By Associated Press Music Writer Maria Sherman
NEW YORK (AP) Nothing is more significant to Buddy Guya, a loyal and ardent supporter of the blues, than maintaining his preferred genre at the forefront of discourse. Naturally, Guy is one of America’s best guitarists and a unique performer with a long number of A-list superfans, including Eric Clapton, Jimmy Page, and Gary Clark Jr.
The roster also features artists like Peter Frampton and the Eagles Joe Walsh, who appear on Guy’s new album Ain’t Done with the Blues, as well as creative writer and director Ryan Coogler, who cast Guy in his critically praised movie Sinners earlier this year. On Wednesday, Guy’s 89th birthday, it will be released.
The eight-time Grammy Award winner doesn’t prioritize such honors. His main interest is the longevity of the music that shaped his life. He tells The Associated Press over the phone that he does everything in his power to preserve the blues, just like he promised B.B. King, Muddy Waters, and everyone else.
He worries that the blues may lose out on reaching younger audiences since radio stations are no longer playing it. It’s one of the reasons Ain’t Done with the Blues is a solid collection of timeless songs that could easily be forgotten, such as the J.B. Lenoir song “Talk to Your Daughter,” which closes the album.
Guy’s performance has an unquestionable universal quality. He claims that blues is rooted in daily life. A favorable or unfavorable moment.
Guy puts it this way: Music is like a bowl of delicious gumbo. There was a variety of meat inside. You have both sausage and chicken within. It contains seafood. We give it our all when we perform music.
It’s striking a chord. According to the industry research and analytics firm Luminate’s 2025 midyear report, Sinners’ success has contributed to an increase in blues music on-demand audio streams in the United States this year.
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After Sinners, Jaime Marconette, Luminate’s vice president of music insights and industry partnerships, characterizes the current period as a blues renaissance.
According to him, the week of the movie’s theatrical release showed increases for a number of the performers on the soundtrack, which features songs by actual blues, folk, and country singers. And even more than two months after their release, their listenership has been steadily increasing.
Guy has also observed the change. People recognize me when I walk into the drugstore or grocery store. Man, I heard that Sinners song, you know. “Man,” he adds, “it sounds good.” They won’t enter and claim to have heard it on the radio.
That was a contributing factor in Guy’s initial decision to star in the film. I think this will help the blues because, as I mentioned earlier, I’m worried that young people don’t understand the value of gumbo; you have to taste it for yourself.
He isn’t listening to his new album, Ain’t Done with the Blues, but he is eager to see how others react to it.
He says, “I listen to everything except Buddy Guy.” Buddy Guy is someone I already know. That doesn’t teach me anything.
