It’s SRV’s birthday!
Stevie Ray Vaughan is one of the most storied guitarists in the history of rock and roll. With his band Double Trouble, his mastery only lasted seven years, after his sudden death in a helicopter accident, despite that he is considered one of the most influential musicians in the history of the blues.
Vaughan joined with Tommy Shannon and Chris Layton to form Double Trouble in 1978, and became one of the hottest bands in Texas. Catching the eye of David Bowie in 1982, Bowie would use SRV to play on his biggest hit album Let's Dance. Stevie’s work would lead to his signing with Epic Records in 1983 and the band hit the mainstream their debut album Texas Flood. Stevie’s live performances brought the biggest spotlight with successful television performances and long touring bringing about a blues revival.
Vaughan would hit big with what was his fourth and final studio album In Step, which reached number 33 on the Billboard charts, giving him his only number-one hit, with "Crossfire". It was here at the height of his popularity that ultimately SRV would be involved in a helicopter crash in Wisconsin, with four others that ended up taking the lives of everyone on board.
SRV has sold over 15 million albums in the United States alone, and was posthumously inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2015, with Double Trouble. Stevie Ray Vaughan is without question, one of the greatest guitarists ever to pick up the instrument, as his influence still resonates to this day.