John Lee Hooker, born August 22, 1917, was an influential American blues singer, guitarist, and songwriter born in Clarksdale, Mississippi.

From a musical family, he is a cousin of Earl Hooker.

Hooker's recording career began in 1948 with the hit single, "Boogie Chillen."

Though he stuttered in his normal speech, he performed in a half-spoken style that became his trademark. Rhythmically, his music was free, a property common with early acoustic Delta blues musicians. His vocal phrasing was less closely tied to specific bars than most blues singers'. This casual, rambling style had been gradually diminishing with the onset of electric blues bands from Chicago but, even when not playing solo, Hooker retained it in his sound.

He maintained a solo career, popular with blues aficionados and folk music fans of the early 1960s and crossed over to white audiences, giving an early opportunity to the young Bob Dylan.

He appeared and sang in the 1980 movie The Blues Brothers.

In 1989 he joined with a number of musicians, including Keith Richards and Carlos Santana to record The Healer, which won a Grammy award Ñ one of many awards.

He fell ill just before a tour of Europe in 2001 and passed on June 21, 2001.

Hooker recorded over 100 albums and lived the last years of his life in San Francisco, where he licensed a nightclub to use the name Boom Boom Room, after one of his hits.

"There are no superlatives to describe the profound impact John Lee left in our hearts," musician Carlos Santana said. "When I was a child he was the first circus I wanted to run away with."

"He just kept going. .... He wanted to keep working," said John Wooler, senior vice president at Virgin Records America and president of Point Blank Records, Hooker's label. "He was planning to do a new record, but he hadn't started."

His distinctive sound influenced rock 'n' rollers as well as rhythm and blues musicians.

Among those whose music drew heavily on Hooker's style are Van Morrison, the Rolling Stones, Eric Clapton, Bruce Springsteen, Bonnie Raitt and ZZ Top. In 1961, the then-unknown Rolling Stones opened for him on a European tour.

"John Lee's power and influence in the world of rock, R&B, jazz and blues are a legacy that will never die," Raitt said in a statement. "Getting to know and work with him these last 30 years has truly been one of the great joys of my life."

Even in the '90s, when his fame was sealed and he was widely recognized as one of the grandfathers of pop music, Hooker remained a little in awe of his own success, telling The Times of London, "People say I'm a genius but I don't know about that."

Like many postwar bluesmen, Hooker got cheated by one fly-by-night record producer after another, who demanded exclusivity or didn't pay. Hooker fought back by recording with rival producers under a slew of different names: Texas Slim, John Lee Booker, John Lee Cocker, Delta John, Birmingham Sam and the Boogie Man, among others.

Among his many awards, John Lee 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 Chillun" and "Boom Boom" were named to the list of The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's 500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll.

John Lee Hooker was a much beloved Bay Area artist and citizen. In his later years, Hooker laid back and enjoyed his success. He recorded only occasionally; he posed for blue jeans and hard liquor ads. He played benefits from time to time, but mostly performed in small clubs, dropping in unannounced.

Mostly, though, he hung out with friends and family at his homes in Los Altos and Long Beach, watching baseball and enjoying a fleet of expensive cars.

Hooker is survived by eight children; 19 granchildren and many great-grandchildren. His daughter Zakiyah is a fine singer in her own right.

Wikipedia
Kim Curtis
Associated Press