John Lee Hooker August 22 , — June 21 , was an influential American blues singer , guitarist , and songwriter born in Clarksdale, Mississippi. From a musical family, he is a cousin of Earl Hooker.
Hooker's recording career began in with the hit single, " Boogie Chillen. Though he stuttered in his normal speech, he performed in a half-spoken style that became his trademark. Rhythmically, his music was free, a property common with early acoustic Delta blues musicians. His vocal phrasing was less closely tied to specific bars than most blues singers'. This casual, rambling style had been gradually diminishing with the onset of electric blues bands from Chicago but, even when not playing solo, Hooker retained it in his sound.
He maintained a solo career, popular with blues aficionados and folk music fans of the early s and crossed over to white audiences, giving an early opportunity to the young Bob Dylan.
He appeared and sang in the movie The Blues Brothers. In he joined with a number of musicians, including Keith Richards and Carlos Santana to record The Healer , which won a Grammy award — one of many awards. He fell ill just before a tour of Europe in and died soon afterwards. Hooker recorded over albums and lived the last years of his life in San Francisco , where he licensed a nightclub to use the name Boom Boom Room , after one of his hits.
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