Artist page

Johnny Guitar Watson was a seminal electric blues and rhythm & blues guitarist born on February 3, 1935, in Houston, Texas. 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 significant influence on artists like Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg, who sampled his work. Watson's music was also a source of inspiration for many, including a guitarist who cited his 1956 song "Three Hours Past Midnight" as a motivating factor in his career. Watson learned music on the piano as a child and took up the guitar with the understanding from 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.

For any edit requests, please reach out to info@rovr.live