Musician. Known as ‘Big Bill', he was a prolific blues singer, songwriter and guitarist, beginning his career in the early 1920s. In 1924, he was signed to Paramount Records and later performed at the Spirituals of Swing Concert, filling the open slot of the late blues master Robert Johnson. Through the 1930s and ‘40s he successfully navigated a transition in style to urban blues which was popular with white and black audiences. He copyrighted more than 300 songs during his lifetime with hits to include "Big Bill's Blues", "Saturday Night Rub", "Station Blues", "How You Want It Done" and "The Starvation Blues". At the start of the 1950s, he became part of a blues and folk music revue in which he toured the United States and Europe, until his death from cancer. In 1980, he was inducted into the first class of the Blues Hall of Fame and into the first class of the Gennett Records Walk of Fame in 2007.
Musician. Known as ‘Big Bill', he was a prolific blues singer, songwriter and guitarist, beginning his career in the early 1920s. In 1924, he was signed to Paramount Records and later performed at the Spirituals of Swing Concert, filling the open slot of the late blues master Robert Johnson. Through the 1930s and ‘40s he successfully navigated a transition in style to urban blues which was popular with white and black audiences. He copyrighted more than 300 songs during his lifetime with hits to include "Big Bill's Blues", "Saturday Night Rub", "Station Blues", "How You Want It Done" and "The Starvation Blues". At the start of the 1950s, he became part of a blues and folk music revue in which he toured the United States and Europe, until his death from cancer. In 1980, he was inducted into the first class of the Blues Hall of Fame and into the first class of the Gennett Records Walk of Fame in 2007.
Bio by: John "J-Cat" Griffith
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