Robert Johnson

The mythic Delta blues pioneer whose 29 recordings made between 1936 and 1937 in San Antonio and Dallas established the entire vocabulary of modern electric blues and rock guitar — despite never having performed with amplification. His intricate fingerpicking style on Cross Road Blues, Hellhound on My Trail, and Love in Vain demonstrated a virtuosity that contemporaries believed supernatural, giving rise to the legend he sold his soul at a crossroads. Clapton, Page, and Richards all cite Johnson as their primary inspiration, and Rolling Stone ranked him fifth in their 100 Greatest Guitarists list.