Fred Lincoln "Link" Wray Jr. (May 2, 1929 – November 5, 2005) was an American guitarist, songwriter, and vocalist who became popular in the late 1950s.

His 1958 instrumental single "Rumble", reached the top 20 in the United States; and was one of the earliest songs in rock music to utilize distortion and tremolo.

[1] He received two nominations for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, prior to being inducted in the Musical Influence category in 2023.

[4][5][6] He recalled living in very harsh conditions during childhood, in mud huts, without electricity or heating, going to school barefoot, barely clothed.

He and his brothers Ray and Doug (born July 4, 1933 – died April 29, 1984) drove cabs during the day while working at night clubs in the Portsmouth and Norfolk, Virginia area.

[12] Building on the distorted electric guitar sound of early records, Wray's first hit was the 1958 instrumental "Rumble".

Tiring of the corporate music machine, he began recording albums using a three-track studio he converted from an outbuilding on his brother's property that his father used to raise chickens, in Accokeek, Maryland.

[12] While living in the San Francisco Bay Area in the early 1970s, Wray was introduced to Quicksilver Messenger Service guitarist John Cipollina by bassist James "Hutch" Hutchinson.

[15] He later did numerous concerts and radio broadcasts in the Bay Area, including at KSAN and at promoter Bill Graham's Winterland Ballroom venue, with Les Lizama later replacing Hutchinson on bass.

[19][20] Easy Eye released another 45rpm single of newly discovered/unreleased material for RSD 2019, "Vernon's Diamond" b/w "My Brother, My Son".

[24] According to AllMusic's Cub Koda, Wray's instrumental recordings starting with "Rumble" through his Swan singles in the early 1960s laid the blueprints for "heavy metal, thrash, you name it.