The Blues Foundation

The Blues Foundation's mission is to preserve blues heritage, celebrate blues recording and performance, expand worldwide awareness of the blues, and ensure the future of the uniquely American art form. For more information and to become a member, visit www.blues.org.

The Blues Foundation Podcast - Season 1: Blues Hall of Fame  We continue the series with the world’s first international blues superstar, Alberta Hunter. 

Alberta Hunter was a singular talent. Born and raised in Memphis, TN, she began her professional singing career at age 11. By her late twenties, she’d fronted orchestras led by King Oliver and Louis Armstrong, and written "Down Hearted Blues", a massive hit for Bessie Smith. 

In the height of Jim Crow, and years before women in America had secured the right to vote, Alberta Hunter became the world’s first blues superstar by taking her talents to Paris and London, where she was received and revered as nothing less than musical royalty.  Alberta Hunter inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame in 2011.

The Blues Foundation Podcast - Season 1: Blues Hall of Fame  Season 1 opens with the first artist to be inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame, Robert Johnson - King of the Delta Blues. 

Johnson was hailed as a genius by those that knew him. His style and technique were so ahead of his time that almost a century later, his recordings still astonish listeners. His list of devotees includes rock'n'roll royalty: Keith Richards, Eric Clapton, and Bob Dylan, to name just a few.  Robert Johnson inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame in 1980.