Today we celebrate the birth of Stephen Ray Vaughn Oct 3 1954
Born and raised in Dallas, Texas, Vaughan began playing guitar at age seven, initially inspired by his elder brother Jimmie Vaughan. In 1972, he dropped out of high school and moved to Austin, where he began to gain a following after playing gigs on the local club circuit. Vaughan formed the band Double Trouble in 1978 and established it as part of the Austin music scene, which soon became one of the most popular acts in Texas. He performed at the Montreux Jazz Festival in 1982 where David Bowie saw him play and contacted him for a studio gig, resulting in Stevie playing his blues guitar on the album Let's Dance (1983) before being discovered by John Hammond, who interested major label Epic Records in signing them to a record deal. Within months, Vaughan achieved mainstream success with Double Trouble for the critically acclaimed debut album Texas Flood. With a series of successful network television appearances and extensive concert tours, he became the leading figure in the blues revival of the 1980s. Playing his guitar behind his back or plucking the strings with his teeth like Jimi Hendrix did, he earned unprecedented stardom in Europe which later resulted in breakthroughs for guitar players like Robert Cray, Jeff Healey, Robben Ford and Walter Trout, amongst others.