Early 20th Century

>

Robert Johnson

Robert Johnson

The King of the Delta Blues.

Founded

May 8, 1911 in Hazlehurst, Mississippi

Full Name

Robert Leroy Johnson

Date of Birth

May 8, 1911 in Hazlehurst, Mississippi

Still Alive

Date of Death

August 16, 1938 in Greenwood, Mississippi

Influenced By

Son House, Isaiah "Ike" Zimmerman, Charley Patton, Willie Brown

Later Influenced

Eric Clapton, Bob Dylan, Keith Richards, Jimi Hendrix, Jack White

Robert Johnson

Robert Johnson

About The artist

"As a singer, composer, and guitarist of considerable skills, Johnson produced some of the genre's best music and the ultimate blues legend. Doomed, haunted, driven by demons, a tormented genius dead at an early age, all of these add up to making him a character of mythology who, if he hadn't actually existed, would have to be created by some biographer's overactive romantic imagination."
Cub Koda, Allmusic.com

Did you know...

Robert Johnson participated in only two recording sessions, one in San Antonio in 1936 and one in Dallas in 1937.

Other Artists from this genre

Bessie Smith

The Empress of the Blues.

Blind Lemon Jefferson

Wrote and recorded "Black Snake Moan."

Ma Rainey

Mother of the Blues.

Genres from this era

Blues

Born in the Mississippi Delta.

Jazz

Born in New Orleans with roots in ragtime and the blues.

Classical & Opera

European tradition reimagined by African American artists.

Swing

The dominant form of American dance music for over a decade.

Country & Folk

Black musical tradition is a part of its core.

Gospel

The progeny of spirituals and cousin to the blues.

Theater & Spoken Word

A blend of African-American oral and musical traditions.

MORE Eras

Late 19th Century

1865 – 1914

Late 19th Century

Early 20th Century

1914 – 1945

Early 20th Century

Mid 20th Century

1946 – 1960

Mid 20th Century