Johnny Winter

American blues guitarist and singer. Born on February 23, 1944 in Beaumont, Texas, USA. Died on July 16, 2014 in Zurich, Switzerland. Like his younger brother [a=Edgar Winter], he was afflicted with albinism, meaning he was legally blind, and had 20/400 eyesight in one eye and 20/600 in the other. But he made an iconic life for himself by playing the blues. He battled alcoholism and drug use over the years.

His first instruments were the clarinet and the ukulele, settling on guitar by age eleven. Something of a musical child prodigy, he grew up in Beaumont, Texas, on a diet of blues and rock 'n' roll. As a teen, nearly every weekend he would hitch-hike to Louisiana to play in small night clubs. After a short college stint, he gave up his academic pursuits and devoted himself to creating music.

In 1969 he signed a five year contract with Columbia Records (for $300,000) and the rest is history. Before signing to Columbia, his first recorded album, The Progressive Blues Experiment, was released on Austin's Sonobeat Records, a division of Imperial Records. Another 'album', First Winter was released from a collection of singles, under his own name or as a sideman, just after Winter's debut release on Columbia. These have been repackaged and compiled ad infinitum. He was inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame in 1988.