Robert Calvin Bland was born Robert Calvin Brooks on January 27, 1930, and lived until June 23, 2013, He was known professionally as Bobby “Blue” Bland, and was an American blues singer.
Bland developed a sound that mixed gospel with the blues and R&B. He was described as “among the great storytellers of blues and soul music.
Robert Calvin Bland created tempestuous arias of love, betrayal, and resignation, set against roiling, dramatic orchestrations, and left the listener drained but awed.” He was sometimes referred to as the “Lion of the Blues” and as the “Sinatra of the Blues”. His music was also influenced by Nat King Cole.
Bland was inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame in 1981, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1992, and the Memphis Music Hall of Fame in 2012. He received the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 1997. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame described him as “second in stature only to B.B. King as a product of Memphis’s Beale Street blues scene”.
What happened to Bobby Blue Bland?
Singer Bobby “Blue” Bland has died at the age of 83, his son said Monday. Bland’s son Rodd told CNN that failing health had forced his dad off the stage earlier this year. “He had a hole in his stomach that had become tumorous, and it was emptying into his bloodstream.”
Source: Ghanafuo.com
