Buddy Guy Celebrates His 89th Birthday By Hitting No. 1 on the Blues Albums Chart
Buddy Guy shreds onto Billboard’s Blues Albums chart (dated Aug. 16) at No. 1 with his latest LP, Ain’t Done With the Blues. Having turned 89 years young on July 30, the legend — who released the set on his birthday — adds his eighth No. 1 on the chart, which began in September 1995.
Guy’ 20th studio set starts with 3,000 equivalent album units earned in the United States Aug. 1-7, according to Luminate.
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Guy, who received Billboard’s 1993 Century Award for artistic achievement, extends his chart history to nearly 63 years and six months, dating back to the debut of “Stone Crazy” on the then-titled Hot R&B Sides singles ranking in the Feb. 24, 1962, issue. The Chicago blues purveyor and Louisiana native ties for the eighth-most leaders on Blues Albums. Joe Bonamassa — who guests on the new release — boasts a record 29 No. 1s. Other artists on the album include The Blind Boys of Alabama, Peter Frampton, Christone “Kingfish” Ingram and Joe Walsh.
The new coronation follows Guy’s buzzy cameo in the critical and box office hit Sinners. The blues-heavy set, which includes Guy’s song “Travelin’,” has spent 13 weeks at No. 1 on Blues Albums — and gives way to Guy’s album at the summit.
Ryan Coogler wrote, directed and co-produced the movie, whose stars include Michael B. Jordan and Hailee Steinfeld. It’s set in the Mississippi Delta in 1932, when the Delta blues sound was emerging.
“Movies, man …,” Guy marveled in a recent Variety interview. “As a kid, I loved the Westerns, because I grew up riding horses in Louisiana on the plantation, and seeing those old cowboys like Gene Autry, playing the acoustic guitar while riding a horse … I can’t imagine that’s me now. It’s a dream come true, to be honest with you.
“When something like this comes along, I do it to help the blues,” Guy said. “I’m 100% trying to support it so the next generation of white or Black kids can hear it and know more about the blues. Anything we can do to help the blues stay alive, I’m for it.”
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