Muddy Waters

As a young boy in Issaquena County, McKinley Morganfield loved to play in mud puddles, which earned him the nickname Muddy Waters. He taught himself to play the guitar by listening to the music of Mississippi legends Charley Patton, Son House, and Robert Johnson.

In 1943, Waters moved to Chicago, where his uncle gifted him an electric guitar, an instrument that allowed him to develop his legendary style, combining Mississippi blues with big city vibes. In 1946, he began recording with RCA, Columbia, and Aristocrat (later Chess Records). Songs like “I’m Your Hoochie Coochie Man” and “Got My Mojo Working” won over crowds, and “Rollin’ Stone” became so popular that it would later become the name of both a major music publication and one of the most famous rock bands in history.

Waters continued to record and perform throughout the 1960s and 1970s, earning his first Grammy in 1971 for the album They Call Me Muddy Waters. His last public performance was in 1982, when he sat in with Eric Clapton’s band. He died in April the following year.

By the end of his life, Waters had received seven Grammys (including the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award) and countless other honors. He was inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame and posthumously into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. He received five Blues Foundation Awards, and the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame listed four of his songs among the “500 Songs That Shaped Rock and Roll.”