Hooker, John Lee (1917–2001)
US blues guitarist, singer, and songwriter. One of the foremost blues musicians, his first record, ‘Boogie Chillen’ (1948), was a blues hit and his percussive guitar style made him popular with a rock audience from the 1950s. His albums include Urban Blues (1968) and Boom Boom (1992) (also the title of his 1962 song).
Hooker was born in Mississippi and learned from the delta folk-blues players before moving north and taking up the urban, electric style on early recordings like ‘Hobo Blues’ and ‘Crawlin' King Snake’ (both 1949); however, he never entirely abandoned the acoustic guitar. His career benefited from both the vogue for folk music in the 1950s and the blues boom of the 1960s. Despite many collaborations with rock musicians, he retained a traditional blues sound.
| He appeared in the films The Blues Brothers (1980) and The Colour Purple (1985). He recorded more than 100 albums during the course of his career, and was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1991. |
