John Lee Hooker Jr. (born January 15, 1952) is an American

blues Blues is a music genre and musical form that originated among African Americans in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues has incorporated spiritual (music), spirituals, work songs, field hollers, Ring shout, shouts, cha ...

musician and Christian minister. He is the son of influential blues singer

John Lee Hooker John Lee Hooker (August 22, 1912 or 1917 – June 21, 2001) was an American blues singer, songwriter, and guitarist. The son of a sharecropper, he rose to prominence performing an electric guitar-style adaptation of Delta blues that he develo ...

(1917–2001). The younger Hooker's musical style is markedly modernized, featuring contemporary arrangements.

Biography

John Lee Hooker Jr. was born on January 15, 1952, in

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Michigan Michigan ( ) is a peninsular U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, Upper Midwestern United States. It shares water and land boundaries with Minnesota to the northwest, Wisconsin to the west, ...

, United States, to parents Maude Ellas (née Mathis) and John Lee Hooker. He had five siblings and two step siblings, his younger brother is musician Robert Hooker. Hooker was performing live on local radio stations by the time he was eight years old, and toured with his father as a teenager. He struggled with drugs and alcohol for several years before reviving his career with his debut solo album, ''Blues with a Vengeance'', in 2004. The album was nominated for a

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as the most prestigious ...

. A follow-up album, ''Cold as Ice'', was released in 2006. Hooker's third album, ''All Odds Against Me'', was released on August 19, 2008. Marking a clear departure from his father's style of music, the album was nominated for a Grammy Award that year in the 'Best Traditional Blues CD' category. An animated video for the song, "Blues Ain't Nothin' But a Pimp," produced by Paris-based studio

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, featured Hooker as a street-hardened character known as "Bluesman." The video was a 2009

Webby Award The Webby Awards (colloquially referred to as the Webbys) are awards for excellence on the Internet presented annually by the International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences, a judging body composed of over three thousand industry experts a ...

honoree for special effects. Hooker's 2008 touring band included of George Lacson (bass), Jeff Horan (guitar), Mike Rogers (drums), and Gig Anderson (keyboards). Now an ordained minister, he is now reaching out to those in prisons (some of which were where he was an inmate during his drug abuse years) and is currently raising funds through his

Kickstarter Kickstarter, PBC is an American Benefit corporation, public benefit corporation based in Brooklyn, New York City, that maintains a global crowdfunding platform focused on creativity. The company's stated mission is to "help bring creative project ...

webpage in order to finish his recording and eventual release of his first contemporary soul gospel album using almost the same blues and funk elements he incorporated in his blues releases and concerts. Rev. Hooker also gives a brief video bio of himself leading up to his conversion to Christianity on his Kickstarter page including a full bio. Before becoming a minister and still a blues artist, he was featured in an episode of ''

The 700 Club ''The 700 Club'' is the flagship television program of the Christian Broadcasting Network, airing each weekday in syndication in the United States and available worldwide on CBN.com. The news magazine program features live guests, daily news, p ...

'' where he detailed his drug addictions and imprisonments leading up to his conversion to Christianity and sobriety. That video clip can be found on YouTube.

Discography

Studio albums

* ''Blues With A Vengeance'' (Kent Music/Kent Entertainment Group, 2004) * ''Cold As Ice'' (Telarc Records, 2006) * ''All Odds Against Me'' (Steppin' Stone Records/CC Entertainment, 2008) * ''All Hooked Up'' (Steppin' Stone Records/CC Entertainment, 2012) * ''That's What The Blues Is All About'' ith Daddy's Cash(Sound And More Studios/Hermes Management, 2012) * ''Testify'' (Steppin' Stone Records/CC Entertainment, 2020)

Live albums

* ''Live In Istanbul, Turkey'' (Steppin' Stone Records/CC Entertainment, 2010)

References

External links

Official Site of John Lee Hooker Jr.John Lee Hooker Jr interview at Artist Connection Podcast
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hooker, John Lee Jr. 1952 births Living people African-American Christian clergy American blues singers Musicians from Detroit