Legacy of Sonny Boy Williamson II

Michael Burks was an American electric blues and soul blues guitarist, singer and songwriter. He is best known for his tracks, "Everybody's Got Their Hand Out", "I Smell Smoke" and "Hard Come, Easy Go", and variously worked with Johnnie Taylor, O. V. Wright, and Marquise Knox. He was the son of the bassist, Frederick Burks.

J. B. Lenoir was an American blues guitarist and singer-songwriter, active in the Chicago blues scene in the 1950s and 1960s. In The Encyclopedia of Popular Music he is described as both an "extrovert R&B man in the leopard-skin jacket who chanted infectious trifles" and a "thoughtful and intelligent writer of starkly honest blues songs."

Slade are an English rock band formed in Wolverhampton in 1963. They rose to prominence during the glam rock era in the early 1970s, achieving 17 consecutive top 20 hits, including six number ones, on the UK Singles Chart, and three number ones on the UK Albums Charts. The British Hit Singles & Albums names them the most successful British group of the 1970s based on sales of singles. They were the first act to have three singles enter the charts at number one; all six of the band's chart-toppers were written by Noddy Holder and Jim Lea. As of 2006, total UK sales stood at over 6,500,000. Their best-selling single, "Merry Xmas Everybody", has sold in excess of one million copies. According to the 1999 BBC documentary It's Slade, the band have sold more than 50 million records worldwide.

Elmore James was an American blues guitarist, singer, songwriter, and bandleader. Noted for his use of loud amplification and his stirring voice, James was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1992. His slide guitar technique earned him the nickname "King of the Slide Guitar".

The Animals are an English rock band formed in Newcastle upon Tyne in 1962. Their original lineup consisted of singer Eric Burdon, guitarist Hilton Valentine, bass guitarist Chas Chandler, keyboardist Alan Price, and drummer John Steel. Known for their gritty, bluesy sound, they balanced tough, rock-edged pop singles against rhythm-and-blues-oriented album material, and were part of the British Invasion of the US.

Earl Zebedee Hooker was a Chicago blues guitarist known for his slide guitar playing. Considered a "musician's musician", he performed with blues artists such as Sonny Boy Williamson II, Junior Wells, and John Lee Hooker and fronted his own bands. An early player of the electric guitar, Hooker was influenced by the modern urban styles of T-Bone Walker and Robert Nighthawk. He recorded several singles and albums as a bandleader and with other well-known artists. His "Blue Guitar", a slide guitar instrumental single, was popular in the Chicago area and was later overdubbed with vocals by Muddy Waters as "You Shook Me".