Howlin' Wolf

Howlin' Wolf stood 6 foot 3 and weighed 275 pounds, delivering a bone-shaking growl and ferocious stage presence that gave Chicago blues one of its most powerful voices from 1948 until his death in 1976. Willie Dixon wrote many of his biggest songs, including "Spoonful" and "Back Door Man," and the Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin, and the Doors all drew on his catalog. Wolf's 1956 single "Smokestack Lightning" reached #8 on Billboard's R&B chart and was later inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame. His booming voice, paired with guitarist Hubert Sumlin's understated phrasing and his band's volume, created a wall of sound that set a benchmark for rhythmic intensity. Wolf recorded dozens of songs for Chess Records, and his 1962 compilation album "Howlin' Wolf" — often called "The Rocking Chair Album" — remains one of the era's defining blues records.