Robert Johnson

Robert Johnson's 29 recorded songs between 1936 and 1937 remain the most influential single-artist catalog in blues history, shaping the genre more profoundly than #2 B.B. King's six-decade output. His pioneering open-G slide guitar technique, heard on tracks like "Cross Road Blues" and "Sweet Home Chicago," directly inspired Led Zeppelin's Jimmy Page and Eric Clapton's signature sound. Despite selling fewer than 5,000 copies in his lifetime, these recordings posthumously sold over 4 million units, a ratio of 800:1 that surpasses the average blues reissue success. Johnson's mythic "crossroads" deal with the devil added a cultural weight that no other Delta musician achieved, cementing his legacy as the foundational architect of modern rock and blues.