10 Military Veterans Who Became Blues Rock Icons
Bobby Blue Bland
Bobby “Blue” Bland was born on January 27, 1930, in Tennessee and became part of Memphis’s Beale Street blues scene in the late 1940s alongside B.B. King and Johnny Ace. His musical career was interrupted in 1951 when he was drafted into the U.S. Army during the Korean War, serving as a radio operator in Korea. During his service, he was exposed to a variety of musical styles and witnessed the realities of segregation. After his discharge in 1953, he returned to Memphis and began recording for Duke Records. Bland developed a unique style that combined gospel-inspired vocals with big band blues arrangements on hits like “Turn On Your Love Light” and “Stormy Monday.” Before his death in 2013, he was inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame in 1981, the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 1992, and received a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 1997.
Alexis Korner
Alexis Korner was born in 1928 in Paris, France, and arrived in London in 1940 after living in Switzerland and North Africa. Korner was drafted into the British Army in 1947 and served with the post–World War II occupation forces in Hamburg, Germany. His military role was that of a librarian, responsible for the record archive of the British Forces Network (BFN). During this period, he began playing guitar, jamming with local musicians, and even hosting a jazz radio show.
After his discharge, Korner played with a variety of bands until he and his musical partner, Cyril Davies, opened the London Blues and Barrelhouse Club to introduce British audiences to authentic American blues. In 1961, after forming Blues Incorporated, he became a mentor to many up-and-coming British blues musicians, including Ginger Baker, Charlie Watts, Eric Clapton, and Mick Jagger. His career also included forming bands such as CCS and Rocket 88, as well as hosting music programs for the BBC. Korner continued to work in music until his death in 1984. Forty years later, in 2024, the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame posthumously honored him with the Musical Influence Award, recognizing him as the founding father of British blues.
Steve Cropper
Steve Cropper was born in Dora, Missouri, in 1941 and moved with his family to Memphis, Tennessee, when he was a child. His first band, The Royal Spades, later became the Mar-Keys and scored a national hit in 1961 with the song “Last Night.” Cropper’s musical career was interrupted when he was drafted into the Navy at the height of his success, but he continued to pursue music during his enlistment, practicing guitar whenever possible.
After his discharge, he returned to Memphis and resumed working for Stax Records, where he helped shape the studio’s signature sound as a guitarist, songwriter, and producer. He was a member of Booker T. & the M.G.’s and collaborated with music legends such as Otis Redding, Sam & Dave, and Wilson Pickett. His co-written hit compositions include “Green Onions,” “In the Midnight Hour,” and “(Sittin’ On) The Dock of the Bay.”
In the 1980s, Cropper appeared in The Blues Brothers as a member of the band, and in 1992 he was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame as a member of Booker T. & the M.G.’s. Over the past six decades, he has released more than a dozen solo albums, cementing his place as one of the most influential figures in soul and blues rock history.
Bo Diddley
Bo Diddley was born in 1928 in McComb, Mississippi, as Ellas Otha Bates. After being abandoned by his mother, he was adopted by his mother’s cousin and changed his name to Ellas McDaniel. Raised in the church, he studied classical music after his family moved to Chicago.
In 1944, during World War II, he enlisted in the Army but was medically discharged in less than a year due to leg issues. Upon returning to Chicago, he began performing on the club circuit, where he developed the famous “Bo Diddley beat,” a blend of R&B, blues, and African rhythms that created a syncopated, signature groove and helped lay the foundation for rock & roll.
John Fogerty
John Fogerty was born in 1945 in Berkeley, California, and was musically influenced by early rock & roll, rhythm & blues, blues rock, and country. As a teenager, he formed several bands before joining his older brother Tom’s group, the Golliwogs. While his musical career was just beginning to take off, he enlisted in the Army Reserve in 1966 to avoid the draft. He served full-time for six months, then on monthly weekends and for two weeks each summer until 1968, when he was honorably discharged.
After renaming the band Creedence Clearwater Revival, they signed with Fantasy Records and released seven studio albums, all but one of which went platinum. Known for its swamp rock sound, CCR became one of the most iconic bands of the era. When the group disbanded in 1972, Fogerty, the primary songwriter, singer, and guitarist, began releasing solo albums. To date, he has released ten, performing both his solo work and CCR classics to audiences around the world.
Jimi Hendrix
Jimi Hendrix was born in 1942 in Seattle, Washington, and by his teenage years, he was playing guitar in local bands. In 1961, after being arrested for riding in a stolen car, he was given the choice of serving jail time or joining the Army; he chose the Army. Hendrix became a member of the 101st Airborne Division at Fort Campbell, Kentucky, making a couple dozen parachute jumps before injuring his foot and receiving a medical discharge in his second year of service.
While in the Army, Hendrix played in bands at service clubs and met bassist Billy Cox, with whom he formed a lasting musical partnership. After his discharge, he played guitar for Sam Cooke, The Isley Brothers, Little Richard, and Ike & Tina Turner before forming his own group, Jimmy James and the Blue Flames. In 1966, Hendrix moved to London, England, and formed the Jimi Hendrix Experience with Noel Redding and Mitch Mitchell. Soon after releasing Are You Experienced and performing a groundbreaking set at the Monterey Pop Festival back in the U.S., Hendrix became a superstar, headlining major events until his untimely death on September 18, 1970.
John Mayall
John Mayall was born in 1933 in Macclesfield, Cheshire, England. His father, a jazz guitarist and record collector, introduced him to American blues, and as a teenager, Mayall taught himself to play guitar, piano, and harmonica. In the early 1950s, during the Korean War, he was drafted into the British Army and stationed in Korea. While serving, Mayall was exposed to American culture and its music through the U.S. soldiers he served alongside.
After completing his two-year enlistment, he attended Manchester College of Art, graduating in 1956. Mayall then began pursuing a musical career and eventually moved to London, where he formed John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers in 1963. Over the decades, the Bluesbreakers featured an impressive roster of musicians, including Jack Bruce, Eric Clapton, Aynsley Dunbar, Mick Fleetwood, Peter Green, Harvey Mandel, John McVie, and Mick Taylor, among others.
John Mayall, widely regarded as the “Godfather of British Blues,” died on July 22, 2024.
Elvis Presley
Elvis Presley was born on January 8, 1935, in Tupelo, Mississippi, and grew up in a working-class family. He was heavily influenced by African American blues artists such as Arthur “Big Boy” Crudup, B.B. King, and Muddy Waters. In 1954, he recorded a cover of Crudup’s “That’s All Right (Mama)” as his first commercial single. His early recordings from 1954 until his draft into the Army in 1958 featured a guitar-driven sound with Scotty Moore on lead guitar and Bill Black on upright bass — a stripped-down, gritty style that bridged the gap between Delta blues and what would later become blues rock.
Some of Elvis’s early blues rock repertoire included “Mystery Train,” “Milkcow Blues Boogie,” and “My Baby Left Me.” While serving in the Army, he served as a regular GI, earning widespread respect and broadening his audience. However, his time in the military also interrupted his career at the height of his popularity. After returning to civilian life and music, his rebellious edge was toned down, and his recordings adopted a more polished, mainstream sound.
Elvis went on to influence an entire generation of blues rock artists, including the Rolling Stones and Led Zeppelin, and continued to perform until his death in 1977 at the age of 42.
Bill Wyman
Bill Wyman was born William George Perks Jr. in Lewisham, South London, England, in 1936. He came from a working-class family and experienced the horrors of World War II in wartime Britain. In 1955, he was drafted into the Royal Air Force (RAF) and stationed in Germany as part of the post–World War II military occupation forces.
Wyman first heard American rock & roll, blues, and jazz through Armed Forces Radio and from records brought over by American GIs. He became fascinated by the role of the bass in this new music and eventually purchased a bass guitar, teaching himself to play. After his discharge from the RAF, he worked as a clerk for a construction company to support his wife and child while playing in bands at night.
In 1962, he joined the Rolling Stones, helping to define their sound until his departure in 1993, when he formed his own group, Bill Wyman’s Rhythm Kings, in homage to Ike Turner.
Junior Walker
Junior Walker was born Autry DeWalt Mixon Jr. in Blytheville, Arkansas, in 1931, but grew up in South Bend, Indiana. He was inspired by blues, jazz, and R&B, and began playing the saxophone in his early teens. At the start of the 1950s, during the Korean War, he was drafted into the Army. While details about his specific duties or location of service are unknown, the standard enlistment for draftees at the time was two years.
His military experience instilled in him discipline, professionalism, and a strong work ethic, while also exposing him to different musical cultures through the soldiers he served with. After his discharge, he formed a group called The Jumping Jacks. In the early 1960s, he moved to Battle Creek, Michigan, where he formed Junior Walker & the All Stars.
Known for their gritty rock-and-soul sound, with Walker as the saxophone-playing frontman, the band signed to Motown Records’ Soul imprint in 1964. The following year, they scored their breakthrough hit with “Shotgun,” which reached No. 4 on the Billboard Hot 100 and No. 1 on the R&B chart. This was followed by hits such as “Road Runner,” “Shake and Fingerpop,” and “What Does It Take (To Win Your Love).” Walker’s raw, blues-infused rock style set him apart from Motown’s other acts, and he continued performing until his death from cancer in 1995.
These ten stories of blues rock pioneers who served in the military show how every life experience can influence and shape a person. Their time in the service not only built their character but also left a mark on the music they created. When they returned to civilian life, they carried with them a broadened worldview and a newfound discipline, deepening their connection to the blues, a genre rooted in struggle, resilience, and soul.
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