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Johnny Winter

Hailed as one of the greatest guitarists of his generation, Johnny Winter was a prolific and highly respected musician whose high-energy live performances were a fixture of the blues scene for over half a century. The brother of multi-instrumentalist Edgar, both of whom were born with Albinism, Winter's big break arrived in the late '60s when a performance of B.B. King's "It's My Own Fault" inspired Columbia Records to award him the largest advance in music business history. A regular jamming partner of Jimi Hendrix and Janis Joplin, Winter then achieved minor chart success with an 1971 eponymous live album recorded under the title Johnny Winter And before heroin addiction threatened to derail his career. However, Winter bounced back with 1973's Still Alive and Well, while songs written in his honor by the likes of John Lennon, Keith Richards and Mick Jagger highlighted how far his influence extended. Winter's talents as a producer were also showcased on three Grammy-winning albums with musical hero Muddy Waters and although his recording output diminished from the '90s onwards, he remained a constant presence on the live circuit, playing up to 200 gigs a year right up until his death at the age of 70 in 2014.