80-years ago today the legendary Buddy Guy was born in Lettsworth, Louisiana but came to rule the early blues explosion of Chicago – a powerful blues guitar great who influenced the likes of Jimi Hendrix, Eric Clapton, Jimmy Page, Keith Richards and Stevie Ray Vaughan – he was truly the bridge from the early Southern Blues into modern Chicago blues and all points in between.

In his early twenties Guy moved to Chicago and was fascinated with Muddy Waters. He soon linked up with Junior Wells where they collaborated on early blues work. As his sound evolved, Guy found himself as a critical bridge between traditional blues and rock & roll – electric with a showmanship that appealed to rock stars from Led Zepplin to Jimi Hendrix and The Rolling Stones

As many early blues musicians, financial reward and anything approach mainstream success eluded them.

In the blues revival years of 1980 both Stevie Ray Vuaghan and Eric Clapton championed the skill and influence Guy had on their careers revitalizing a career that had largely gone unnoticed.

With Buddy Guy’s Legends blues club in Chicago and a solid legacy of critically acclaimed blues music, Buddy now is one of the elder statesman of the blues. Since the death of blues legend BB King, guy has come under new focus as one of the last remaining links between the old blues and the newer blues artists including Gary Clark Jr and Kenny Wayne Shephard.

Here is a terrific performance at Red Rocks – watch as guy dominates the stage with his guitar, his voice and his personality. It is this domination that rock musicians took on their climb to rock and roll hall of fame…