Stevie Ray Vaughan

A blistering guitar hero, Stevie Ray Vaughan picked up his fret skills from his brother Jimmie before moving to Austin as a teenager to play in a variety of local bands. Inspired by Muddy Waters, Jimi Hendrix and T-Bone Walker and various blues greats, he honed his talent in the band Double Trouble and jammed with Albert King before he caught the ear of David Bowie at the Montreux Jazz Festival and then featured on Bowie's album Let's Dance (1983). Playing a battered Fender Stratocaster named Number 1, Vaughan's classic debut album Texas Flood (1983) showcased an incredible new talent and produced the hit Pride and Joy, before Couldn't Stand the Weather (1984) and Soul to Soul (1985) made him an international star. Troubled by drug and alcohol addictions, he collapsed on stage in 1986 but returned from rehab with the Grammy winning album In Step (1989) and the US Number 1 single Crossfire. He recorded the album Family Style (1990) with Jimmie but died the same year in a helicopter crash when returning from a show with Eric Clapton, Buddy Guy and Robert Cray.