Bobby rush blues singer biography examples

Bobby Rush (born November 10, 1933) is a Grammy Award Winning American blues musician, composer and singer. His style incorporates elements of blues, rap and funk.

Biography

Born Emmett Ellis, Jr. in Homer, Louisiana, Rush was the son of Emmett and Mattie Ellis.

His father was a pastor whose guitar and harmonica playing provided early musical influences. As a young child he began experimenting with music using a sugarcane syrup bucket and a broom-wire diddley bow.

Bobby rush blues singer biography examples

Around 1947, he and the family moved to Pine Bluff, Arkansas, where his father took on the pastorate of a church. It was here that Rush would become friends with Elmore James, the slide player Boyd Gilmore (James's cousin), and the piano player Johnny "Big Moose" Walker; eventually forming a band to support his singing and harmonica and guitar playing.

Still a teen, Rush donned a fake moustache to play in local juke joints with the band, fascinated by enthusiasm of the crowds.

His family relocated to