Born on May 8th 1911, Robert Leroy Johnson was re-discovered 23 years after his death.  His songs were covered by some notable British acts including The Rolling Stones and Cream, after Columbia Records re-issued an album of his material in 1961. 

Johnson's ground-breaking songs have influenced some of the 20th century's most successful acts (Bob Dylan, Led Zeppelin) and he was the second member of the Forever 27 Club.

It was through sneaking into blues joints in his Mississipi home that he became a proficient guitarist by the time he was 18 and his innovative slide-style he claimed was as aresult of a deal with the devil.

His notorious womanising was eventually his undoing, as it seems that he may have fallen victim to a jealous husband who laced moonshine whiskey with poison.  The two other possible explanations are it was rat poison, or he was shot.

There is also some controversy over his final resting place.