Robert Leroy Johnson was born on May 8, 1911, and died on August 16, 1938. He was an American blues musician and songwriter. His singing, guitar playing, and songwriting on his important 1936 and 1937 recordings influenced many musicians who came after him. Even though his recording career lasted only seven months, people recognize him as a master of the blues, especially the Delta blues style, and as one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame says he might have been "the first ever rock star."

As a traveling performer, Johnson played mostly on street corners, in small clubs, and at Saturday night dances. He did not have much commercial success or public recognition during his lifetime. He had only two recording sessions, both produced by Don Law, one in San Antonio in 1936 and one in Dallas in 1937. These sessions created 29 different songs, with 13 alternate versions that survived. Most of these songs were released as 10-inch, 78 rpm singles between 1937 and 1938, with a few released after his death. Other than these recordings, very little was known about his life outside the small musical community in the Mississippi Delta where he lived most of the time. Researchers have reconstructed much of his story. His poorly documented life and death have led to many legends, including the idea that he made a deal with the devil at a local crossroads in exchange for musical success.

His music had a small but important following during his lifetime and in the decades after his death. In late 1938, John Hammond tried to find Johnson for a concert at Carnegie Hall, but learned that Johnson had recently died. Hammond was a producer for Columbia Records, which bought Johnson's original recordings from Brunswick Records. In 1941, musicologist Alan Lomax went to Mississippi to record Johnson, not knowing he had died. In 1961, Columbia released an album of Johnson's recordings called King of the Delta Blues Singers, produced by Frank Driggs. This album helped bring Johnson's work to a wider audience. It became influential, especially in the early British blues movement. Eric Clapton called Johnson "the most important blues singer that ever lived." Bob Dylan, Keith Richards, and Robert Plant have said Johnson's lyrics and music greatly influenced their own work. Many of Johnson's songs have been covered by other artists over the years, and his guitar styles and lyrics have been used by many later musicians.

New interest in Johnson's work and life led to more research starting in the 1960s. Much of what is known about him was discovered by researchers like Gayle Dean Wardlow and Bruce Conforth, especially in their 2019 biography Up Jumped the Devil: The Real Life of Robert Johnson (Chicago Review Press). Two films, the 1991 documentary The Search for Robert Johnson by John Hammond Jr. and the 1997 documentary Can't You Hear the Wind Howl?: The Life & Music of Robert Johnson, which included scenes with Keb' Mo' as Johnson, tried to show his life. These films showed the challenges of learning about Johnson because of limited historical records and conflicting stories. Over the years, Johnson's importance and music have been recognized by the Rock and Roll, Grammy, and Blues Halls of Fame, as well as the National Recording Preservation Board.

Life and career

Robert Leroy Johnson was born in Hazlehurst, Mississippi, possibly on May 8, 1911, to Julia Major Dodds (born October 1874) and Noah Johnson (born December 1884). Julia was married to Charles Dodds (born February 1865), a landowner and furniture maker who had to leave Hazlehurst after a conflict with white landowners. Julia and baby Robert left Hazlehurst but returned to Memphis within two years to live with Julia’s husband, who later changed his name to Charles Spencer. Robert lived in Memphis for about 8–9 years, attending Carnes Avenue Colored School, where he studied arithmetic, reading, language, music, geography, and physical exercise. In Memphis, he developed an interest in blues and popular music. His education and city life made him different from many other blues musicians of his time.

Around 1919–1920, Robert reunited with his mother after she married Will “Dusty” Willis, an illiterate sharecropper. They first lived on a plantation in Lucas Township, Arkansas, but later moved to Commerce, Mississippi, near Tunica and Robinsonville. They lived on the Abbay & Leatherman Plantation. Julia’s new husband was 24 years younger than her. Robert was sometimes called “Little Robert Dusty” but was registered as Robert Spencer at Tunica’s Indian Creek School. In the 1920 census, he was listed as Robert Spencer, living in Lucas, Arkansas, with Will and Julia Willis. He attended school in 1924 and 1927. His signature on a marriage certificate suggests he was well-educated for his background. A friend, Willie Coffee, recalled that Robert played the harmonica and jaw harp as a child and was sometimes absent from school, possibly because he was in Memphis.

After learning about his biological father, Robert adopted the surname Johnson. He used it on his marriage certificate to Virginia Travis in February 1929. Virginia died shortly after childbirth. Some relatives of Virginia told blues researcher Robert “Mack” McCormick that this was a punishment for Robert’s decision to perform secular songs, which some believed was “selling his soul to the Devil.” McCormick thought Johnson accepted this idea as a way to describe his choice to leave farming for a life as a blues musician.

At the same time, blues musician Son House moved to Robinsonville, where his friend Willie Brown lived. House later said Johnson was a good harmonica player but a poor guitarist as a child. Johnson left Robinsonville and traveled near his birthplace, possibly searching for his biological father. There, he learned guitar techniques from Son House and Isaiah “Ike” Zimmerman. Zimmerman was rumored to have learned guitar by visiting graveyards at midnight. When Johnson returned to Robinsonville, he had improved his guitar skills. House, who knew the legend of Johnson’s “deal with the Devil,” gave uncertain answers when asked if Johnson’s talent was supernatural.

While living in Martinsville, Johnson had a child with Vergie Mae Smith. He married Caletta Craft in May 1931. In 1932, the couple lived briefly in Clarksdale, Mississippi, but Johnson left for a life as a traveling musician. Caletta died in early 1933.

From 1932 until his death in 1938, Johnson moved often between Memphis, Helena, and smaller towns in the Mississippi Delta and nearby areas. He sometimes traveled farther, including to Chicago, Texas, New York, Canada, Kentucky, and Indiana. Blues musician Johnny Shines traveled with him, and Henry Townsend worked with him in St. Louis. Johnson stayed with family members or women he met during his travels. He did not marry again but had long-term relationships with some women. In other places, he stayed with women he met during performances. People he met often did not know about his life elsewhere. He used different last names in different places, including at least eight distinct ones.

Biographers studied accounts from people who knew Johnson, such as Shines, Robert Lockwood Jr., and David “Honeyboy” Edwards. These accounts described Johnson as polite, soft-spoken, and hard to understand. He was friendly in public but private and independent. Musicians who knew him said he was kind and average, except for his musical talent, love for whiskey, and dedication to traveling.

When Johnson arrived in a new town, he played for tips on street corners or near bars and restaurants. He often performed popular songs of the time, not just blues. He could learn songs quickly and played what audiences wanted. Some musicians noted his interest in jazz and country music. He had a special ability to connect with people, making friends in every town he visited.

Johnny Shines met Johnson in 1936 when Shines was 20. Johnson was about four years older. Shines described Johnson in a book by Samuel Charters as someone who had a long-term relationship with Estella Coleman, a woman about 15 years older than him and the mother of Robert Lockwood Jr. Johnson reportedly asked women in the countryside if he could stay with them, and most agreed until someone else arrived or he was ready to leave.

In 1941, Alan Lomax learned from Muddy Waters that Johnson had performed near Clarksdale, Mississippi. By 1959, Samuel Charters noted that Will Shade of the Memphis Jug Band remembered Johnson briefly playing with him in West Memphis, Arkansas. In his final year, Johnson is believed to have traveled to St. Louis, Chicago, Detroit, and New York City. In 1938, Columbia Records producer John H. Hammond tried to book Johnson for a concert at Carnegie Hall in New York but replaced him after Johnson’s death, playing two of his records instead.

Death

Robert Johnson died on August 16, 1938, at the age of 27, near Greenwood, Mississippi, from unknown causes. His death was not made public. Nearly 30 years later, Gayle Dean Wardlow, a music researcher from Mississippi, found Johnson’s death certificate. It listed only the date and location of his death, with no official cause. No full medical exam had been done. Instead, a basic check was performed to file the certificate, and no immediate cause of death was determined. It is likely Johnson had congenital syphilis, a disease present from birth. Later, medical professionals suspected this condition may have contributed to his death. However, over 30 years, local stories had created a legend that filled in gaps about his life and death.

Several accounts describe events before his death. Johnson had been playing music at a country dance at the Three Forks Club in Itta Bena, about 15 miles from Greenwood. One theory suggests he was murdered by the jealous husband of a woman he had flirted with. According to blues musician David "Honeyboy" Edwards, Johnson was flirting with a married woman at a dance. She gave him a bottle of whiskey poisoned by her husband. Edwards knocked the bottle from Johnson’s hand, telling him not to drink from a bottle he had not seen opened. Johnson replied, "Don’t ever knock a bottle out of my hand." Soon after, he was offered another (poisoned) bottle and accepted it. Johnson began feeling ill the next evening and had to be helped back to his room in the early morning. Over the next three days, his condition worsened. Witnesses reported he died in a convulsive state of severe pain. Music researcher Robert "Mack" McCormick claimed to have found the man who killed Johnson and obtained a confession, but he refused to share the man’s name.

Strychnine, a poison, has been suggested as the cause of Johnson’s death. However, one scholar, Tom Graves, argued against this. In his book Crossroads: The Life and Afterlife of Blues Legend Robert Johnson, Graves cited toxicologists, who stated that strychnine has a strong smell and taste that cannot be hidden, even in strong liquor. He also noted that a large amount of strychnine would need to be consumed at once to be fatal, and death would occur within hours, not days.

In their 2019 book Up Jumped the Devil, Bruce Conforth and Gayle Dean Wardlow suggested the poison may have been naphthalene, a chemical found in mothballs. This was a common method of poisoning in rural areas of the South but rarely caused death. However, Johnson had been diagnosed with an ulcer and esophageal varices, conditions that could have caused severe bleeding when exposed to poison. He died after two days of severe abdominal pain, vomiting, and bleeding from the mouth.

Years later, Cornelia Jordan, the Leflore County registrar, wrote a note on Johnson’s death certificate after an investigation for the state director of vital statistics, R. N. Whitfield. In 2006, medical practitioner David Connell suggested Johnson may have had Marfan syndrome, a condition that could have affected his guitar playing and possibly caused his death due to aortic dissection, a tear in the aorta.

The true location of Johnson’s grave is unknown. Three different markers have been placed at possible burial sites in church cemeteries outside Greenwood.

• Research in the 1980s and 1990s strongly suggests Johnson was buried in the graveyard of the Mount Zion Missionary Baptist Church near Morgan City, Mississippi, in an unmarked grave. A large stone marker shaped like an obelisk, listing all of Johnson’s song titles, was placed at this site in 1990. It was funded by Columbia Records and contributions from the Mount Zion Memorial Fund.

• In 1990, a small marker with the epitaph "Resting in the Blues" was placed in the cemetery of Payne Chapel near Quito, Mississippi, by a rock band named the Tombstones. They saw a photograph in Living Blues magazine of an unmarked spot claimed by one of Johnson’s ex-girlfriends to be his burial site.

• More recent research by Stephen LaVere, including statements from Rosie Eskridge, the wife of the supposed gravedigger, suggests the actual grave is under a large pecan tree in the cemetery of the Little Zion Church, north of Greenwood along Money Road. Sony Music placed a marker at this site, which includes LaVere’s name and Johnson’s. Researchers Bruce Conforth and Gayle Dean Wardlow also concluded this was Johnson’s resting place in their 2019 biography.

John Hammond Jr., in the documentary The Search for Robert Johnson (1991), suggested Johnson was likely buried in a pauper’s grave (or "potter’s field") very near where he died, due to poverty and lack of transportation.

Devil legend

A popular story says that Johnson made a deal with the Devil at a crossroads to get his musical talent, similar to the Faust legend. According to the story, as a young man living on a plantation in rural Mississippi, Johnson wanted to become a great blues musician. One version of the story says he was told to take his guitar to a crossroads near Dockery Plantation at midnight. (Other places have also been claimed as the location of the crossroads.) There, he met a large being (the Devil), who took the guitar and adjusted the strings. The Devil played a few songs and then gave the guitar back to Johnson, giving him expert skill with the instrument. In exchange for his soul, Johnson was able to create the blues for which he became famous.

This story was first connected to Delta blues musician Tommy Johnson, who was not related to Robert Johnson. Tommy Johnson grew up near Dockery Plantation and learned the blues from Charlie Patton and Willie Brown. He first said he sold his soul to the devil at a crossroads in exchange for his guitar skills.

Over time, this story was written about by scholars like Gayle Dean Wardlow, Edward Komara, and Elijah Wald. They say the legend became popular after Johnson was rediscovered by white fans more than 20 years after his death. Son House once told Pete Welding that Johnson learned the guitar very quickly, which some people believed was because of the crossroads story. Other people who asked Son House did not get confirmation, and there were two years between when House first saw Johnson as a beginner and later as a master.

More details about the story came from books written by Greil Marcus and Robert Palmer. They added that Johnson received his gift from a large black man at a crossroads. There is debate about when and how the crossroads detail was added to Robert Johnson's story. Evidence, including a chapter in the biography Crossroads by Tom Graves, suggests the story originally came from Tommy Johnson. This story was collected from Tommy Johnson’s musical friend Ishman Bracey and his brother Ledell in the 1960s. One version of Ledell’s story was published in David Evans’s 1971 biography of Tommy Johnson and later repeated in a book called Searching for Robert Johnson in 1982.

In another version, Ledell said the meeting happened in a graveyard, not at a crossroads. This is similar to a story about Ike Zimmerman of Hazlehurst, Mississippi, who learned to play the guitar at midnight while sitting on tombstones. Zimmerman is believed to have influenced Johnson’s early guitar playing.

Recent research by blues scholar Bruce Conforth in Living Blues magazine clarifies that Johnson and Zimmerman practiced in graveyards at night because they were quiet and undisturbed. However, Zimmerman was not from Hazlehurst but from nearby Beauregard, and he practiced in several graveyards, not just one. Johnson lived with Zimmerman for about a year and learned from him. Zimmerman later went back to the Delta with Johnson.

Locations like Dockery, Hazlehurst, and Beauregard have all been claimed as the mythical crossroads. Other places, such as Clarksdale and Memphis, also have tourist attractions that call themselves "The Crossroads." Residents of Rosedale, Mississippi, say Johnson sold his soul to the devil at the intersection of Highways 1 and 8 in their town. The 1986 movie Crossroads was filmed in Beulah, Mississippi. Blues historian Steve Cheseborough wrote that finding the exact location of the mythical crossroads may be impossible because "Robert Johnson was a rambling guy."

Some scholars say the devil in these stories might refer not only to the Christian figure of Satan but also to Legba, an African trickster god associated with crossroads. Folklorist Harry M. Hyatt wrote that in the 1930s, African-Americans who said they or others had "sold their soul to the devil at the crossroads" likely meant something different from the Faust legend. He found evidence that African religious traditions involving Legba and "deals" with the devil at crossroads were part of their culture.

This view was challenged by blues scholar David Evans in a 1999 essay called "Demythologizing the Blues." Musicologist Alan Lomax dismissed the myth, saying that many blues musicians saw themselves as "children of the Devil" because of the European dance traditions they believed were sinful. However, both Lomax and Evans’ ideas have been questioned by Black scholars like Amiri Baraka and Cornel West. West says blues is a creation of people who face difficult conditions and respond to them as children of God. Baraka argues that the call-and-response singing style Lomax described is a key part of blues music.

Musical style

Robert Johnson is known as an expert in the blues, especially the Delta blues style. In 1990, Keith Richards of the Rolling Stones said, "He shows how good the blues can be." Elijah Wald, in his book Escaping the Delta, noted that Johnson was respected for his ability to play many styles, such as country slide guitar, jazz, and pop. He could learn guitar parts quickly after hearing a song. His first recorded song, "Kind Hearted Woman Blues," had a style more like Chicago or St. Louis than the typical Delta style of the time. The song was part of a series of songs inspired by Leroy Carr’s "Mean Mistreater Mama" (1934). Wald wrote that Johnson’s song was the most musically complex in the series and had a carefully written lyric, unlike many rural blues songs. Unusual for a Delta player, Johnson’s recording "They’re Red Hot" showed he could play an "uptown" swing or ragtime style, similar to the Harlem Hamfats. Wald noted that record companies were not looking for this kind of sound in Mississippi, so Johnson might have created more songs in this style if producers had wanted them.

To some listeners, Johnson’s music might seem like typical Delta blues. However, closer listening shows he was different from his time. His singing and guitar playing expressed deep emotions, unlike the simple, field-style blues of his peers.

An important part of Johnson’s singing was his use of microtonality, which are small changes in pitch that add emotional depth. Eric Clapton called Johnson’s music "the most powerful cry in the human voice." In two recordings of "Me and the Devil Blues," Johnson showed great skill in delivering the final verse with a wide range of tones. The song’s humor and sophistication are often overlooked. Wald wrote that many blues writers focused on Johnson’s raw style and missed the fact that he was also a skilled, professional performer.

Johnson used the guitar as a second voice in his songs, a technique later used by B.B. King. In African and Afro-American traditions, instruments like drums and guitars are used to "talk," creating a voice that complements or matches the singer.

When Johnson first sang, his style was unlike anything others had heard. His songs were fluid and covered many topics and ranges quickly. The verses were short and punchy, creating vivid stories.

Johnson was an expert guitar player, considered one of the greatest ever. His playing was complex and advanced. When Keith Richards first heard Johnson’s music, he asked, "Who is the other person playing with him?" because he thought two guitarists were playing. Richards later said Johnson was "like an orchestra by himself." His guitar technique included many styles, from picking with fingers to using a bottleneck slide.

In The Story with Dick Gordon, Bill Ferris of American Public Media compared Johnson to British Romantic poets like Keats and Shelley, who were talented but died young. Ferris noted that blues songs often include themes of sexuality, such as lines like, "If you don’t like my apples, don’t shake my tree." Each verse in blues songs often has a sexual or personal meaning.

Influences

Robert Johnson combined techniques from Delta blues with those from other music styles. The slide guitar playing on "Ramblin' on My Mind" is typical of Delta blues, and Johnson's voice there has a rough quality similar to Son House. However, the train sound in the bridge is not common in Delta blues—it sounds more like music from minstrel shows or vaudeville. Johnson recorded songs like "Preaching the Blues" and "Walking Blues" using the vocal and guitar style of older blues musicians, including Son House. Some experts have debated the order in which Son House recorded his songs. In the first version of "Come On in My Kitchen," the influence of Skip James is clear, as seen in James's song "Devil Got My Woman." The lyrics of "Come On in My Kitchen" are considered high-quality poetry, and Johnson's strained voice in this song is unique in his recordings.

The song "Love in Vain" mixes several of Johnson's different musical influences. Its structure, including a wordless final verse, follows the style of Leroy Carr's song "When the Sun Goes Down." The final sung verse uses lyrics from a song Blind Lemon Jefferson recorded in 1926. Johnson's last recording, "Milkcow's Calf Blues," directly honors Kokomo Arnold, who wrote "Milkcow Blues" and influenced Johnson's singing style.

The song "From Four Until Late" shows Johnson's skill in a blues style not usually linked to Delta blues. He sings the lyrics in a way similar to Lonnie Johnson, and his guitar style resembles that of musicians influenced by ragtime, like Blind Blake. Lonnie Johnson's influence is also clear in two other songs, "Malted Milk" and "Drunken Hearted Man," which copy the arrangement of Lonnie Johnson's "Life Saver Blues." The two versions of "Me and the Devil Blues" show the influence of Peetie Wheatstraw, which challenges the idea that this song is a sudden, emotional expression from a deeply troubled artist.

Legacy

Famed producer John Hammond was an early supporter of Johnson's music. Using the fake name Henry Johnson, he wrote his first article about Robert Johnson for the New Masses magazine in March 1937, around the time Johnson released his first record. In the article, Hammond described Johnson as "the greatest Negro blues singer who has appeared in recent years … Johnson makes Leadbelly sound like an accomplished poseur." The next year, Hammond hoped to get Johnson to perform at a December 1938 concert in New York City called From Spirituals to Swing, but he did not know Johnson had died in August. Instead, Hammond played two of Johnson's recordings, "Walkin' Blues" and "Preachin' Blues (Up Jumped the Devil)", for the audience and praised Johnson from the stage. Music historian Ted Gioia noted that Hammond used his influence at the event to highlight Johnson's importance as a recording artist. Music educator James Perone also said the event showed how significant Johnson was as a recording artist. In 1939, Columbia Records released a final single, pairing "Preachin' Blues" with "Love in Vain".

In 1940, nine of Johnson's songs were listed on a "List of American Folk Songs on Commercial Records" created by musicologist Alan Lomax for a U.S. government conference. Lomax described the songs with notes like "elaborate sex symbolism" ("Terraplane Blues"), "very nice love song" ("I'm a Steady Rollin' Man"), and "traces of voodoo" ("Stones in My Passway", "Hellhound on My Trail", "Cross Road Blues"). In 1942, comments about Johnson's "Terraplane Blues" and "Last Fair Deal Gone Down" appeared in The Jazz Record Book, edited by Charles Edward Smith. The authors called Johnson's singing "imaginative" and "thrilling" and his guitar playing "exciting as almost anything in the folk blues field". Music writer Rudi Blesh included a review of Johnson's "Hellhound on My Trail" in his 1946 book Shining Trumpets: a History of Jazz. He noted Johnson's "personal and creative way" of using harmony. Jim Wilson, a writer for the Detroit Free Press, also mentioned Johnson's unusual use of harmony. In a 1949 review, he compared parts of John Lee Hooker's song "Boogie Chillen" to Johnson's work, saying Hooker's "dynamic rhythms and subtle guitar techniques" showed similarities to Johnson's music.

Samuel Charters brought more attention to Johnson in his 1959 book The Country Blues. He focused on two of Johnson's songs that mentioned the devil or hell—"Hellhound on My Trail" and "Me and the Devil Blues"—to suggest Johnson was a troubled person. Charters also included Johnson's "Preachin' Blues" on an album published with his book. Columbia Records released the first album of Johnson's recordings, King of the Delta Blues Singers, two years later.

Johnson is mentioned as one of the Delta artists who influenced blues singers in post-war styles. However, his guitar technique is often seen as his greatest contribution. Blues historian Edward Komara wrote:

This technique has been called a "boogie bass pattern" or "boogie shuffle" and is described as a "fifth–sixth [degrees of a major scale] oscillation above the root chord". Sometimes, it has been credited to Johnnie Temple, who recorded a song in 1935 using it. However, Temple said he learned the technique from Johnson: "He was the first one I ever heard use it … It was similar to a piano boogie bass [which] I learned from R. L. [Johnson] in '32 or '33". Johnny Shines added: "Some of the things that Robert did with the guitar affected the way everybody played. In the early thirties, boogie was rare on the guitar, something to be heard". Conforth and Wardlow call it "one of the most important riffs in blues music" and music historian Peter Guralnick believes Johnson "popularized a mode [walking bass style on guitar] which would rapidly become the accepted pattern". Although author Elijah Wald recognizes Johnson's role in popularizing the innovation, he says it was not very important and adds, "As far as the evolution of black music goes, Robert Johnson was an extremely minor figure, and very little that happened in the decades following his death would have been affected if he had never played a note".

Johnson's contemporaries, including Johnny Shines, Johnnie Temple, Henry Townsend, Robert Lockwood Jr., Calvin Frazier, and David "Honeyboy" Edwards, helped keep his music alive by performing his songs and using his guitar techniques. Fellow Mississippi native Elmore James is the most well-known and is responsible for popularizing Johnson's "Dust My Broom". In 1951, he changed the song into a Chicago-style blues, using electric slide guitar and a backing band. According to blues historian Gerard Herhaft:

James' version is identified as "one of the first recorded examples of what was to become the classic Chicago shuffle beat". The style often linked to Chicago blues was widely used by Jimmy Reed starting with his 1953 record "High and Lonesome". Sometimes called "the trademark Reed shuffle" (though also connected to Reed's guitarist, Eddie Taylor), it is the pattern Johnson used, updated for electric guitar.

Several of Johnson's songs became blues standards, which are songs that have been widely performed and recorded over time and are seen as having lasting value. Perone notes that "the high percentage of Johnson's songs that became blues standards helps keep his legacy alive". The most often mentioned are "Sweet Home Chicago" and "Dust My Broom", but also include "Crossroads" and "Stop Breaking Down". As with many blues songs, there are earlier musical influences. While "Sweet Home Chicago" borrows from Kokomo Arnold's 1933 song "Old Original Kokomo Blues", Johnson's lyrics made the song a favorite for Chicago blues musicians, and his version became the one used by performers like Magic Sam, Robert Lockwood, and Junior Parker.

In the decades after Johnson's death, these songs, with some changes in titles and lyrics, were recorded by Tommy McClennan (1939), Walter Davis (1941), Sonny Boy Williamson I (1945), Arthur Crudup (1949), Texas Alexander (1950), Elmore James (1951–1959), Baby Boy Warren (1954), Roosevelt Sykes (1955), Junior Parker (1958), and Forest City Joe (1959). Pearson and McCulloch believe that "Sweet Home Chicago" and "Dust My Broom" in particular connect Johnson to "the rightful inheritors of his musical ideas—big-city African American artists whose high-powered, electrically amplified blues remain solidly in touch with Johnson's musical legacy" at the time of Columbia's first full album release of Johnson's songs in 1961.

When Johnson was inducted into the Blues

Problems of biography

Robert Johnson was a famous blues musician whose life was mostly unknown until a book was published in 2019. The book, Up Jumped the Devil: The Real Life of Robert Johnson, was written by Bruce Conforth and Gayle Dean Wardlow. Before this book, very little was known about Johnson’s early life. Two marriage licenses found in county records show different birth dates, but the authors believe Johnson may have lied about his age to get the licenses. Carrie Thompson, who said her mother was also Johnson’s mother, remembered his birth date as May 8, 1911. This is supported by the 1910 census, which did not list Johnson as one of his mother’s children. However, the 1920 census listed him as 7 years old, suggesting he was born in 1912 or 1913. A record from Indian Creek School in Mississippi listed him as 14 years old, which supports the 1911 birthdate.

Five important dates from Johnson’s career are known: November 23, 26, and 27, 1936, in San Antonio, Texas; and June 19 and 20, 1937, in Dallas. His death certificate, found in 1968, lists the date and place of his death.

People who collected music records admired Johnson’s work from the time it was first released. Many tried to learn more about him, but found little information. In the 1960s, more details about Johnson’s short musical career were shared by musicians like Son House, Johnny Shines, David "Honeyboy" Edwards, and Robert Jr. Lockwood. In 1961, Don Law, who recorded Johnson in 1936, wrote about him in the sleeve notes of the album King of the Delta Blues Singers. Law described Johnson as very young and shy, adding to the mystery around him.

Mack McCormick, a blues researcher, started studying Johnson’s family in 1972 but died in 2015 without publishing his findings. His research became well-known, like Johnson’s life. In 1982, Peter Guralnick published a summary of McCormick’s work in Living Blues, later included in the book Searching for Robert Johnson. Later researchers tried to confirm or add details to this account. In 1990, Stephen LaVere wrote a summary for the Robert Johnson, The Complete Recordings box set. A documentary film, The Search for Robert Johnson, includes accounts from McCormick and Wardlow, as well as interviews with musicians and family members. Another film, Can’t You Hear the Wind Howl?: The Life & Music of Robert Johnson, includes interviews with Shines, Edwards, and Lockwood, along with recreated scenes. These biographies focus on agreed-upon details and avoid conflicting stories.

Until the 1980s, it was believed no photos of Johnson survived. However, three photos were found in 1972 and 1973 by his half-sister, Carrie Thompson. Two of these photos, the "dime-store photo" (1937 or 1938) and the "studio portrait" (1936), were copyrighted by Stephen LaVere in 1986 and 1989. LaVere shared royalties with the Johnson estate, then managed by Thompson. The "dime-store photo" appeared in Rolling Stone in 1986, and the "studio portrait" was published in 1989. Both were used in the 1990 CBS box set of Johnson’s recordings. In 1998, Mississippi courts ruled that Claud Johnson, a son born out of wedlock, was Robert Johnson’s heir. This meant royalties from the photos went to Claud Johnson, not Carrie Thompson’s heirs.

In his book Searching for Robert Johnson, Peter Guralnick wrote that Mack McCormick showed him a photo of Johnson with his nephew Louis, taken around the same time as the famous "pinstripe suit" photo. McCormick kept this photo in his archive until his death in 2015. His daughter later donated the archive to the Smithsonian Institution, which agreed to return the photo to Johnson’s descendants. As of 2023, the museum was waiting for instructions from the Johnson family. This photo has never been made public.

Another photo, showing Johnson with Johnny Shines, was published in Vanity Fair in 2008. Lois Gibson, a forensic artist, claimed it was authentic, as did Johnson’s estate. However, some historians, including Elijah Wald, Bruce Conforth, and Gayle Dean Wardlow, questioned its authenticity. They noted the clothing and other details suggested a date after Johnson’s death. Facial recognition software also found no match between the men in the photo and Johnson or Shines. Gibson said the photo was taken between 1933 and 1934, but Johnson and Shines did not meet until 1937.

A fourth photo, supposedly showing Johnson, his wife Calletta Craft, Estella Coleman, and Robert Lockwood Jr., was published in 2015. Gibson claimed it was authentic, but experts disputed this. Reasons include that Craft died before Johnson met Coleman, the clothing and furniture date to the 1950s, and a Coca-Cola bottle cannot be older than 1950.

A third photo of Johnson, smiling, was published in 2020. It is believed to have been taken in Memphis on the same day as a verified photo of him with a guitar and cigarette. The photo is in the possession of Annye Anderson, Johnson’s step-sister. Anderson, who grew up with Johnson, claimed to have been present when the photo was taken. The photo appeared in Vanity Fair as the cover of a book written by Anderson and is considered authentic by Johnson scholar Elijah Wald.

Johnson left no will. In 1998, the Mississippi Supreme Court ruled that Claud Johnson, a retired truck driver in Crystal Springs, Mississippi, was Robert Johnson’s only heir. The court heard that Claud was born to Virgie Jane Smith, who had a relationship with Johnson in 1931. A friend, Eula Mae Williams, confirmed this relationship.

Discography

In 1937 and 1938, Vocalion Records released eleven 78-rpm records by Robert Johnson. Additional copies were made by ARC budget labels. In 1939, a twelfth record was released after Johnson died. Johnson’s estate owns the rights to his songs. In 1961, Columbia Records released an album called King of the Delta Blues Singers, which was the first modern release of Johnson’s performances. This helped people learn more about Johnson as a blues musician. In 1970, Columbia released a second album, King of the Delta Blues Singers, Vol. II.

In 1990, a two-disc set called The Complete Recordings was released on August 28. It includes nearly all of Johnson’s recordings, including all 29 songs and 12 alternate versions of songs. Another alternate version of “Traveling Riverside Blues” was added to a later CD reissue of King of the Delta Blues Singers by Sony.

To celebrate the 100th anniversary of Johnson’s birth on May 8, 2011, Sony Legacy released Robert Johnson: The Centennial Collection, a remastered two-CD set containing all 42 of Johnson’s recordings and two short pieces. One piece shows Johnson practicing a guitar figure, and the other includes Johnson speaking to engineer Don Law, saying, “I wanna go on with our next one myself.” A reviewer noted that the sound quality of the 2011 release was slightly better than the 1990 version.

Awards and recognition

• 1980 – Blues Hall of Fame: recognized as a performer
• 1986 – Rock and Roll Hall of Fame: honored for early influence
• 1990 – Spin magazine: named first on its list of "35 Guitar Gods" on the 52nd anniversary of his death
• 1991 – Grammy Award: received for Best Historical Album ("The Complete Recordings")
• 1991 – Blues Music Award: received for reissue album ("The Complete Recordings")
• 1994 – U.S. Postal Service: featured on a commemorative stamp
• 1995 – Rock and Roll Hall of Fame "500 Songs That Shaped Rock and Roll": songs included are "Sweet Home Chicago," "Cross Road Blues," "Hellhound on My Trail," and "Love in Vain"
• 1998 – Grammy Hall of Fame: song "Cross Road Blues" added
• 2000 – Mississippi Musicians Hall of Fame: honored as a Blues pioneer
• 2003 – National Recording Registry: "The Complete Recordings" preserved
• 2003 – Rolling Stone's David Fricke: ranked fifth on his list of "100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time"
• 2006 – Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award: received as a performer
• 2008 – Marker No. 29 on the Mississippi Blues Trail: placed at his birthplace in Hazlehurst and at his presumed gravesite in Greenwood
• 2010 – Gibson.com: ranked ninth on its list of "Top 50 Guitarists of All Time"
• 2014 – Grammy Hall of Fame: song "Sweet Home Chicago" added
• 2015 – Rolling Stone: ranked No. 71 on its list of the "100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time" (previously No. 5 on its 2003 list by David Fricke)
• 2023 – Ranked No. 124 on Rolling Stone's list of the 200 Greatest Singers of All Time
• 2023 – Ranked No. 16 on Rolling Stone's list of the 250 Greatest Guitarists of All Time

In popular culture

Robert Johnson is often seen as the first member of the group called the "27 Club," which includes musicians who died at the age of 27.

In Supernatural season 2, episode 8, titled "Crossroad Blues," Robert Johnson was portrayed by La Monde Byrd.

In 1994, Johnson appeared on a U.S. postage stamp.

In 2001, Elton John and Bernie Taupin mentioned Johnson in the song "The Wasteland," which is part of their album Songs From the West Coast.

The song "How Bad Do You Want It" by Tim McGraw, from the 2004 album Live Like You Were Dying, begins with the lines: "Robert Johnson went to the crossroads, so the legend goes/He left with his guitar, but the Devil took his soul, the Devil took his soul."

In season 2, episode 6 of the NBC series Timeless, titled "King of The Delta Blues," the characters travel back to San Antonio in 1936. There, they visit a hotel room where Robert Johnson (played by Kamahl Naiqui) and Don Law (played by Gavin Stenhouse) recorded Johnson's first album. The episode includes some of Johnson's singing and playing.

A Japanese manga series titled Me and the Devil Blues, named after one of Johnson's songs, tells a fictional story about Johnson's life. In the story, a man named "RJ" sells his soul to the devil to gain talent for playing the blues.

The 2021 song "Speechless" by Nas includes the lyrics: "I went back into my past and then I sped it up/Robert Johnson, Winehouse and Morrison found where heaven was…"

In 2024, the British TV show McDonald & Dodds had an episode titled "Jinksy Sings the Blues," which was part of Series 4, episode 2. It aired in the UK on July 28, 2024, and focused on the murder of a blues fan trying to find the crossroads where Johnson supposedly met the devil.

In 2025, the character Sammie "Preacher Boy" Moore in the movie Sinners was loosely inspired by Robert Johnson.