Stevie Ray Vaughan

Community biography from

Stephen Ray "Stevie Ray" Vaughan (October 3, 1954 August 27, 1990) was a Grammy Award-winning American guitarist, singer, and songwriter. Eighteen albums of Vaughan's work have been released.

Vaughan was inspired to play guitar by his older brother, Jimmie Vaughan, and was influenced by such players as Jimi Hendrix and Buddy Guy. After a few years as a sideman in and around Austin, Vaughan formed the band Double Trouble, with whom he made four successful studio albums and established a reputation as one of the foremost blues guitarists in the world. He was noted for using the Fender Stratocaster, with several guitars being made in tribute to Vaughan, including a Signature Stratocaster and a replica of his famous Strat named "Lenny". In 1986, after years of substance abuse from alcohol and cocaine, he spent a month in drug rehabilitation, and remained clean and sober for the final four years of his life, until his death in 1990 in a helicopter crash.

On February 22, 2000, Vaughan was inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame in Washington, D.C., being one of only 79 performers to be inducted. He also won several W. C. Handy Awards, during his lifetime and posthumously, including Entertainer of the Year and Instrumentalist of the Year in 1984. In 2003, he was ranked #7 in Rolling Stones list of the 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time. Classic Rock Magazine ranked him #3 in their list of the 100 Wildest Guitar Heroes in 2007.