One of America’s greatest blues musicians, Buddy Guy is 89 years-young and still passionately strumming his guitar. Other musicians might have long since retired, but not Guy. The eight-time Grammy Award winner has a very important promise to keep.
With its clear African influences, blues music originated in the American South. Black musicians spread it across New Orleans and the Mississippi, before it traveled with them to cities like Chicago during the Great Migration. Before his friends, the blues greats B.B. King and Muddy Waters passed, Guy promised them that he’d do everything he could to keep the blues alive.
That’s why he agreed to make his acting debut in Ryan Coogler’s “Sinners.” He hoped his cameo as the older Sammie would encourage young people to listen to the blues.
And he succeeded. Luminate, a data and analytics company, found that U.S. on-demand audio streams of Blues music increased this year due to the success of “Sinners.”
What legacy is your responsibility to uplift? We all have a purpose and legacy to show up for. How will we each contribute to keeping our history, culture, and liberation alive?