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Johnny "Guitar" Watson was a seminal electric blues and rhythm & blues guitarist born on February 3, 1935, in Houston, Texas, USA. He gained fame in the mid-1950s with hits like "Gangster Of Love" and performed alongside notable artists such as Little Richard. In the 1960s, he ventured into synthesizer productions and later became a source of inspiration for sampling by artists like Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg. Watson's influence is evident in the works of many musicians; for instance, he inspired one artist to become a guitarist with his 1956 song "Three Hours Past Midnight." Watson learned the basics of music on the piano as a child and took up the guitar under the condition set by his preacher grandfather that he would not use it to play the blues. After his family moved to Los Angeles in the 1950s, he honed his skills playing guitar, piano, and singing in local LA jump bands. Tragically, Watson collapsed and died on stage from a cardiac infarction while performing in Japan on May 17, 1996.

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