Sonny Terry and Brownie Mcgee were a blues/folk duo who performed together on and off from the late 50's until 1980 who both had solo careers in music and acting during that time.
McGhee and Terry were both recipients of a 1982 National Heritage Fellowship awarded by the National Endowment for the Arts, which is the United States government's highest honor in the folk and traditional arts. That year's fellowships were the first bestowed by the NEA.