Ireland's first heavy rockers, Thin Lizzy rocked throughout the '70s with a mix of teenage rebellion and working-class angst, becoming known for wild behavior on and off the stage. Phil Lynott's Bruce Springsteen-meets-Jimi Hendrix voice perfectly su…

Formed in 1982, The Pogues married the raw energy and political anger of punk with the structures and instrumentation of Irish folk. The scope of their brash approach belied the acoustic nature of their arrangements. Singer/songwriter Shane McGowan, …

b. 23 September 1939, Ozark, Alabama, USA, d. 14 August 1988. The son of a preacher, Buchanan discovered gospel music through the influence of travelling revivalists. This interest engendered his love of R&B and, having served an apprenticeship playi…

Like most British blues fanatics in the early '60s, John Mayall took his cues primarily from the stars of Chicago's electric blues scene. Both with the Bluesbreakers and later on his own, Mayall played a large role in introducing white audiences to e…

Of all the artists to emerge in the late 1960s, none inspired greater awe than Jimi Hendrix. After touring with numerous R&B bands, the guitarist moved to London in 1966 and assembled the Jimi Hendrix Experience. His U.S. return at the Monterey Pop F…

L.A.-based guitarist Ry Cooder learned from the best, getting lessons from legendary bluesman Rev. Gary Davis at an early age. In the mid 1960s, he formed pioneering blues-rock band the Rising Sons with Taj Mahal. When that dissolved, he became an in…

b. 4 April 1952, Belfast, Northern Ireland. This talented, blues-influenced singer and guitarist formed his first major band, Skid Row, when he was 16 years old - initially with Phil Lynott, who left after a few months to form Thin Lizzy. Skid Row co…

Along with Jimmy Page and Eric Clapton, guitar legend Jeff Beck first made his mark with English blues-rockers The Yardbirds in the 1960s. And like the others, he gained greater popularity after he left the band. One of rock's great instrumentalists,…

Little Feat was a perfect balance of a soulful singer and songwriter, a funky rhythm section, and innovatively emotive soloists. The balance didn't last, but their finest works remain compelling and timeless.

Over the course of four decades, Eric Clapton has carried the British blues legacy into the mainstream of pop music. From his mid-1960s days with the Yardbirds and John Mayall, through his years as guitar god with Cream and Blind Faith, and eventuall…

One of the longest running and most prolific of hard rock/proto-heavy-metal bands, Deep Purple appeared in the wake of the psychedelic era, sporting a harder sound than anything that had come before. The classic 1970s lineup (featuring virtuoso guita…

They're known as the founding fathers of Southern rock, but the Allman Brothers were actually much more progressive than the musical school they inspired. They reclaimed the US-influenced blues-rock of Cream et al. and brought it back to America, add…

This folk-inspired Irish rock band, who took their name from the title of a Wynton Marsalis album, are based around the nucleus of vocalist and keyboard player Liam O Maonlai (b. 7 November 1964) and guitarist Fiachna O Braonain. The pair played in a…

Originally part of the early 1960s British blues/R&B scene, the Rolling Stones rapidly ascended the heights of fame with a perfect combination of hit singles and media-grabbing scandals. By the '70s, Keith Richards had become a bona fide guitar hero,…

Blues-rock has rarely gotten more down and dirty than with Texas's famous long-bearded trio ZZ Top. Billy Gibbons, Frank Beard, and Dusty Hill are responsible for some of the greatest party anthems of all time. They produced a number of 1970s rock cl…

U2's Bono was one of the few real rock heroes of the 1980s, leading the Irish band to international recognition with a charged, political approach to music. The band's early efforts brought a stadium-size presence to alt-rock, with Bono's expressive …

Texan blues guitarist Johnny Winter, surely the first albino blues guitar hero, was already a convincing artist in the '60s when still in his teens. At the dawn of the '70s, he embraced the sound of the time, adopting a louder, more frenetic blues-ro…

Singer/songwriter Bob Geldof's philanthropic work as the organizer of Live Aid, and his subsequent knighthood, tend to overshadow the achievements of the band he led from the late 1970s to the mid '80s. The Boomtown Rats were one of the finest expone…

A popular blues-rock attraction, Taste was formed in Cork, Eire in 1966 when Eric Kittringham (bass) and Norman Damery (drums) joined Rory Gallagher (b. 2 March 1948, Ballyshannon, Co. Donegal, Eire, d. 14 June 1995, London, England), erstwhile guita…