Horvath in Queens, New York, electric blues guitarist known as Mr. Intensity. Earl toured with Roomful of Blues before forming The Broadcasters in 1988, and has recorded and/or appeared on over 50 albums.
• David Honeyboy Edwards - (June 28, 1915 - August 29, 2011), Honeyboy was a Delta blues guitarist and songwriter closely associated with Robert Johnson, and one of the oldest living blues elder. He released several albums on Earwig Music.

F

• The Fabulous Thunderbirds - Formed in 1974 in Austin, Texas by Jimmie Vaughan and others, this group played the gambit of music. They perform blues-rock, Texas blues and rock and roll. Vaughan left the group in 1990.
• Richard Ray Farrell - Born 1956 in Niagara Falls, New York, Farrell has released ten albums in his own name to date, and has toured widely over a career that started in the mid-1970s.
• Billy Flynn - Born August 11, 1956 in Wisconsin, Flynn has recorded with The Legendary Blues Band and Mississippi Heat and released five solo albums.
• Sue Foley - Born March 29, 1968 in Ottawa, Ontario, Foley is a contemporary electric blues guitarist and singer who also performs roots rock. She has been compared to the likes of Bonnie Raitt by critics, and currently lives in Austin, Texas. She has released numerous albums for Ruf Records.
• Damon Fowler- in Brandon, Florida, Fowler has released six albums to date, the latter three on Blind Pig Records.
• Carol Fran - Born October 23, 1933 in Lafayette, Louisiana, Fran is a pianist and singer who performs various musical styles including soul-blues, swamp blues, and modern electric blues. She has released four solo albums since 1992, her most recent in 2000 in collaboration with Clarence Hollimon for JSP Records.
• Denny Freeman - Born August 7, 1944 in Orlando, Florida, Freeman is a Texas blues electric guitarist and pianist better known for his collaborations with Jimmie Vaughan and his songwriting for the Vaughan Brothers.
• Lowell Fulson - (March 31, 1921 – March 6, 1999) Born in Tulsa, Oklahoma, Fulson was an innovator who performed guitar and sang in a variety of blues-based genres, particularly soul-blues, electric Texas blues and West Coast blues, as well as Urban blues. He performed with musicians like Alger "Texas" Alexander, and also had a long recording career releasing many solo albums.

G

• Grady Gaines - Born May 14, 1934 in Waskom, Texas, Gaines is an electric Texas blues and jazz blues tenor saxophonist who recorded with Little Richard in the 1950s. He also backed James Brown. He released a few records for Black Top Records.
• Roy Gaines - Born August 12, 1934, in Waskom, Texas, Gaines was a protege of T-Bone Walker, he regularly played clubs throughout the Houston area before relocating to Los Angeles. He joined Roy Milton's band, followed by supporting Chuck Willis. His debut album, Gaineling (1982) was followed several others.
• Rory Gallagher (2 March 1948- 14 June 1995) in Donegal, Ireland, was both influenced by acoustic blues musicians including Willie Dixon, and Ledbelly, but as an extremely talented self-taught guitarist, was famous for his 1961 Fender Stratocaster. His strongest electric influences being Chicago blues artists, including Muddy Waters, and B.B. King. Preferring his own power trios, with an exception of five years with a keyboardist, he formed first Taste in 1968-1970, and from 1970-1995 after played only with his own band, recording on several different labels until his early death at age 47 from an infection sustained after a liver transplant.
• Lacy Gibson – (May 1, 1936 – April 11, 2011)
• Joey Gilmore – Born July 6, 1944 in Ocala, Florida, Gilmore has released seven albums to date.
• Dennis Gruenling – Born in New Jersey, Gruenling is an American electric blues harmonicist, songwriter, record producer and radio DJ. He has released seven albums since 1999, with his most recent being 2016's Ready or Not. His contributions to other musician's albums has included stints playing the harmonica, audio engineering and mixing, production and album sleeve artwork. Gruenling has also been employed for over a decade as a DJ on WFDU college radio.
• Buddy Guy - Born July 30, 1936 in Lettsworth, Louisiana, Buddy Guy is one of the most recognizable artists from the Chicago blues scene. Both an acoustic and electric guitarist, Guy is also an accomplished singer. He has recorded countless albums for labels like Chess Records, Vanguard Records and Silvertone Records.
• Steve Guyger (born 1952) is a Chicago blues harmonica player, singer, and songwriter. He has recorded five albums since 1997, having previously backed Jimmy Rogers for almost fifteen years.

H

• Terry Hanck (born 1944)^[10] is an American electric blues saxophonist, singer, songwriter and record producer, who won a Blues Music Award in 2015 in the 'Instrumentalist - Horn' category.^[11] Previously Hanck earned both a Blues Music Award and a Living Blues Award for 'Best Horn' in 2012, and was nominated for the latter prize in the 'Best Song' category. In May 2015, he won the International Songwriting Competition for his soul ballad, "I Keep On Holding On."^[12]
• Pat Hare - (December 20, 1930 – September 26, 1980) Born in Cherry Valley, Arkansas, he was a Memphis blues guitarist, who recorded with Howlin' Wolf, James Cotton, Muddy Waters, Bobby Bland and other artists..
• Slim Harpo - (January 11, 1924 – January 31, 1970) Born in Lobdell, Louisiana, Harpo is one of the best known blues neck-rack harmonica players from his era despite having begun his career as a guitarist. He played everything from Louisiana blues, swamp blues, electric blues and harmonica blues, and was also a singer.
• Matt Hill is an American electric blues singer, guitarist and songwriter. To date, Hill has released two albums, and he has also gained a reputation for his energetic live performances.
• Z. Z. Hill
• Smokey Hogg - (January 27, 1914 – May 1, 1960) Born in Westconnie, Texas, Hogg began his career as a rhythm and blues musician. An acoustic and electric guitarist, singer and pianist, Hogg performed with musicians in Texas like Black Ace.
• Rick Holmstrom - (born May 30, 1965, Fairbanks, Alaska, United States), Holmstrom has released five albums since 1996, and previously worked with William Clarke and Rod Piazza.
• John Lee Hooker - (August 22, 1912 – June 21, 2001) Born in Clarksdale, Mississippi, Hooker was an acoustic and electric guitarist and singer who was perhaps the most well known exponent of the Delta blues sound, though he also performed Detroit blues. He also recorded countless albums under the names of Texas Slim, Delta John and, of course, John Lee Hooker.
• Ellis Hooks - (born 1974, Bay Minette, Alabama), has released six albums to date.
• Lightnin' Hopkins - (March 15, 1912 – January 30, 1982) Born Sam Hopkins in Centerville, Texas, Hopkins was an acoustic and electric guitarist and a major exponent of Texas blues. During his late career he performed mostly on electric guitar, though in the same manner that he would perform on an acoustic one. Like John Lee Hooker, Hopkins is one the better known blues musicians of history.
• Joe "Guitar" Hughes - (c. 1938 – May 19, 2003) Born in Houston, Texas. One of the unsung heroes of the Texas blues scene, Hughes was an acoustic and electric guitarist and vocalist. He performed with Bobby "Blue" Bland in the 1960s and released a series of solo albums in the late 1980s and 1990s for labels like Black Top Records and Double Trouble Records.
• Long John Hunter - (born John Thurman Hunter in 1931). He released three albums on Alligator Records in the 1990s. His most recent release, Looking for a Party was issued by Blue Express in October 2009.

I

• Ironing Board Sam - (born 1939) Born in Rock Hill, South Carolina, this keyboardist, singer and songwriter has released a small number of singles and albums. Despite having several lows in his musical career, it has spanned over fifty years, and he released a new album in 2012.
• Daniel Ivankovich aka "Chicago Slim" - Born November 23, 1963. Ivankovich is a founding member of the Chicago Blues All-Stars. He has played and recorded alongside myriad Chicago blues legends, including Otis Rush, Magic Slim and Junior Wells. Ivankovich is also an orthopedic surgeon, who is co-founder and medical director of OnePatient-Global Health Initiative, an organization that provides medical care to the poor in Chicago and abroad.

J

• Fruteland Jackson - (born June 9, 1953) Born in Sunflower County, Mississippi, Jackson is an American electric blues guitarist, singer and songwriter. Henry Townsend stated, "My respect for Fruteland Jackson is very high. He and my boy Alvin Youngblood Hart is the future sound of true acoustic blues."^[13] He has also worked with children to raise awareness of blues music and has been honored for his work in that field, including in 1997 being granted a W. C. Handy Award for "Keeping the Blues Alive" in Education.^[14]
• Chris James and Patrick Rynn - are an American electric blues and Chicago blues duo, comprising Chris James on lead guitar and vocals and Patrick Rynn on bass guitar. The twosome first met in 1990 in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Their debut album, Stop and Think About It, was nominated for a 2009 Blues Music Award.
• Elmore James - (January 27, 1918 – May 24, 1963) Born in Richland, Mississippi, James was a slide guitarist on acoustic and electric guitars and also a singer. He performed both Delta blues and Chicago blues, though he is most well known for the latter. His technique influenced a generation of guitarists that followed.
• Bobo Jenkins - (January 7, 1916 – August 14, 1984) Born in Forkland, Alabama, Jenkins was an electric blues guitarist and songwriter, who later owned his own recording studio and record label in Detroit.
• Big Jack Johnson (July 30, 1940 – March 14, 2011) was an American electric blues musician, one of the "present-day exponents of an edgier, electrified version of the raw, uncut Delta blues sound."^[15][16] He was also one of a very small number of blues musicians to play mandolin, winning a WC Handy Award in 2003 for best acoustic blues album.^[16][17]
• Luther "Guitar Junior" Johnson - Born April 11, 1939 is a Chicago blues electric guitarist who is better known for his long stints working with Muddy Waters in the 1970s. In 1980 he began doing solo work, though his debut album was released in 1976 for Evidence Records. He has also recorded for Telarc and Bullseye Blues.
• Jeremiah Johnson - (born 1972, St. Louis, Missouri, he is a blues singer, guitarist and songwriter. His music blends elements of St. Louis blues, southern rock, and country. His latest album release, Grind, is currently in the Billboard Blues Albums Chart.
• Luther "Snake Boy" Johnson - (August 30, 1934 – March 18, 1976) Born in Davisboro, Georgia, he was also known as "Snake" or "Georgia Boy", and was otherwise billed as both Luther King and Little Luther (under the latter he recorded for Chess Records in the 1960s). His birth name was Lucius Brinson Johnson.
• Willie Johnson - (March 4, 1923 – February 26, 1995) Born in Senatobia, Mississippi, he was a Memphis blues guitarist, known for his early use of distortion and power chords in 1951.
• Andrew "Jr. Boy" Jones – (born October 16, 1948) Born in Dallas, Texas, Jones is a guitarist, singer and songwriter, whose recorded work has been released on five albums. In 1995, he was also part of the ensemble that garnered a Blues Music Award as the 'Band of the Year'.
• Calvin "Fuzz" Jones - (June 9, 1926 – August 9, 2010) Born in Greenwood, Mississippi, Jones played electric bass guitar and backed Muddy Waters. He also played with Mississippi Heat and the Legendary Blues Band.
• Johnny "Yard Dog" Jones - (June 21, 1941 – September 16, 2015) was a Chicago blues and soul blues guitarist and vocalist, who recorded Ain't Gonna Worry, a W.C. Handy Award winner for best new male blues artist in 1997.
• Tail Dragger Jones - (born September 30, 1940) is an American Chicago blues singer. He has performed since the 1960s and released four albums to date. Jones gained a certain notoriety in 1993, after being convicted of second-degree murder for the killing of fellow blues musician, Boston Blackie.
• Tutu Jones - (born September 9, 1966, Dallas, Texas) is electric blues and soul blues guitarist, singer and songwriter, who has released five albums since 1994.

K

• Harrison Kennedy - Born March 9, 1942 in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, Kennedy is a Black Canadian^[18] electric blues, R&B, and soul blues, singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. He is best known for being the lead vocalist on the Chairmen of the Board song, "Chairman of the Board",^[19] but has had a varied solo career since the mid-1970s.^[20] He was awarded the 2016 “Blues Album of the Year” Juno Award for his release, This Is From Here. It was Kennedy's sixth nomination for that Award. He is also a Blues Music Award,^[21] and multiple Maple Blues Award nominee.^[22]
• Eddie King – Born April 21, 1938 in Talladega, Alabama, King has played as a sideman to many other blues musicians including Sonny Boy Williamson II and Koko Taylor, before issuing the Blues Music Award winning solo album, Another Cow's Dead, in 1997.
• Freddie King - (September 3, 1934 – December 28, 1976) Born in Gilmer, Texas, King was an electric rhythm and blues and Texas blues guitarist who performed with a long list of blues greats throughout his career. He recorded extensively in the 1960s for King Records.
• Little Jimmy King – (December 4, 1964 – July 21, 2002) released three albums in the 1990s before his death aged 37.
• Eddie Kirkland - Born August 16, 1928 in Jamaica, Kirkland is a soul-blues electric guitarist that has performed with artists like John Lee Hooker and many others. He has had an extensive recording career, with over ten solo albums to date, among them one for Telarc and another for JSP Records.
• Bob Kirkpatrick – Born January 10, 1934, in Haynesville, Louisiana, he later settled in Dallas, Texas, and has released three albums to date.
• Alexis Korner - (April 19, 1928 – January 1, 1984) Born in Paris, France Korner spent most of his career in England, and was a major exponent of British blues and blues-rock. A guitarist and vocalist, he released dozens of recordings over his long career.
• Smokin' Joe Kubek - Born November 30, 1956 in Grove City, Pennsylvania but raised mostly in Texas, Kubek is an electric blues guitarist and vocalist in the Texas blues tradition. His band, "The Smokin' Joe Kubek Band", released their debut album in 1991 for Bullseye Blues titled Steppin' Out Texas Style. He first had his start backing musicians like Freddie King. Since their debut, Kubek has released other albums with his band and also has done some solo work.

L

• Pierre Lacocque – (born October 13, 1952) ) is a Chicago-based blues harmonica player, composer, song writer, and bandleader of Mississippi Heat, who has released 12 recordings as of Oct. 2016, the last six of which are on the Delmark Records label.
• Ernie Lancaster – (November 30, 1953 – July 17, 2014) was a Florida-based guitarist who released two albums in his lifetime, and backed James Brown in Europe in 1993.
• Lady Bianca – (born August 8, 1953, Kansas City, Missouri) is an electric blues singer, who has worked as a session singer, depicted Billie Holiday on stage, and since 1995 has released six solo albums.
• Johnny Laws - (born January 12, 1943) is an American Chicago blues guitarist, singer and songwriter.^[23] A regular performer for over half a century in Chicago's South Side clubs, Laws has released two albums, including Burnin' in My Soul, which caused Blues & Rhythm magazine in November 1999 to note "It's a real shame that Johnny Laws has been unjustly ignored in the past... This is an enjoyable CD... Full marks to those folks at Electro-Fi."^[24]
• Calvin Leavy - (April 20, 1940 – June 6, 2010) was a soul blues and electric blues singer and guitarist. He had a hit single in 1970, when his song "Cummins Prison Farm", peaked at number 40 on the US Billboard R&B chart, and stayed in the chart for five weeks.
• Frankie Lee
• Lovie Lee – (March 17, 1909 – May 23, 1997) was a Chicago blues pianist who worked with Muddy Waters and recorded an album, Good Candy, which was released on the Earwig label.
• Barry Levenson
• Papa Lightfoot - (March 2, 1924 – November 28, 1971) Born in Natchez, Mississippi, Lightfoot was a blues harp player and singer who did recordings for Sultan Records, Aladdin Records and Excello Records. He was not well known until the blues revival of the 1960s.
• Hip Linkchain
• John "Juke" Logan
• Hamilton Loomis - (born November 1, 1975) is a guitarist, singer, songwriter, and record producer. One of his eight albums released to date, Ain't Just Temporary, peaked at number 7 in the Billboard Top Blues Albums Chart in September 2007.^[25]
• Joe Hill Louis - (September 23, 1921 – August 5, 1957) Born as Lester Hill in Raines, Tennessee, he was a Memphis blues singer, guitarist, harmonica player and one-man band, who experimented with overdriven electric guitar distortion as well as vocal rapping in 1950.
• Louisiana Red
• Karen Lovely
• Trudy Lynn

M

• Lonnie Mack - (born July 18, 1941, Harrison, Indiana), Mack performs as an electric guitarist and singer. He is widely considered to be the founder of the blues-rock guitar genre (1963 hits: "Memphis" and "Wham!"), but also received critical acclaim as one of the best of the early "blue-eyed soul" singers.
• Janiva Magness - (born January 30, 1957, Detroit, Michigan), Magness was named the B.B. King Entertainer of the Year in 2009, becoming only the second woman, after Koko Taylor, to be so honored. She has released nine albums to date.
• Taj Mahal - (born May 17, 1942, New York), Taj Mahal performs on guitar, harmonica and banjo and also sings. Mahal explores a variety of genres which he fuses into his music, including zydeco. He performs in both acoustic and electric settings, depending on the material.
• Big Joe Maher (born 1964) is an American electric blues drummer, singer and songwriter. His backing band are known as the Dynaflows.
• Lisa Mann
• Johnny Mars - (born December 7, 1942, Laurens, South Carolina)
• Krissy Matthews (born 25 May 1992) is a British-Norwegian blues rock singer-songwriter and guitarist. He had released three albums by the age of 18.^[26] His most recent and fifth album, Scenes From a Moving Window, was released by Promise Records in 2015.^[27]
• Pete Mayes - (March 21, 1938 – December 16, 2008) was born in Double Bayou, Texas. He performed for over fifty years, and was awarded the Blues Foundation's W.C. Handy Award for 'comeback album of the year' in 1998.
• Earring George Mayweather - (September 27, 1928 – February 12, 1995) was born in Montgomery, Alabama, United States. Although he only recorded a single solo album, Mayweather's harmonica work appeared on recordings by J. B. Hutto and Eddie Taylor.^[28]
• Gerry McAvoy - (born 19 December 1951, Belfast, County Antrim, Northern Ireland) is an Irish blues bass guitarist, who played from 1970-1995 with fellow Irish bluesman Rory Gallagher's band, usually consisting of power trios. After Gallagher's early death, he joined Nine Below Zero, based in London, England.
• Cash McCall - (born January 28, 1941)
• Kevin McKendree - (born April 27, 1969, Nuremberg, Germany) is an American electric blues pianist, keyboardist, guitarist, singer, and songwriter. In addition to his lengthy and varied career as a session musician, McKendree has released two solo albums.
• Michael Messer - (born 1956, Middlesex, England) is an English singer, songwriter, guitarist and record producer. He, along with Steve Phillips and Bob Greenwood, is noteworthy for his ability to combine acoustic National steel guitar, as well as slide guitar, into his playing style.^[29] The American magazine, Spirit, listed Messer as one of the greatest slide guitarists alongside Duane Allman and Ry Cooder.^[30]
• Floyd Miles - born April 13, 1943, Daytona Beach, Florida, Miles is an guitarist, singer and songwriter who has released four solo albums since 1992.
• Luke "Long Gone" Miles - (1925–1987)
• Little Milton - (September 7, 1934 – August 4, 2005) Born in Iverness, Mississippi, Little Milton (born Milton Campbell) performed everything from soul-blues to outright boogie-woogie and rhythm and blues. A guitarist and singer, he released countless albums over a long career.
• R.J. Mischo - (born March 18, 1960) is a harmonicist, singer, songwriter, and record producer. To date he has released eleven albums on a number of labels, and his music has been aired on independent film scores, television commercials, and documentaries on the Discovery Channel. Mischo has contributed to a couple of Mel Bay harmonica instruction books. In addition, he was listed in that author's The Encyclopedia of Harmonica.^[31]
• McKinley Mitchell - (December 25, 1934 – January 18, 1986) Born in Jackson, Mississippi, Mitchell was a Chicago-based soul-blues and rhythm and blues singer who started out performing Gospel music. He recorded singles for Boxer Records, Chess Records (with Willie Dixon), and a variety of other labels. Most of his releases are still only available on records. In his later career he returned to Mississippi and recorded "I Won't Be Back for More" in 1984.
• Johnny B. Moore - (born January 24, 1950, Clarksdale, Mississippi), Moore is a Chicago and electric blues guitarist and singer, who has released eight albums since 1993.
• Mike Morgan - (born November 30, 1959), Morgan is bandleader of "Mike Morgan & the Crawl", a Texas blues band. He is a guitarist and blues harp player, and has released a series of albums for Black Top and Severn Records.
• Big Bill Morganfield - William Morganfield (born June 19, 1956) is the son of blues legend Muddy Waters. He came to music relatively late in life, recording his first album 1997. He has since recorded four additional albums, and is a recipient of the 2000 W.C. Handy Award for best new artist. He has become a popular attraction at blues festivals around the world.
• Nick Moss - Born 1972 in Chicago.
• Bobby Murray – (born June 9, 1953, Nagoya, Japan), Murray has played in Etta James' backing band for twenty years, performed on three Grammy Award winning recordings with James and B.B. King, and has released three solo albums. In 2011, the Detroit Blues Society granted him their Lifetime Achievement Award.

N

• John Németh
• Richard "King Biscuit Boy" Newell
• Sugar Ray Norcia
• Darrell Nulisch - (born 1952)

O

• Andrew Odom
• Omar & the Howlers - Formed in the early 1980s in Austin, Texas and led by guitarist Omar Kent Dykes, the group performs electric Texas blues, rock and roll and blues-rock. The band is especially popular in Europe. The group has released at least sixteen albums for labels like Columbia Records, Watermelon Records and Black Top Records. Dykes has also had a successful career as a solo artist.
• Jay Owens (September 6, 1947 – November 26, 2005)

P

• Sista Monica Parker (1956–2014) – a singer, songwriter and record producer from Gary, Indiana, who released eleven albums.
• Neal Pattman (1926–2005) – a harmonicist from Madison County, Georgia, who found fame late in life.
• Gary Primich (1958–2007) – a harmonicist, guitarist and songwriter, who was born in Chicago but subsequently relocated to Texas.
• Tom Principato (born 1952) – a singer, guitarist, and songwriter from Washington, D.C., who has released over 20 albums.

R

• Bobby Radcliff - born Robert Radcliff Ewan, September 22, 1951, Washington, D.C., is an American blues guitarist and singer. Radcliff is an active guitarist. Radcliff was raised in Bethesda, Maryland
• Kid Ramos - Born January 13, 1959, in Fullerton, California. Ramos is an American electric blues rock guitarist, who has performed with James Harman and The Fabulous Thunderbirds, as well as releasing four solo albums since 1995.
• Sugaray Rayford - (born Caron Nimoy Rayford, February 13, 1969) is an American electric blues singer and songwriter. He has released three albums to date and been nominated in two categories for a Blues Music Award.
• Louisiana Red - Born March 23, 1932 in Bessma Alabama is a guitarist,singer and harmonica player who has recorded albums for labels like JSP Records, L+R, Earwig Music, Tomato and Hightone Records
• Robert Bradley's Blackwater Surprise - Robert Bradley, frontman - born February 2, 1950 in Evergreen, Alabama. Inspired by The Blind Boys of Alabama, Bradley's sound is somewhere between blues, soul, and alternative rock. Bradley has also appeared in an HBO movie and appeared in performances with musician friend Kid Rock.
• Sherman Robertson - Born October 27, 1948 in Breaux Bridge, Louisiana, United States is a guitarist, songwriter and singer who recorded two albums in the 1990s for Atlantic/Code Blue Records.
• Duke Robillard - Born October 4, 1948 in Woonsocket, Rhode Island, Robillard is a founding member of Roomful of Blues. An electric guitarist, he has performed jazz blues and swing music in addition to his contemporary blues sound. He has released dozens of albums for labels like Stony Plain Records, Rounder Records and Virgin Records.
• Fenton Robinson - (September 23, 1935 – November 25, 1997) Born in Minter City, Mississippi, Robinson performed everything from soul blues and Texas blues to what he is most remembered for, the Chicago blues. He was discovered by Bobby Bland, who soon got him recording for Duke Records. A guitarist and singer, Robinson played both acoustic and electric guitar. He appeared on "Texas Flood" by Larry Davis in 1958. In the 1960s he moved to Chicago, where he later recorded extensively for the famous Alligator Records label.
• Tad Robinson - Born June 24, 1956 in New York City, Robinson is a soul-blues singer and blues harp player, singing much in the vein of Robert Cray or Joe Cocker. He has released at least four solo albums, two for Delmark Records and two for Severn Records.
• Mighty Mo Rodgers - Born July 24, 1942 in East Chicago, Indiana, is an American electric blues musician, singer, songwriter, and record producer, who has released six albums to date.
• Freddie Roulette

S

• Johnny Sansone - Born September 27, 1957 in West Orange, New Jersey, Sansone has released eleven albums to date, and is a Blues Music Award winner for his song, "The Lord Is Waiting and The Devil Is Too".
• E.C. Scott - born c. 1959 in Oakland, California, she has released four albums and presents EC's Jook Joint, on public access television.
• Preston Shannon - Born October 23, 1947 in Olive Branch, Mississippi, Shannon has released six albums to date.
• Roscoe Shelton - (August 22, 1931 – July 27, 2002) Born in Lynchburg, Tennessee, Shelton was a blues and R&B singer, best remembered for his 1965 R&B Hit, "Strain on My Heart".
• Lonnie Shields - Born April 17, 1956 in West Helena, Arkansas, Shields has released six albums to date.
• Frankie Lee Sims - (April 30, 1917 – May 10, 1970) was an electric Texas blues guitarist.
• Guitar Slim - (December 10, 1926 – February 7, 1959) Born in Greenwood, Mississippi, he was a New Orleans blues singer and guitarist, known for "The Things That I Used to Do" from 1953, which contributed to the development of rock and roll as well as soul music.
• Drink Small - Born January 28, 1933 in Bishopville, South Carolina, Small is known was the "Blues Doctor".
• Barkin' Bill Smith - Born in Mississippi, Smith has lived in Detroit and St. Louis before he moved to his current home in Chicago. Smith is a Chicago blues singer who does solo work and also has sung for electric blues bands like Dave Specter & the Bluebirds. He received his name from Homesick James Williamson in the 1950s, but did not record his own album until 1991 for Delmark Records with Dave Specter, and then a follow-up release in 1994 titled Gotcha!.
• George "Harmonica" Smith - (April 22, 1924 – October 2, 1983) Born in Helena, Arkansas, Smith was a Harmonica blues blues harp player and singer and exponent of West Coast blues, spending most of his career in Los Angeles, California. Playing harmonica on an amplified microphone as well as in acoustic settings, he released at least four albums under his own name.
• Angela Strehli - born in 1945, Strehli is a singer-songwriter, a Texas blues historian, impresario and fan.
• Bob Stroger - born in 1939, Stroger has worked since the 1960s. He has backed Eddie King, Otis Rush and Sunnyland Slim and released two solo albums. In 2011, he was granted a Blues Music Award.^[32]

T

• Tarheel Slim - (September 24, 1924 – August 21, 1977) Born in Wilson, North Carolina as Alden Bunn, Tarheel Slim was a guitarist and singer. Early in his career he was an exponent of Piedmont blues, rhythm and blues and East Coast blues. Later in his career he began performing in these styles on electric guitar.
• Susan Tedeschi - (November 9, 1970) Born in Boston, Massachusetts, Tedeschi is a contemporary blues guitarist and singer who began singing at age four. She has released at least six albums to date, her latest two for the Verve Records label.
• Ron Thompson - (July 5, 1953) Born in Oakland, California, Thompson has released seven albums since 1983 on labels including Blind Pig. He has worked with Little Joe Blue, John Lee Hooker, Lowell Fulson, Etta James and Big Mama Thornton.
• Lil' Dave Thompson (May 21, 1969 – February 14, 2010)
• Andrew Tibbs - (February 2, 1929 – May 5, 1991)
• Teeny Tucker - (January 22, 1958) Born in Dayton, Ohio, the daughter of Tommy Tucker, she has released five albums to date and been nominated twice for a Blues Music Award.

V

• Stevie Ray Vaughan - (October 3, 1954 – August 27, 1990) Born in Dallas, Texas, Vaughan was a major force on the Texas blues scene and a talented blues-rock guitarist and singer. He was leader of the band Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble, formerly known as Triple Threat. He recorded many albums for Epic Records, and was one of the more popular blues musicians of the modern era.

W

• Victor Wainwright – Born c. 1980 in Savannah, Georgia, Wainwright has released four albums, including his debut Piana from Savannah (2005).
• Johnny "Big Moose" Walker - (June 27, 1927 – November 27, 1999) Born in Stoneville, Mississippi as John Mayon Walker, he worked with many blues musicians including Ike Turner, Sonny Boy Williamson II, Lowell Fulson, Choker Campbell, Elmore James, Earl Hooker, Muddy Waters, Otis Spann, Sunnyland Slim, Jimmy Dawkins, and Son Seals.
• Seth Walker – Born 1974 in North Carolina, he has released seven albums to date, including Leap of Faith (2009) which peaked at number 2 in the US Billboard Top Blues Album chart.
• T-Bone Walker - (May 28, 1910 – March 16, 1975) Born in Linden, Texas as Aaron Thibeaux Walker, T-Bone Walker is easily one of the most well known artists of Texas blues. An acoustic and electric guitarist, Walker recorded a slew of albums for record labels like Capitol Records, Imperial Records, Brunswick Records, and many others.
• Baby Boy Warren - (August 13, 1919 – July 1, 1977) Born in Lake Providence, Louisiana as Robert Warren, but raised in Memphis, guitarist and singer Warren was a stalwart of the Detroit blues scene. He released some solo albums and worked also as a backup artist for people like Sonny Boy Williamson.
• Muddy Waters - (April 4, 1913 – April 30, 1983) Born in Rolling Fork, Mississippi as McKinley Morganfield, slide guitarist Waters began his career playing the Delta blues. However, he is most known as a Chicago blues musician. He is easily one of the more recognizable names in blues music.
• Johnny "Guitar" Watson - (February 3, 1935 – May 17, 1996) Born in Houston, Texas, Watson had his beginnings performing Texas blues, a tradition he embraced until his death in 1996 while touring in Japan. He also performed rhythm and blues and funk music, and released well over twenty albums for various record labels.
• Valerie Wellington - (November 14, 1959 – January 2, 1993). Born in Chicago, Wellington was a trained classical opera singer, who successfully turned to recording Chicago electric blues material.
• Lavelle White – Born July 3, 1929 in Amite City, Louisiana, White recorded for Duke Records in the 1950s and early 1960s, before issuing a comeback album in 1994 on Antone's Records.
• Lester Williams
• Roger "Hurricane" Wilson - Born July 27, 1953 in Newark, New Jersey, Wilson has released over a dozen albums.^[33] In addition he is an advisory board member of the Georgia Music Industry Association, and an International Blues Challenge judge.^[34]
• Smokey Wilson - (July 11, 1936 – September 8, 2015)^[35] spent most of his career performing West Coast blues and Juke Joint blues in Los Angeles, California. He has recorded at least eleven albums for record labels such as P-Vine Records, Bullseye Blues and Texmuse Records. His career got off to a late start, with international recognition eluding him until the 1990s.
• U.P. Wilson - (September 4, 1934 – September 22, 2004) Born in Catto Parish, Shreveport, Louisiana, Wilson was an electric blues guitarist and singer who performed Texas blues. He recorded three albums for JSP Records, the first being Boogie Boy: Return of the Texas Tornado.

Y

• Zora Young - Born January 21, 1948 in West Point, Mississippi, Zora Young is a forebearer of the Chicago blues scene, being an accomplished soul-blues and Gospel blues singer who has performed with everyone from B.B. King to Buddy Guy and Albert King. She has toured Europe several times and has released many albums for labels like Delmark Records, Deluge Records and Black Lightning Records.

Z

• Tommy Z - Born in Hamburg, New York, Tommy Z is a guitarist, singer, songwriter, record producer and audio engineer, who has released three albums to date. His 2016 album, Blizzard of Blues, debuted at number 8 in the Billboard Billboard Top Blues Albums Chart.
• Rusty Zinn - Born April 3, 1970 in Long Beach, California, Zinn is a West Coast electric blues and reggae guitarist and singer-songwriter. Zinn released six albums between 1996 and 2009, on Black Top, Alligator, Bad Daddy, and 9 Above Records. He has worked with Mark Hummel, Kim Wilson, Larry Taylor, and Sly Dunbar.

See also

• Lists of musicians

References