Jimmie Lawrence Vaughan Jr. (born March 20, 1951) is an American musician who plays blues and rock guitar and sings. He lives in Austin, Texas. He was one of the first members to join the band The Fabulous Thunderbirds. He is the older brother of Stevie Ray Vaughan, a famous blues guitarist from Texas who passed away.

Many well-known blues guitarists have influenced Jimmie Vaughan's style, including the "Three Kings" (Albert, Freddie, and B.B. King) and Johnny "Guitar" Watson.

Early career

Jimmie Vaughan was born on March 20, 1951, in Dallas County, Texas, United States. His parents were Jimmie Lee Vaughan and Martha Jean Cook. His only sibling, a younger brother named Stevie Ray, was born in 1954. Jimmie grew up in Dallas, Texas, and attended L V. Stockard Junior High. On February 3, 1965, he performed for the first time in front of an audience as part of a group called The Pendulums, or the JSP's, with musicians Phil Campbell and Ronny Sterling. In the late 1960s, Jimmie moved to Austin, Texas, and began playing music with artists such as Paul Ray and WC Clark.

In 1966, Jimmie joined a band called The Chessmen after the original leader, Robert Patton, passed away. In 1969, The Chessmen performed for The Jimi Hendrix Experience in Fort Worth, Texas. At that concert, Jimmie lent Jimi Hendrix his Vox Wah-wah pedal, which Hendrix accidentally broke. In return, Hendrix gave Jimmie his own touring Wah-wah pedal.

Jimmie Vaughan developed a unique musical style. He formed a band named The Fabulous Thunderbirds with lead singer and harpist Kim Wilson, bassist Keith Ferguson, and drummers Mike Buck and Fran Christina. The original members of The Fabulous Thunderbirds were mentees of Clifford Antone, an owner of a blues club in Austin, Texas. The band’s first four albums, released between 1979 and 1983, are considered some of the most important "white blues" recordings. These early albums did not sell well, so the band lost its recording contract for a few years. During this time, Jimmie’s younger brother, Stevie Ray, achieved commercial success. Jimmie also played lead guitar on an album by Texas blues musician Bill Carter in 1985. This album included the song "Willie The Wimp," which would later be performed by Stevie Ray Vaughan and recorded on live albums.

In 1986, The Fabulous Thunderbirds received a new recording contract and created several albums with a more popular sound and production style. Jimmie left the band in 1990 and recorded his only "duo album," Family Style, with his younger brother, Stevie Ray Vaughan. Before the album was released, Stevie Ray died in a helicopter crash in East Troy, Wisconsin, on August 27, 1990. The accident also claimed the lives of three members of Eric Clapton’s entourage. The album was released one month after the tragedy. The artist listed on the album was "The Vaughan Brothers." The album featured blues-influenced rock music, with Jimmie Vaughan singing on several tracks.

Solo career

Jimmie Vaughan released his first solo album, Strange Pleasure, in 1994. The album included a song titled "Six Strings Down," which honored the memory of his brother. Since then, Vaughan has continued his solo career. His solo albums mostly feature blues-rock music that he writes himself. In 1996, Vaughan made a guest appearance on Bo Diddley’s album A Man Amongst Men, playing guitar on the songs "He's Got A Key" and "Coatimundi." In 2001, Vaughan helped pay back a debt to the blues by contributing guitar work to Lazy Lester’s album Blues Stop Knockin.

Since 1997, Fender has produced a special guitar model called the Jimmie Vaughan Tex-Mex Stratocaster. Vaughan appeared in the 1998 film Blues Brothers 2000 as part of a fictional blues band called the "Louisiana Gator Boys," led by B. B. King. Vaughan was the third opening act for most of Bob Dylan’s summer 2006 tour, following Elana James and the Continental Two and Junior Brown.

Vaughan continues to perform. In 2010, Shout! Factory released his first new album in nine years, Plays Blues, Ballads & Favorites, on July 6. That same year, Vaughan guested on Eric Johnson’s album Up Close. He also performed with Eric Clapton, Robert Cray, B. B. King, Hubert Sumlin, and others during the Crossroads Guitar Festival. Vaughan appeared on an episode of the TBS show Conan, which aired on December 22, 2010.

In 2012, Vaughan performed at the 11th Rochester International Jazz Festival on June 29. In 2014, he played at the Mahindra Blues Festival in India with the Tedeschi Trucks Band. In 2015, Vaughan guested on an episode of the PBS show Austin City Limits with the Foo Fighters. He and the band were joined on stage by another guest guitarist, Gary Clark, Jr., who is from Austin, Texas.

Vaughan’s 2019 album, Baby, Please Come Home, was named a "Favorite Blues Album" by AllMusic. In 2024, Vaughan performed with Bob Dylan in Austin, Texas, on April 6, as a guest guitarist. He replaced Doug Lancio on nine songs during the performance.

Personal life

Vaughan has a son named Tyrone Vaughan, who is also a guitarist. Vaughan is good friends with Dennis Quaid. They worked together on the film Great Balls of Fire.

Vaughan is very interested in classic and custom cars. He collects many of them and has displayed several in museums. His cars have also been shown in magazines about custom and hot rod vehicles.

Vaughan has been involved in politics. In 2008, he supported Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul. Vaughan played music before one of Paul’s speeches at the University of Texas. He also performed at Paul’s main speech during the Rally for the Republic in St. Paul, Minnesota, on September 2, 2008. In 2009, Vaughan appeared with Boz Scaggs & The Blue Velvet Band at the Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival in San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park. In 2012, Vaughan performed at Ron Paul’s “We Are the Future” rally in Tampa, Florida, on August 26.

Vaughan said that the death of his brother, guitarist Stevie Ray Vaughan, made him very sad. He said this sadness made him think about stopping playing guitar.

Health

In Vaughan's later years, his health problems started to affect his career. He had a condition called stenosis and experienced three heart attacks. After his third heart attack in December 2022, he received four bypass surgeries to treat his heart.

In May 2024, Vaughan announced that he was delaying all tour dates to receive treatment for "a curable form of cancer."

Select discography

• 1972: The Storm – "The Doo-It" and "Lost On The Ocean Part 2" (Connie Records)
• 1986: Jimmie Vaughan & Duke Robillard – "Cookin'" (Guitar Player Magazine [7" flexi-disc])

• 1979: The Fabulous Thunderbirds – Girls Go Wild (Takoma / Chrysalis)
• 1980: The Fabulous Thunderbirds – What's The Word (Chrysalis)
• 1981: The Fabulous Thunderbirds – Butt Rockin' (Chrysalis)
• 1982: The Fabulous Thunderbirds – T-Bird Rhythm (Chrysalis)
• 1986: The Fabulous Thunderbirds – Tuff Enuff (CBS Associated)
• 1987: The Fabulous Thunderbirds – Hot Number (CBS Associated)
• 1989: The Fabulous Thunderbirds – Powerful Stuff (CBS Associated)
• 1990: The Vaughan Brothers – Family Style [with Stevie Ray Vaughan] (Epic)
• 1994: Strange Pleasure (Epic)
• 1998: Out There (Epic)
• 2001: Do You Get The Blues? (Artemis; reissued in 2024 by The Last Record Co.)
• 2007: Omar Kent Dykes & Jimmie Vaughan – On The Jimmy Reed Highway (Ruf)
• 2010: Plays Blues, Ballads & Favorites (Proper; Shout! Factory)
• 2011: Plays More Blues, Ballads & Favorites (Proper; Shout! Factory)
• 2017: Jimmie Vaughan Trio – Live At C-Boy's [with Mike Flanigin, Barry "Frosty" Smith] (Proper; The Last Music Co.)
• 2019: Baby, Please Come Home (The Last Music Co.)
• 2020: The Pleasure's All Mine (The Complete Blues, Ballads & Favorites Sessions) (The Last Music Co.) – 2-CD compilation
• 2021: The Jimmie Vaughan Story (Deluxe Edition, 5-CD set, 12-inch vinyl LP, two 7-inch vinyl singles, and a 240-page book) (The Last Music Co.)

Awards

• 1990: Modern Blues Album – The Vaughan Brothers – Family Style
• 1990: Rock Instrumental Performance – The Vaughan Brothers – "D/FW"
• 1996: Rock Instrumental Performance – "SRV Shuffle"
• 2001: Traditional Blues Album – Do You Get The Blues?
• 2020: Traditional Blues Male Artist of the Year