The Top 100 Blues Acts of All Time

Blues: Top 100 Acts

These are the top 100 blues acts of all time as determined by aggregating 50 best-of lists focused on blues artists. Click on names to see their entries in the Dave’s Music Database Music Makers Encyclopedia. See other lists of Acts/Music Makers by Genre. 1. Robert Johnson 2. Muddy Waters 3. B.B. King 4. Howlin’ Wolf 5. John Lee Hooker 6. Stevie Ray Vaughan 7. Albert King 8. Buddy Guy 9. Eric Clapton 10. Bessie Smith Robert Johnson 11. T-Bone Walker 12. Leadbelly 13. Son House 14. Lightnin’ Hopkins 15. Freddie King 16. Etta James 17. Elmore James 18. Jimi Hendrix 19. Willie Dixon 20. Ma Rainey Muddy Waters 21. Jimmy Reed 22. Ray Charles 23. Blind Lemon Jefferson 24. Johnny Winter 25. Big Mama Thornton 26. John Mayall 27. Charley Patton 28. Big Bill Broonzy 29. Koko Taylor 30. Little Walter John Lee Hooker 31. Billie Holiday 32. Skip James 33. Sister Rosetta Tharpe 34. Albert Collins 35. Mississippi John Hurt 36. Bonnie Raitt 37. Otis Rush 38. Janis Joplin 39. Joe Bonamassa 40. Lonnie Johnson Howlin’ Wolf 41. W.C. Handy 42. Mamie Smith 43. Taj Mahal 44. Memphis Minnie 45. Bobby “Blue” Bland 46. Sonny Boy Williamson #2 (Rice Miller) 47. Rory Gallagher 48. Peter Green 49. Louis Jordan 50. Reverend Gary Davis B.B. King 51. Sonny Boy Williamson #1 (John Lee Williamson) 52. Robert Cray 53. Paul Butterfield 54. Blind Willie Johnson 55. Big Joe Turner 56. Magic Sam 57. Blind Willie McTell 58. Bukka White 59. Junior Wells 60. Tampa Red Son House 61. Professor Longhair 62. Tommy Johnson 63. Otis Spann 64. Slim Harpo 65. Charles Brown 66. Ruth Brown 67. R.L. Burnside 68. Chuck Berry 69. Arthur “Big Boy” Crudup 70. Mike Bloomfield Stevie Ray Vaughan 71. Mississippi Fred McDowell 72. Clarence “Gatemouth” Brown 73. Brownie McGhee 74. Roosevelt Sykes 75. Luther Allison 76. Blind Boy Fuller 77. Leroy Carr 78. Victoria Spivey 79. Big Joe Williams 80. Little Milton Bessie Smith 81. Arthur “Blind Blake” Phelps 82. J.B. Lenoir 83. Gary Moore 84. Duane Allman 85. John Mayer 86. Keb’ Mo’ 87. Wynonie Harris 88. Robert Nighthawk 89. Ida Cox 90. Bo Diddley Leadbelly 91. Son Seals 92. Hound Dog Taylor 93. Sonny Terry 94. J.B. Hutto 95. Susan Tedeschi 96. Shemekia Copeland 97. Roy Buchanan 98. Dinah Washington 99. Gus Cannon 100. Fats Domino Buddy Guy Resources/Related Links: Dave’s Music Database: Lists of Acts/Music Makers by Genre Dave’s Music Database: Top 50 Blues Albums of All Time Dave’s Music Database: Top 100 Blues Songs of All Time First posted 7/16/2011; last updated 3/16/2026.

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Dave's Music Database Hall of Fame: Music Maker Inductees (March 2022)

Top 10 Blues Acts Originally posted 3/22/2022. January 22, 2019 marked the 10-year anniversary of the DMDB blog! To honor that, Dave’s Music Database announced its own Hall of Fame. This thirteenth class of music maker inductees is comprised of the top 10 blues acts of all time (see the full list here). These are the top 10 from that list, minus previous inductees Eric Clapton and Bessie Smith. See the full list of music maker inductees here.

Buddy Guy (1936-) Inducted March 2022 as a “Top 10 Blues Act”

Blues guitarist born in Lettsworth, Louisiana. Blues Hall of Fame and Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee. Also a recipient of the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award and a Kennedy Center Honoree. “Damn Right I’ve Got the Blues” ranks as one of the top 100 blues songs of all time and author Tom Moon features the album of the same name in his book 1000 Recordings to Hear Before You Die. Read more.

John Lee Hooker (1917-2001) Inducted March 2022 as a “Top 10 Blues Act”

Blues singer, songwriter, and guitarist born in Clarksdale, Mississippi. Blues Hall of Fame and Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee. Also a recipient of the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award and Rhythm & Blues Foundation Pioneer Award . He charted nine times on the R&B chart, reaching #1 with “Boogie Chillen’” and “I’m in the Mood.” The former has been inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame, Grammy Hall of Fame (as has “Boom Boom”), and National Recording Registry. His compilation The Legendary Modern Recordings ranks as one of the top 50 blues albums and The Folklore of John Lee Hooker was Mojo magazine’s Album of the Year. Read more.

Howlin’ Wolf (1910-1976) Inducted March 2022 as a “Top 10 Blues Act”

Blues singer and guitarist born in White Station, Mississippi. Blues Hall of Fame and Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee. He reached the top 10 four times on the R&B chart, including the songs “How Many More Years” and “Smokestack Lightning,” which are 2 of his 6 songs featured in the Blues Hall of Fame. His compilations Moanin’ in the Moonlight and Howlin' Wolf (aka ‘The Rockin' Chair Album’) are in the top 1000 albums of all time. Read more.

Robert Johnson (1911-1938) Inducted March 2022 as a “Top 10 Blues Act”

Blues singer and guitarist born in Hazlehurst, Mississippi. Inductee in the Blues Hall of Fame, Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, R&B Hall of Fame, and Downbeat Jazz Hall of Fame. Also a recipient of the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. “Cross Road Blues” ranks in the the top 1% of all time. It’s one of six songs in the Blues Hall of Fame, including “Sweet Home Chicago” (both of which are in the Grammy Hall of Fame). Two of the others are “Hell Hound on My Trail” and “A Love in Vain.” Those four are also in the the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame’s top 500 songs of all time. The Complete Recordings is featured in the DMDB book The Top 100 Albums of the 20th Century. Read more.

Albert King (1923-1992) Inducted March 2022 as a “Top 10 Blues Act”

Blues guitarist born in Indianola, Mississippi. Blues Hall of Fame and Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee. He reached the R&B chart 19 times. “Crosscut Saw,” “Born Under a Bad Sign,” and “I’ll Play the Blues for You” are all in the Blues Hall of Fame. His album Born Under a Bad Sign ranks in the top 1% of all time and is in the Blues Hall of Fame, Grammy Hall of Fame, and the National Recording Registry. Read more.

B.B. King (1925-2015) Inducted March 2022 as a “Top 10 Blues Act”

Blues singer and guitarist born it Itta Bena, Mississippi. Inductee in the Blues Hall of Fame, Rock and Roll Hall of Fame R&B Hall of Fame, Big Band/Jazz Hall of Fame, and Downbeat Jazz Hall of Fame. Also a recipient of the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award and Kennedy Center Honoree. He reached the R&B chart 76 times, including #1 four times. One of those was “Three O’Clock Blues,” which was also inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame, as was “Every Day I Have the Blues” and “The Thrill Is Gone.” The latter three are also in the Grammy Hall of Fame. Live at the Regal is one of the top 1000 albums of all time. It’s also in the Blues Hall of Fame, Grammy Hall of Fame, and the National Recording Registry. Read more.

Stevie Ray Vaugahn (1954-1990) Inducted March 2022 as a “Top 10 Blues Act”

Blues-rock guitarist and singer born in Dallas, Texas. Blues Hall of Fame and Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee. He reached the mainstream rock chart 19 times, including #1 with “Crossfire.” “Texas Flood” and “Pride and Joy” rank in the DMDB’s top 100 blues songs of all time. The latter is also in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame’s top 500 songs of all time. Texas Flood is one of the top 1000 albums of all time and is in the Grammy Hall of Fame. Read more.

Muddy Waters (1913-1983) Inducted March 2022 as a “Top 10 Blues Act”

Blues singer, guitarist, and harmonica player born in Rolling Fork, Mississippi. Inductee in the Blues Hall of Fame, Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, R&B Hall of Fame, and Downbeat Jazz Hall of Fame. Also a recipient of the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. He reached the top 10 on the R&B charts 14 times. He has six songs in the the Blues Hall of Fame and four in the Grammy Hall of Fame; “Rollin’ Stone,” “Hoochie Coochie Man,” and “Got My Mojo Working” are in both. At Newport is one of the top 1000 albums of all time. Read more.

Sept. 22-23, 1965: Junior Wells recorded his Hoodoo Man Blues album

First posted November 13, 2008. Last updated September 10, 2018.

Hoodoo Man Blues Junior Wells

Recorded: September 22-23, 1965 Released: November 1965 Sales (in millions): US: -- UK: -- IFPI: -- World (estimated): -- Peak: US: -- UK: -- Canada: -- Australia: --

Quotable: “One of the truly classic blues albums of the 1960s” – Bill Dahl, All Music Guide

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Genre: blues

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Album Tracks:

1. Snatch It Back and Hold It
2. Ships on the Ocean
3. Good Morning Little Schoolgirl
4. Hound Dog
5. In the Wee Small Hours of the Morning
6. Hey Lawdy Mama
7. Hoodoo Man Blues
8. Early in the Morning
9. We’re Ready
10. You Don’t Love Me Baby
11. Chitlin Con Carne
12. Yonders Wall

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Singles/Hit Songs:

Click here for the chart codes for singles/hit songs.

Review: Junior Wells debut album, Hoodoo Man Blues, is “one of the truly classic blues albums of the 1960s, and one of the first to fully document the smoky ambience of a night at a West side nightspot in the superior acoustics of a recording studio.” BD Bob Koester, the founder of Delmark Records, “liked Wells’ music enough to give the musician considerable freedom on the album in spite of concerns of commercial response.” WK “Wells was given the liberty to select his own…track list, without the usual limitation of songs two or three minutes long.” WK The result was Delmark’s best-selling album. WK Wells was also allowed to select his own sidemen. WK The blues singer and harmonica player tapped “his usual cohorts,” BD including Jack Myers on bass and Billy Warren on drums. BD Guitarist Buddy Guy also appears, although he was originally billed only as “Friendly Chap” due to Koester’s incorrect assumption that Guy was contractually tied to Chess Records. WK In 1993, Wells told the Chicago Tribune that the title cut nearly didn’t make the album. He’d recorded it as a single, but when presented to radio “for possible rotation they had rejected it violently, throwing it on the floor and stomping on it.” WK The album established the blues singer and harmonica player’s career and is acclaimed “as being among the best albums Wells ever produced and even among the greatest blues albums ever made.” WK Review Source(s): BD Bill Dahl, All Music Guide WK Wikipedia

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Awards:

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Related DMDB Link(s):

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Kennedy Center Honors: December 2, 2012

image from tvrage.com

On December 2, 2012, the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts held its 35th annual Kennedy Center Honors gala to celebrate contributors to the arts. Actor Dustin Hoffman, TV show host David Letterman, and ballerina Natalia Makarova were honored alongside blues musician Buddy Guy and rock band Led Zeppelin. Chairman David M. Rubenstein said of the honorees that they “have contributed significantly to the cultural life of our nation and the world.” ^KC

Rubenstein said, “Buddy Guy is a titan of the blues and has been a tremendous influence on virtually everone who has picked up an electric guitar in the last half century.” ^KC President Barack Obama teased Guy making his first guitar strings from the wire from a window screen, saying, “That worked until his parents started wondering how all the mosquitoes were getting in.” ^AP

Led Zeppelin’s John Paul Jones, Jimmy Page (two on left), and Robert Plant (far right) with Buddy Guy (center); image from bigstory.ap.org

In regards to Led Zeppelin, Rubenstein said the band “transformed the sound of rock and roll with their lyricism and innovative song structures, infusing blues into the sound of rock and roll and layering the foundation for countless rock bands.” ^KC Obama jokingly thanked them for being on their best behavior at the White House considering their history “of hotel rooms trashed and mayhem all around.” ^AP Actor Jack Black called them “the greatest rock and roll band of all time.” ^AP

The honors, given to those who have made significant lifetime contributions to American culture and performing arts, have been an annual event since 1978. They are awarded by the Board of Trustees of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. This year’s gala will be broadcast on television on CBS on December 26, 2012.

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Resources and Related Links:

• ^AP Associated Press Letterman, Hoffman, Zeppelin honored by Obama 3 December, 2012
• ^KC Kennedy Center Honors
• Buddy Guy’s DMDB Music Maker Encyclopedia entry
• Led Zeppelin’s DMDB Music Maker Encyclopedia entry

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