List of blues musicians
Performers in the blues style range from primitive, one-chord Delta players to big bands to country music to rock and roll to classical music.
This is a dynamic list and may never be able to satisfy particular standards for completeness. You can help by expanding it with reliably sourced entries.
Early country blues

Blind Lemon Jefferson ca. 1926
Early urban blues
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Bessie Smith in 1936

Ethel Waters in 1943
Name | Birth year | Death year |
---|---|---|
Ora Alexander | unknown | unknown |
Gladys Bentley | 1907 | 1960 |
Lucille Bogan | 1897 | 1948 |
Bessie Brown | 1890 | 1955 |
Reverend Gary Davis | 1896 | 1972 |
Georgia Tom Dorsey | 1899 | 1993 |
Ethel Finnie | unknown | unknown |
Lil Green | 1919 | 1954 |
Helen Gross | unknown | unknown |
Edmonia Henderson | 1900 | 1947 |
Katherine Henderson | 1909 | unknown |
Lucille Hegamin | 1894 | 1970 |
Alberta Hunter | 1895 | 1984 |
Bertha Idaho | unknown | unknown |
Papa Charlie Jackson | c.1890 | 1938 |
Edith North Johnson | 1903 | 1988 |
James "Stump" Johnson | 1902 | 1969 |
Maggie Jones | c.1900 | c. 1965 |
Whistlin' Alex Moore | 1899 | 1989 |
Ma Rainey | 1886 | 1939 |
Bessie Smith | 1894 | 1937 |
Clara Smith | c.1894 | 1935 |
Mamie Smith | 1883 | 1946 |
Ruby Smith | 1903 | 1977 |
Charlie Spand | unknown | unknown |
Walter Vinson | 1901 | 1975 |
Sippie Wallace | 1898 | 1986 |
Ethel Waters | 1896 | 1977 |
Jabo Williams | unknown | unknown |
Oscar "Buddy" Woods | c.1895 | 1955 |
Pre-World War II jazz blues

Jelly Roll Morton in 1918

Louis Armstrong in 1953
Name | Birth year | Death year |
---|---|---|
Albert Ammons | 1907 | 1949 |
Louis Armstrong | 1901 | 1971 |
Sidney Bechet | 1897 | 1959 |
Leroy Carr | 1905 | 1935 |
Walter Davis | 1912 | 1963 |
Tom Delaney | 1889 | 1963 |
Johnny Dodds | 1892 | 1940 |
Champion Jack Dupree | c.1909 | 1992 |
Ivory Joe Hunter | 1914 | 1974 |
Meade Lux Lewis | 1905 | 1964 |
Kansas Joe McCoy | 1905 | 1950 |
Papa Charlie McCoy | 1909 | 1950 |
Jay McShann | 1916 | 2006 |
Big Maceo Merriweather | 1905 | 1953 |
Roy Milton | 1907 | 1983 |
Little Brother Montgomery | c.1906 | 1985 |
Jelly Roll Morton | 1890 | 1941 |
St. Louis Jimmy Oden | 1903 | 1977 |
Jimmy Rushing | 1902 | 1972 |
Speckled Red | 1892 | 1973 |
Roosevelt Sykes | 1906 | 1983 |
Sam Taylor | 1916 | 1990 |
Big Joe Turner | 1911 | 1985 |
T-Bone Walker | 1910 | 1975 |
Postwar blues
Kansas City blues
Name | Birth year | Death year |
---|---|---|
Scrapper Blackwell | 1903 | 1962 |
Walter Brown | 1917 | 1956 |
Jay McShann | 1916 | 2006 |
Arnold Moore | 1914 | 2005 |
Jimmy Rushing | c.1902 | 1972 |
Big Joe Turner | 1911 | 1985 |
Later styles
Name | Birth year | Death year |
---|---|---|
Little Hatch | 1921 | 2003 |
Lee McBee | 1951 | 2014 |
Chicago/Detroit blues

Willie Dixon in 1979
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Muddy Waters ca. 1970s
Modern blues (post 1950s)
Blues since 1990
Female blues musicians
Name | Birth year | Death year |
---|---|---|
Reneé Austin | c. 1966 | |
Duffy Bishop | unknown | |
Diana Braithwaite | unknown | |
Debbie Davies | 1952 | |
Diunna Greenleaf | 1957 | |
Kelley Hunt | c. 1957 | |
Candye Kane | 1965 | |
Karen Lovely | 1959 | |
Sister Rosetta Tharpe | 1915 | 1973 |
Lisa Mann | unknown | |
Sista Monica Parker | 1956 | 2014 |
Nora Jean Bruso | 1956 | |
E.C. Scott | 1951 | |
Teeny Tucker | 1958 | |
Blues in conventional pop music
Name | Birth year | Death year | Song(s) / Work |
---|---|---|---|
Harold Arlen | 1905 | 1986 | "Blues in the Night" and "Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?" |
Wayne Baker Brooks | 1970 | "Something Going Down" | |
Duke Ellington | 1899 | 1974 | "I Got It Bad (and That Ain't Good)" |
George Gershwin | 1898 | 1937 | Porgy and Bess |
Blues in country music
Name | Birth year | Death year |
---|---|---|
Johnny Cash | 1932 | 2003 |
Charlie Daniels | 1936 | |
Merle Haggard | 1937 | 2016 |
Jerry Lee Lewis | 1935 | |
Bill Monroe | 1911 | 1996 |
Moon Mullican | 1909 | 1967 |
Jimmie Rodgers | 1897 | 1933 |
Hank Williams | 1923 | 1953 |
See also: Rockabilly
Blues influence in classical music
Name | Birth year | Death year | Work(s) |
---|---|---|---|
George Gershwin | 1898 | 1937 | "Rhapsody in Blue" and "Concerto in F" |
Honegger | 1892 | 1955 | "Pacific 231" |
William Grant Still | 1895 | 1978 | "Afro-American Symphony" |
Blues in African music
Name | Birth year | Death year |
---|---|---|
Ramon Goose | 1977 | |
Ali Farka Toure | 1939 | 2006 |
Blues in contemporary rock and pop music

Bob Dylan in 2010

Bonnie Raitt in 2007
Name | Birth year | Death year |
---|---|---|
Alto Reed | ||
The Animals | ||
The Black Keys | ||
Black Rebel Motorcycle Club | ||
Blues Explosion | ||
Robert Bradley's Blackwater Surprise | ||
Nick Cave | 1957 | |
Chicago Blues All-Stars | ||
Clutch | ||
Bob Dylan | 1941 | |
Ben Harper | 1969 | |
Steve Hunter | 1948 | |
Daniel Ivankovich aka "Chicago Slim" | 1963 | |
The Kinks | ||
G. Love & Special Sauce | ||
Richard Johnston | unknown | |
Norah Jones | 1979 | |
Chris Thomas King | 1962 | |
Lenny Kravitz | 1964 | |
Led Zeppelin | ||
Los Lonely Boys | ||
Nick Jonas & the Administration | ||
Hans Olson | unknown | |
Robert Plant | 1948 | |
Bonnie Raitt | 1949 | |
The Rolling Stones | ||
Thin Lizzy | ||
George Thorogood | 1950 | |
The White Stripes | ||
The Who | ||
ZZ Top | ||
Whitesnake | ||
Zucchero Fornaciari | 1955 |
Blues from Europe
See also: List of British blues musicians
Name | Birth year | Death year |
---|---|---|
Bjørn Berge | 1968 | |
Cuby + Blizzards | ||
Herman Brood | 1946 | 2001 |
Oli Brown | 1990 | |
Eric Burdon | 1941 | |
Yavuz Çetin | 1970 | 2001 |
Eric Clapton | 1945 | |
Cyril Davies | 1932 | 1964 |
Christian Dozzler | 1958 | |
Lonnie Donegan | 1931 | 2002 |
Elmore D | 1946 | |
Peter Green | 1946 | |
Rory Gallagher | 1948 | 1995 |
Jo Ann Kelly | 1944 | 1990 |
John Kirkbride | 1946 | |
Davy Knowles | 1987 | |
Alexis Korner | 1928 | 1984 |
Alvin Lee | 1944 | 2013 |
John Mayall | 1933 | |
Gary Moore | 1952 | 2011 |
Neal Pattman | 1926 | 2005 |
Ana Popović | 1976 | |
Chris Rea | 1952 | |
Matt Schofield | 1977 | |
Todd Sharpville | 1970 | |
Ian Siegal | 1971 | |
Mick Taylor | 1949 | |
Hans Theessink | 1948 | |
Fabio Treves | 1949 | |
Axel Zwingenberger | 1955 | |
Hugh Laurie | 1959 | |
Paul Wilson-White 1978
Blues from Latin America
Name | Birth year | Death year |
---|---|---|
Nuno Mindelis | 1957 | |
Pappo | 1950 | 2005 |
Carlos Santana | 1947 | |
Blues from India
See also
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