Howlin' Wolf

Howlin' Wolf's unmistakable voice and commanding stage presence — he stood 6-foot-3 and weighed 275 pounds — set him apart from #3 Muddy Waters' cooler delivery, producing a raw intensity that fed directly into hard rock. His Chess Records classics "Smokestack Lightning" (1956) and "Spoonful" (1960) were widely covered, including by the Rolling Stones and Cream, cementing his reach well beyond blues audiences. His booming, guttural voice — paired with guitarist Hubert Sumlin's understated, subtle phrasing — gave Chess's Chicago sound its most powerful contrast. "Smokestack Lightning" was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1999, and Wolf's posthumous influence on hard rock guitar riffs of the 1970s remains widely acknowledged.