Robert Johnson
Hazlehurst
Life dates: May 8, 1911 to August 16, 1938
Induction Date: 2017
Category: Music
“I dabbled in things like Howlin' Wolf, Cream, and Led Zeppelin, but when I heard ... Robert Johnson, it blew my mind. It was something I'd been missing my whole life. That music made me discard everything else and just get down to the soul and honesty of the blues.”
— Jack White
One of the greatest blues performers of all time, Robert Johnson, has become known as the King of the Delta Blues Singers.
He was born in Hazlehurst in May 1911, but not much is known about Johnson’s life. It is known that around 1936, he went to Jackson to seek out a talent scout, resulting in two recording sessions that yielded the 29 songs that are the basis for his career. Johnson traveled across the country playing wherever he could.
Mystery and myth surround his life. According to legend, he took his guitar to the crossroads of Highways 49 and 61 and made a deal with the devil: amazing guitar ability in exchange for his soul.
Johnson died in August 1938. His music later came to the attention of many during the 1960s and again in the 1990s, when a collection of his work was released, selling more than a million copies and winning a Grammy for Best Historical Album. He was a member of the inaugural classes of both the Blues Hall of Fame and the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. Four of his songs are on the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame’s list of “500 Songs That Shaped Rock and Roll.” In 2010, he was ranked fifth on Rolling Stone’s list of the “100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time.”