Born on August 1: Robert Cray, the blues under his skin...

The guitarist and singer, born in 1953 in Columbus, Georgia, is one of the bluesmen of his generation.

The son of a military man, he spent his youth between the United States and Germany before his family settled in Seattle. He only started playing the guitar as a teenager, but his progress was extremely rapid. When you have a gift like his, it's a little easier than for ordinary mortals!

Influenced by artists such as B.B. King, Albert King, Howlin' Wolf, and Magic Sam, he always found a balance between catchy melodies and sometimes acrobatic solos. While he was still hesitating between pursuing architecture studies and pursuing a career as a professional musician, an encounter would prove decisive. By the age of 20, he had already seen Muddy Waters and Freddie King on stage, as well as Albert Collins, nicknamed The Master of the Telecaster (the most famous Fender guitar). The blues legend agreed to meet the young man and, dazzled by his ease, also became a sort of mentor to the man who now dreamed of nothing more than founding the Robert Cray Band. This was accomplished in the early 1980s with the album "Who's Been Talkin'," which already laid the foundations for a personal style somewhere between blues and rock.

In the 1980s, Cray released a string of successful albums, including "Bad Influence" (1983) and the Grammy Award-winning "Strong Persuader" (1986). He thus contributed significantly to the revival of the blues by expanding its traditional audience. His often languid guitar playing and his smooth voice became the strengths of his repertoire.

Regularly on tour, he also took the time to collaborate with other big names such as Eric Clapton, Buddy Guy, John Lee Hooker, and Jimmie Vaughan (the older brother of the late Stevie Ray). In 1986, the album "Showdown!", recorded with Albert Collins and Johnny Copeland, remains one of the defining moments of his career, garnering a total of five Grammy Awards and an induction into the Blues Hall of Fame in 2011.

He now has around twenty studio albums to his credit, and his latest, "That's What I Heard," is dated 2020.

(MH with Stéphane Soupart - Photo : © Etienne Tordoir)

Photo : Robert Cray sur la scène du festival de Torhout le 5 juillet 1986