Big Bill Broonzy (born Lee Conley Bradley; June 26, 1893[1][2] or 1903[3][4] – August 14, 1958) was an American blues singer, songwriter, and guitarist.

In the 1950s, a return to his traditional folk-blues roots made him one of the leading figures of the emerging American folk music revival and an international star.

At the age of 10 he made himself a fiddle from a cigar box and learned how to play spirituals and folk songs from his uncle, Jerry Belcher.

He and a friend, Louis Carter, who played a homemade guitar, began performing at social and church functions.

[11] Through the 1920s Broonzy worked at a string of odd jobs, including Pullman porter, cook, foundry worker and custodian, to supplement his income, but his main interest was music.

During this time he wrote one of his signature tunes, a solo guitar piece called "Saturday Night Rub".

His initial test recordings, made with his friend John Thomas on vocals, were rejected, but Broonzy persisted, and his second try, a few months later, was more successful.

[14] In 1930, Paramount for the first time used Broonzy's full name on a recording, "Station Blues" – albeit misspelled as "Big Bill Broomsley".

In 1938 he was asked to fill in for the recently deceased Robert Johnson at the "From Spirituals to Swing" concert at Carnegie Hall, produced by John H.

[18] Broonzy expanded his work during the 1940s as he honed his songwriting skills, which showed a knack for appealing to his more sophisticated city audience as well as people that shared his country roots.

[20] In 1949, Broonzy became part of a touring folk music revue, I Come for to Sing, formed by Win Stracke, which also included Studs Terkel and Lawrence Lane.

[21][better source needed] Broonzy left Chicago in 1950 to work as a janitor at Iowa State, having performed there and established relationships with a likely view to develop his own influence and craft.

[23] The tour marked a turning point in his fortunes, and when he returned to the United States he was a featured act with many prominent folk artists, such as Pete Seeger, and Sonny Terry and Brownie McGhee.

[27] In 1955, with the assistance of the Belgian writer Yannick Bruynoghe, Broonzy published his autobiography, Big Bill Blues.

[28] In the late 1940s, Big Bill Broonzy's doctor warned him that 20 years of constant traveling and living the lifestyle of an "itinerant musician" would have dangerous effects on his aging body and health.

In June 1956, Broonzy began to feel "frazzled", explaining to Pim Van Isveldt that "his nerves might be bad".

After the two-and-a-half hour performance, Broonzy reportedly stood on stage to thunderous applause, thanking his friends and colleagues for "making the evening so memorable".

[31] On August 14 or 15, 1958 (sources vary on the precise date), Broonzy died in an ambulance from cancer as he was being rushed to Billings Hospital from his home at 4716 South Parkway.

Broonzy's influences included the folk music, spirituals, work songs, ragtime music, hokum, and country blues he heard growing up and the styles of his contemporaries, including Jimmie Rodgers, Blind Blake, Son House, and Blind Lemon Jefferson.

[7] Although he had been a pioneer of the Chicago blues style and had employed electric instruments as early as 1942, white audiences in the 1950s wanted to hear him playing his earlier songs accompanied only by his own acoustic guitar, which they considered to be more authentic.

The song had already been adopted by the National Front, a far-right British political party that peaked in popularity in the 1970s and opposed nonwhite immigration to Britain.

In 2007, he was inducted into the first class of the Gennett Records Walk of Fame, along with 11 other musical greats, including Louis Armstrong, Jelly Roll Morton, Gene Autry, and Lawrence Welk.

As an acoustic guitar player, Broonzy inspired Muddy Waters, Memphis Slim, Ray Davies, John Renbourn, Rory Gallagher,[34] and Steve Howe.

The Derek and the Dominos album Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs includes their recording of "Key to the Highway".

[39][failed verification] In collaboration with the WFMT network, the Chicago History Museum, and the Library of Congress, an hour-long interview of Broonzy, recorded on September 13, 1955, by Studs Terkel was made available online.