Blues originator John Lee Hooker was born in Clarksdale, Mississippi in 1917. Nicknamed "the hook" he started playing at local parties where he was discovered by record store owner Elmer Barbee. Barbee, impressed by the blues hooks that Hooker was capable of, introduced this now-Memphis-established Hooker to Bernard Besman, a producer, record distributor and owner of Sensation Records. The two hit it off and Besman helped Hooker record his solo debut sides, "Sally Mae" and "Boogie Chillen," with Modern Records.

Later, as "the Boogie Man" continued to work under Modern Records, he also released albums with other record labels under pseudonyms, including Regent, King, Savoy, Gotham, Regal, Swing Time, Federal, Gone, Chess, Acorn, Chance, DeLuxe, JVB, Chart and Specialty. He stopped swinging with record labels in 1955 when he stuck with Vee-Jay and used his own name. With Vee-Jay, Hooker's music crossed the charts, from pop to R&B to rock and folk-blues, expanding his fans and giving him a cult following.

By the mid-‘60s Hooker was a major superstar. During the ‘70s, now in California, Hooker had worked with some of rock ‘n' roll's greats, like van Morrison and Canned Heat. During the late ‘70s and most of the ‘80s he toured the US and Europe. When he had a cameo in the 1980 film The Blues Brothers film, John Hooker had hit the big-time. Not long after this Hollywood role, Hooker met up with big shot producer and guitarist Roy Rodgers. The two created The Healer, an album that combined Hooker's expert vocals with loads of guests, including Carlos Santana, Bonnie Raitt and Robert Cray. He continued to record into the ‘90s, and even took an advertisement for the television commercial for Pepsi. He died of natural causes in 2001.