Born on October 3rd of 1954 and raised in Dallas, Vaughan was inspired by his older brother, Jimmie, at the age of seven he began playing guitar not knowing he would be the one to bring Blues back to the mainstream. At the age of 17, he dropped out of high school and moved to Austin, Texas in 1972. Playing with numerous different bands at multiple night clubs, Stevie Ray Vaughan would then form his own group, Triple Threat Revue however would rename them Double Trouble after bringing in drummer Chris Layton and bassist Tommy Shannon. He would later gain fame after his performance at the Montreux Jazz Festival in 1982 and just a year later his debut album ‘Texas Flood’ would be charted at number 38.
Headlining tours with Jeff Beck in 1989 and Joe Cocker in 1990 he would never perform because of a helicopter crash killing him on August 27, 1990 at the age of 35.
Vaughan has brought back Blues into the mainstream music world and has won six Grammy Awards, ten Austin Music Awards, was inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame in 2000, the Musicians Hall of Fame in 2014 and was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2015. Rolling Stone has also ranked him as the 12th greatest guitarist of all time.
Discography:
- Texas Flood (1983)
- Couldn’t Stand the Weather (1984)
- Soul to Soul (1985)
- In Step (1989)
- Family Style (with Jimmy Vaughan) (1990)
- The Sky Is Crying (1991)
