George "Buddy" Guy (born July 30, 1936) is an American blues guitarist and singer-songwriter. He is an expert in Chicago blues and has influenced many famous guitarists, including Eric Clapton, Jimi Hendrix, Jimmy Page, Keith Richards, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Jeff Beck, Gary Clark Jr., and John Mayer. In the 1960s, Guy worked as a session guitarist with Muddy Waters at Chess Records and formed a musical partnership with blues harmonica expert Junior Wells.
Guy has won nine Grammy Awards, a Lifetime Achievement Award, the National Medal of Arts, and the Kennedy Center Honors. He was ranked 27th in Rolling Stone magazine's 2023 list of the greatest guitarists of all time. His song "Stone Crazy" was ranked 78th in Rolling Stone's list of the "100 Greatest Guitar Songs of All Time." Clapton once said, "He is the best guitar player alive." In 1999, Guy co-wrote the book Damn Right I've Got the Blues with Donald Wilcock. His autobiography, When I Left Home: My Story, was published in 2012.
Early life
George "Buddy" Guy was born and raised in Lettsworth, Louisiana. He was the first of five children born to Sam and Isabel, who worked as farm workers. As a child, Guy picked cotton and earned $2.50 for every 100 pounds he collected. His brother, Phil Guy, also played music. Guy learned to play the guitar using a simple two-string instrument called a diddley bow that he built. Later, he received a Harmony acoustic guitar, which was later donated to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
Career
In the mid-1950s, Guy began performing with bands in Baton Rouge, including with Big Papa Tilley and Raful Neal. While living there, he worked as a custodian at Louisiana State University. In 1957, he recorded two sample recordings for a local DJ in Baton Rouge for Ace Records, but they were not released at the time.
Soon after moving to Chicago on September 25, 1957, Guy was influenced by Muddy Waters. In 1958, a competition with West Side guitarists Magic Sam and Otis Rush gave Guy a record contract. Soon after, he recorded for Cobra Records. During his Cobra sessions, he worked with Ike Turner, who helped him make his second record, "You Sure Can't Do" / "This Is The End," by playing guitar and writing the second song. After two releases from Cobra's subsidiary, Artistic, Guy signed with Chess Records.
Guy's early career was slowed by his record company, Chess Records, which from 1959 to 1968 refused to record Guy playing in the style of his live shows. Leonard Chess, the founder of Chess Records, called Guy's playing style "just making noise." In the early 1960s, Chess tried recording Guy as a solo artist with R&B ballads, jazz instrumentals, soul, and novelty dance tunes, but none of these recordings were released as singles. Guy's only Chess album, I Left My Blues in San Francisco, was released in 1967. Most of the songs were influenced by the era's soul music, with musical arrangements by Gene Barge and Charlie Stepney. Chess used Guy mainly as a session guitarist to back Muddy Waters, Howlin' Wolf, Little Walter, Sonny Boy Williamson, Koko Taylor, and others. As late as 1967, Guy worked as a tow truck driver while playing clubs at night.
During his time with Chess, Guy recorded sessions with Junior Wells for Delmark Records under the name Friendly Chap in 1965 and 1966. In 1965, he participated in the European tour of the American Folk Blues Festival.
He performed onstage at the March 1969 "Supershow" in Staines, England, which also included Eric Clapton, Led Zeppelin, Jack Bruce, Stephen Stills, Buddy Miles, Glenn Campbell, Roland Kirk, Jon Hiseman, and the Misunderstood. In 1972, he opened The Checkerboard Lounge with partner L.C. Thurman. He left it in 1985 and reported in a 2024 interview that it never made money.
Guy's career improved during the blues revival of the late 1980s and early 1990s. His comeback began when Clapton asked Guy to join the "24 Nights" all-star blues guitar lineup at London's Royal Albert Hall. Guy then signed with Silvertone Records and recorded his mainstream breakthrough album Damn Right, I've Got the Blues in 1991.
Guy had a small role in the 2009 crime film In the Electric Mist as Sam "Hogman" Patin.
Guy retired from touring in early 2024, with a final tour titled "Damn Right Farewell Tour." He still performs at his club in Chicago, Buddy Guy's Legends, and sometimes gets onstage to sing and play.
In June 2024, he headlined the Chicago Blues Festival as part of his "Buddy Guy Damn Right Farewell Tour." Guy appeared in a mid-credits scene of Ryan Coogler's 2025 period horror film Sinners. Guy plays the older version of one of the film's supporting characters, Sammie, an aspiring blues artist who uses a 1932 Dobro resonator guitar. For his work on the film, Guy received Variety's inaugural Living Legend/Iconic Collaboration in Film award in December 2025.
Artistry and legacy
Guy, a performer of Chicago blues, created a musical style that often used sounds from other types of music.
In 2005, Jon Pareles, a music critic for The New York Times, said:
In an interview recorded on April 14, 2000, for WRUW-FM, a radio station in Cleveland, Guy explained:
Throughout his career, Guy has played many different guitars. He still uses several guitars during concerts and recordings. He is well known for his special guitars made by Fender, which have a unique Polka-dot design. In a June 2022 interview, Guy said the Polka-dot pattern was a tribute to his late mother and reminded him of a story he told her when he left home to begin his career in Chicago:
The first guitar was based on an Eric Clapton Custom Shop Stratocaster that Guy played in the late 1980s. Over time, this design was improved and became a line of Buddy Guy Signature models sold by Fender. The Polka-dot guitar design and pattern have appeared in artwork for many of Guy’s albums since Slippin' In (1994). In recent years, Guy has worn shirts with the same design on stage.
When Guy was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Eric Clapton said: "No matter how great the song or performance, my ear would always find him out. He stood out in the mix, simply by virtue of the originality and vitality of his playing."
Jeff Beck shared a memory of performing with Guy and Stevie Ray Vaughan at Buddy Guy’s Legends club in Chicago: "That was just the most incredible stuff I ever heard in my life. The three of us all jammed and it was so thrilling. That is as close you can come to the heart of the blues."
Bill Wyman, a former bassist for The Rolling Stones, said:
Guy was a judge for the 6th and 8th annual Independent Music Awards to support independent artists.
Guy has influenced the styles of later musicians, such as Reggie Sears and Jesse Marchant of JBM.
On February 21, 2012, Guy performed at the White House for President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama. During the concert’s finale, he encouraged President Obama to sing a few lines of "Sweet Home Chicago."
Awards
On September 20, 1996, Guy was added to Guitar Center's Hollywood Rockwalk.
Guy has won nine Grammy Awards for his work on electric and acoustic guitars and for his contributions to blues music, both modern and traditional. He also received a Lifetime Achievement Award.
In 2003, he was given the National Medal of Arts, an honor presented by the president of the United States to individuals who have made important contributions to creating, growing, and supporting the arts in the United States.
By 2004, Guy had also earned 23 W.C. Handy Awards, Billboard magazine's Century Award (he was its second recipient) for outstanding artistic achievement, and the title of Greatest Living Electric Blues Guitarist.
Guy was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame on March 14, 2005, by Eric Clapton and B.B. King. Clapton remembered seeing Guy perform in London's Marquee Club in 1965, noting Guy's skill, appearance, and lively stage presence. He recalled seeing Guy play the guitar with his teeth and hold it over his head—two techniques that later influenced Jimi Hendrix. Guy's acceptance speech was short: "If you don't think you've got the blues, just keep living." He had previously served on the nominating committee of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
In 2008, Guy was inducted into the Louisiana Music Hall of Fame, performing at the Texas Club in Baton Rouge to celebrate the event.
In October 2009, he performed "Let Me Love You Baby" with Jeff Beck at the 25th anniversary concert at the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.
On November 15, 2010, he performed a live set for Guitar Center Sessions on DirecTV. The episode also included an interview with Guy by program host Nic Harcourt.
On December 2, 2012, Guy was awarded the 2012 Kennedy Center Honors. At his induction, Kennedy Center chairman David Rubenstein said, "Buddy Guy is a titan of the blues and has been a tremendous influence on virtually everyone who has picked up an electric guitar in the last half century." In a musical tribute to Guy, blues singer Beth Hart, accompanied by guitarist Jeff Beck, performed a powerful version of "I'd Rather Go Blind." Also honored that night were actor Dustin Hoffman, surviving members of the rock band Led Zeppelin (John Paul Jones, Jimmy Page, and Robert Plant), comedian and late-night TV host David Letterman, and prima ballerina and choreographer Natalia Makarova.
On January 28, 2014, Guy was inducted into the Musicians Hall of Fame and Museum.
In 2015, Guy received a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award from the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences.
The album Born to Play Guitar won a Grammy Award in 2016 for Best Blues Album. Also in 2016, Guy toured the U.S. east coast as the opening act for Jeff Beck.
December 8, 2018, was named "Buddy Guy Day" by Louisiana and Mississippi officials, and a section of Highway 418 through Lettsworth was named "Buddy Guy Way."
In 2018, Guy was honored with a marker on the Mississippi Blues Trail in Pointe Coupee Parish, Louisiana.
In 2019, Guy received the Golden Plate Award of the American Academy of Achievement, presented by Awards Council member Jimmy Page.
In 2026, Guy won the Grammy Award for Best Traditional Blues Album for the album Ain't Done with the Blues at the 68th Annual Grammy Awards.
Personal life
Guy married Joan Guy in 1959. Together, they had six children: Charlotte (born 1961), Carlise (born 1963), Colleen (born 1965), George Jr., Gregory, and Geoffrey. Greg Guy also plays blues guitar.
He was married to Jennifer Guy from 1975 to 2002. They had two children: Rashawnna and Michael. The marriage ended in divorce. Rashawnna Guy, who is known by her stage name Shawnna, is a rapper.
As of 2014, Guy lives on 14 acres of land in Orland Park, Illinois, a town located south of Chicago. He is an early riser, which he says is because he grew up on a farm. He explains, “No matter how late I get home from a show, I know I will be up, like, three or four o’clock in the morning.” His only treat is a shot of cognac at every show.