With his no holds barred blues-rock attitude and virtuosic guitar capabilities, Stevie Ray Vaughan soared during the 1980s to become one of the greatest guitarists of all time. As the voice of the American blues during his incredible and groundbreaking career, Stevie Ray’s guitar style paid homage to the likes of Muddy Waters and Jimi Hendrix while showcasing his own characteristically warm and full-bodied tone. He was inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame in 2000, and has been cited as a major influence from such guitarists as John Mayer and Robert Randolph to Eric Johnson and Kenny Wayne Shepherd. Tragically, Stevie Ray Vaughan died in a 1990 helicopter crash, but his legacy lives on as an American blues-rock icon and a guitarist of unparalleled talent and vision.
For more than 60 years, Riley B. King - better known as B.B. King - has defined the blues for a worldwide audience. Since he started recording in the 1940s, he has released over 50 albums, many of them classics, won 14 Grammy® Awards, been inducted into the Blues Foundation Hall of Fame and the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame and received the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the National Medal of the Arts, the Kennedy Center Honors, the Grammy® Lifetime Achievement Award and the NARM (National Association of Recording Merchandisers) Chairman’s Award, among many other awards. In a special ceremony at the Library of Congress, Librarian of Congress, James H. Billington presented B.B. with a “Living Legend” medal in honor of his achievements as a musician and ambassador for the blues. After 10,000 concerts, B.B. King continues to bring his music to audiences around the globe spending the better part of each year on the road with his beloved guitar, “Lucille".
