Like his older brother Buddy Guy, Phil Guy was one of blues’ true greats. Born in Louisiana, he too was a guitarist who eventually settled in Chicago and became synonymous with the sound that bears its name. While in Chicago he played with such greats as Junior Wells before establishing his own recording career in the ’80s and ’90s. Guy died of pancreatic cancer at the age of 68.
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Sean Costello was an extremely talented blues singer, songwriter, and guitarist who, by the age of 14 had already won a Beale Street Blues Society talent contest and had formed his first band. Costello recorded his first able at 16, and was invited to play lead guitar on Susan Tedeschi’sJust Won’t Burn album. On stage, Costello left his audiences screaming for more. His guitar skills and showmanship allowed him to comfortably share the stage with Buddy Guy, B.B. King, and James Cotton. On April 15, 2008, Sean Costello’s lifeless body was found in his hotel room. The coroner’s report concluded that he had died of an accidental overdose. His parents soon announced that Costello had suffered from Bipolar disorder which may have played a role in his death.
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Mel Brown was a respected blues guitarist who was perhaps best known for his years playing for Bobby “Blue” Bland. He also played behind, Buddy Guy, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Etta James, John Lee Hooker and Lightnin’ Hopkins, to name a few. Over the course of his career, Brown released nearly a dozen albums and of course, played on those by numerous others. On March 20, 2009, Mel Brown died of emphysema at the age of 69.
Although he lost his site to retinoblastoma at just eight months, Jeff Healey would grow to become one of the greatest blues guitarists the world had ever seen. He could definitely hold his own alongside such greats as Eric Clapton, Stevie Ray Vaughan, and Buddy Guy. Beginning at age three, Healey would master the unusual style of playing his guitar flat on his lap. He would start his career in various jazz bands but would later dabble in blues rock with the release of his 1988 platinum debut album, See The Light. Throughout the years, he amassed a huge personal record collection that included a reported 25,000+ 78s, mostly made up of his true love, Jazz. Healey died of cancer on March 2, 2008, just a few weeks before the release of his tenth album, Mess Of Blues, his first rock album in eight years.
Mike Bloomfield was an influential electric guitarist who came on like a sonic boom during the ’60s Chicago blues revival. Bloomfield took Chicago by storm, winning early accolades from the likes of Buddy Guy, Bob Dylan and B.B King. In 1964, Bloomfield was signed to Columbia Records by legendary talent scout and producer, John Hammond Sr. Rather than pursue a solo career, he opted to join thePaul Butterfield Blues Band with whom he recorded two seminal electric blues albums. In later years, Bloomfield collaborated with Dylan and Al Kooper, and finally made recordings of his own. In 2003, Rolling Stone magazine listed Mike Bloomfield and #22 on their list of the greatest guitarists of all time. On February 15, 1981, Bloomfield was found in his car dead of a drug overdose.