He frequently teamed with more capable musicians, such as Yank Rachell, Hammie Nixon, and the piano player Jab Jones.

By the time he was tracked down by the blues historians Bob Koester and Samuel Charters in 1962, he was completely blind and living in poverty.

Blind and frail, he became the heart and soul of the Charters' movie, "The Blues," that was not released widely until 2020, in a Document Records package titled "Searching for Secret Heroes."

Bob Koester, the founder of Delmark Records, said that Estes simply had a "tendency to withdraw from his surroundings into drowsiness whenever life was too cruel or too boring to warrant full attention".

'"[11] Estes had a stroke while preparing for a European tour and died on June 5, 1977, at his home of 17 years in Brownsville, Haywood County, Tennessee.

His grave is located off a country road and at the far end of the cemetery, adjacent to a small grove of trees, secluded but not hidden.

[12] Led Zeppelin's lead singer, Robert Plant, named Estes as one of his earliest influences.

[15] Bob Dylan mentioned Estes in the sleeve notes for his album Bringing It All Back Home (1965).

"[17] Estes's former two-room home is on display in Brownsville, Tennessee, USA alongside Tina Turner's Flagg Grove School and museum.