Grammy-Winning Blues Legend Dead at 83: RIP to John Hammond

Grammy-winning blues guitarist and singer John Hammond has died. He was 83.

Hammond’s wife Marla confirmed to The New York Times on Wednesday that the musician had died of cardiac arrest on Saturday while in the hospital.

Toronto blues musician Paul Smith previously shared the news of Hammond’s death on Sunday in a Facebook post. “Marla Hammond called me yesterday with the heartbreaking news that my dear friend John Hammond has passed away,” Smith wrote. “The blues world has lost a giant. I’ve lost my best friend. My heart goes out to Marla and the family. Rest easy, John.”

“I’ve just been going through the photos we’ve shared over the years — from the Horseshoe Tavern to Albert’s Hall, from London to Montreal, to Edmonton to Ottawa — and each picture tells a story of great music, great people, and unforgettable nights,” Smith continued. “He was such an inspiration to me, I’ll miss him terribly….”

The late musician, who also went by John P. Hammond and John Hammond Jr., was born on Nov. 13, 1942, in New York City, the son of producer and talent scout John Henry Hammond Jr.

Hammond began playing guitar when he was in high school, partially inspired by the album Jimmy Reed at Carnegie Hall, and went on to study at Antioch College in Ohio for just a year before dropping out to pursue music.

By the mid-1960s, Hammond was a touring musician and living in Manhattan’s Greenwich Village. Having signed with Vanguard Records in 1963, Hammond released his self-titled debut album that same year featuring music written by legendary blues musicians including Muddy Waters, Lightnin’ Hopkins, and Robert Johnson.

Hammond went on to release over 30 albums throughout his career, winning a Grammy on Blues Explosion in 1985 after recording the compilation record three years prior at the Montreux Jazz Festival.

Hammond would go on to receive Grammy nominations for his albums You Can’t Judge a Book by the Cover (1993), Trouble No More (1994), Found True Love (1996), Long As I Have You (1998), In Your Arms Again (1995) and Rough & Tough (2009)

In 2011, he was inducted into the Blues Foundation’s Blues Hall of Fame.