Chicago blues

Joined by artists such as Willie Dixon, Howlin' Wolf, and John Lee Hooker, Chicago blues reached an international audience by the late 1950s and early 1960s, directly influencing not only the development of early rock and roll musicians such as Chuck Berry and Bo Diddley, but also reaching across the Atlantic to influence both British blues and early hard rock acts such as Eric Clapton, the Rolling Stones, and Led Zeppelin.

Big Bill Broonzy and Muddy Waters directly joined that migration, like many others, escaping the harsher southern Jim Crow laws.

For example, bottleneck guitarist Kokomo Arnold was a steelworker and had a moonshine business that was far more profitable than his music.

New trends in technology, chaotic streets and bars adding drums to an electric mix, gave birth to a new club culture.

Chuck Berry originally signed with Chess Records—one of the most significant Chicago blues record labels.

[6] In the UK in the early 1960s, beat groups,[7] such as the Rolling Stones,[8] the Yardbirds, and the Animals (dubbed the British invasion in the US), were heavily influenced by Chicago blues artists.

[9][10][11] The last two served as backing musicians for Sonny Boy Williamson II and made their first recordings with him when he toured England in 1963 and 1964.