This is the history of the blues – one month at a time.
1900-1939
October 24, 1911 – Sonny Terry, blind Piedmont blues musician, born in Greensboro, Georgia (d. 1986).
October 12, 1925 – Guitar Gabriel [Robert Lewis Jones], American blues singer and guitarist, born in Decatur, Georgia (d. 1996).
October 8, 1927 – Al Duncan, American blues drummer, born in McKinney, Texas (d. 1995).
October 1, 1932 – Albert Collins, Leona TX, blues guitarist (Frosty, Showdown) born.
1940-1949
October 29, 1944 – Denny Laine, [Brian Hines], rock guitarist (Moody Blues, Wings) born.
October 5, 1946 – Richard Kermode, American rocker (Kozmic Blues Band), born in Wyoming (d. 1996).
October 14, 1946 – Justin Hayward, English vocalist (Moody Blues-Nights in White Satin), born in Swindon, Wiltshire England.
October 1, 1948 – Ellen McIlwaine, blues singer (Honky Tonky Angel), born in Nashville, Tennessee.
October 27, 1948 – Sherman Robertson, American blues musician (I’m the Man), born in Breaux Bridge, Louisiana.
1950-1969
October 3, 1951 – Keb’ Mo'[Kevin Roosevelt Moore], American blues singer-songwriter and guitarist, born in Los Angeles.
October 8, 1955 – Lonnie Pitchford, American blues musician, born in Lexington, Mississipi (d. 1998).
October 14, 1957 – Kenny Neal, American blues musician (Let Life Flow), born in New Orleans, Louisiana.
October 3, 1969 – Skip James, American blues musician dies (b. 1902).
October 11, 1969 – Blues artist Muddy Waters involved in a car crash that kills 3.
1970-Present
October 4, 1970 – Janis Joplin, American rocker and blues singer-songwriter (Down on Me), dies of a drug overdose at 27.
October 31, 1970 – Johnny Moeller, American blues guitarist, born in Fort Worth, Texas.
October 17, 1984 – Alberta Hunter, US blues singer/composer, dies at 89.
October 11, 1987 – Wedding – Rock and blues singer Joe Cocker (43) weds Pam Baker.
October 24, 2017 – Antione “Fats” Domino, American rhythm & blues star of the early rock ’n’ roll era (Blueberry Hill, Blue Monday), dies from natural causes at 89.
October 24, 2018 – Tony Joe White, American blues and swamp rock singer (Polk Salad Annie), dies at 75.