Stevie Ray Vaughan & Double Trouble

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  • Year:
    2015
  • Inducted by:
    John Mayer
  • Category:
    Performers

Introduction

The second coming of the blues.

Blues had fallen by the wayside, and Stevie Ray Vaughan was heaven-sent. He revived the fading genre with his masterful guitar playing. Vaughan was the messiah, shredding with B.B. King’s blessing.

Hall of Fame Essay

2015

Robert Santelli

Had Stevie Ray Vaughn not suddenly surfaced in the early 1980s, guitar in hand and a nearly uncontrollable urge to play it, then the blues might have willed him into existence.

These, after all, weren’t the best times for the blues, which had been the bedrock of all American music for nearly a century. MTV was making pop music more physical and visual: Think Michael Jackson and Madonna.

Most of mainstream rock was all about big sound, arena shows, and elaborate stage sets. And new wave, though it rebelled against rock’s more ornate sounds and superstar mindset, was as style-conscious as it was interested in a simpler approach to making records.

Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony Program Cover 2015
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Onstage in Tribute to Stevie Ray Vaughn
Stevie Ray Vaughan is the ultimate guitar hero,
John Mayer

Photography: Michael Zorn