RIP - John Lee Hooker
/John Lee Hooker fell ill just before a tour of Europe in 2001 and died in his sleep on June 21 at the age of 83, two months before his 84th birthday. He was interred at the Chapel of the Chimes in Oakland, California.
John Lee Hooker was a highly influential American blues singer, songwriter and guitarist. Hooker was born in Mississippi, he was the son of a sharecropper, and rose to prominence performing his own interpretation of what was originally a unique style of country blues. He developed a 'talking blues' style that became his trademark. Though similar to the early Delta blues, his music was metrically free. John Lee Hooker could be said to embody his own genre of the blues, often incorporating the boogie-woogie piano style and a driving rhythm into his blues guitar playing and singing. His best known songs include Boogie Chillen' (1948), I'm in the Mood (1951), and Boom Boom (1962)—the first two reaching #1 on the Billboard R&B chart.
Among his many awards, Hooker has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and in 1991 he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Two of his songs,Boogie Chillen and Boom Boom were included in the list of The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's 500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll. Boogie Chillen was included as one of the Songs of the Century. He was also inducted in 1980 into the Blues Hall of Fame. In 2000, Hooker was awarded the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award.
Artwork by MTO
Watch John Lee Hooker - "Boom boom" live
