Joe Bonamassa on Buddy Guy: ‘His Impact on Rock and Roll Is Immeasurable’

Joe Bonamassa has paid tribute to Buddy Guy’s enormous influence on blues and rock music ahead of Buddy’s Got the Blues: A 90th Birthday Concert Celebration, taking place Thursday, October 1 at Radio City Music Hall in New York City.

Speaking with Blues Rock Review during Eric Clapton’s Crossroads Guitar Festival in Austin, Bonamassa reflected on Guy’s place in music history, his influence on generations of guitarists, and his remarkable ability to continue delivering memorable performances at 90 years old.

Bonamassa recently had the opportunity to perform with Guy at the Hollywood Bowl alongside Christone “Kingfish” Ingram and came away impressed by what he saw.

“Of all the Buddy Guy shows I’ve ever seen, opened up for, been around, that was in my top five best Buddy Guy shows I’ve ever seen at the Hollywood Bowl,” Bonamassa told Blues Rock Review. “He was just on fire, and he’s 90. It’s amazing.”

Guy’s ability to entertain stretches far beyond just fans of the blues.

“If you don’t like blues and you go to a Buddy Guy show, and you’re not entertained, you’re a psychopath,” Bonamassa joked. “I would really think you’d need to be institutionalized at that point.”

Bonamassa placed Guy alongside Bobby Rush as part of a generation of blues musicians who built their reputations through years of touring and performing, long before artists could reach audiences through social media.

“These guys are coming from a different cloth,” Bonamassa said. “I mean, these guys work their way up from nothing. I mean, literally nothing. There’s no social media, no TikToks, you know, no viral anything. They just work the clubs and the Chitlin’ Circuit and made themselves into legends by step and repeat being great entertainers, great songwriters, great singers, performers, guitarists, you name it.”

Bonamassa said that path is one of the reasons he holds musicians from Guy’s generation in such high regard.

“That’s how all those original guys did it,” Bonamassa said. “And you have to respect that. I put that on the highest pedestal I could put any musician on are those guys, because of how hard they had to work to get noticed.”

Bonamassa experienced some of that approach early in his own career, which began before the rise of social media, but acknowledged that Guy and his contemporaries faced a much more difficult road.

“They had it way harder than we did,” he said.

When asked directly what Guy’s legacy will be, Bonamassa pointed to an influence that extends well beyond blues.

“His impact on rock and roll and guitar playing, I mean, without Buddy Guy, I’m not sure James Marshall Hendrix plays the way he played,” Bonamassa said. “Without Buddy Guy, definitely Eric Clapton doesn’t play the way he played. So his impact on rock and roll is immeasurable.”

Guy’s connection to the formative years of electric Chicago blues is another major part of that legacy. Bonamassa pointed to Guy’s history with some of the genre’s most important figures and his work during the legendary Chess Records era.

“His impact on the blues, his legacy on the blues, the fact that he rolled with Muddy Waters, he not only toured, played on those recordings with Howlin’ Wolf and all that Chess stuff in Chicago, that alone puts you in the Hall of Fame,” Bonamassa said.

But Guy’s legacy isn’t limited to the musicians he worked with or influenced. Bonamassa also emphasized the longevity of a career that has kept Guy performing for audiences for more than six decades.

“The fact that he’s had a six-decade career of absolutely going out there and killing it every night and entertaining folks, and still does it to this day,” Bonamassa said. “He’s on the Mount Rushmore of the blues and will always be.”

Bonamassa will be among the artists helping celebrate Guy’s career Thursday night at Radio City Music Hall for Buddy’s Got the Blues: A 90th Birthday Concert Celebration.

For Bonamassa, getting to the show won’t require much of a commute.

“It’s just nice to go back home, New York, and that gig’s six blocks from where I live,” Bonamassa said. “So I’m happy to just walk over and play my song.”

And when asked at the end of the interview what was next for him following Crossroads, Bonamassa had a simple answer.

“I’m gonna go home,” he said. “Then I’m gonna play with Buddy Guy on Thursday.”

Watch the full interview with Joe Bonamassa below.