Robert Cray

Born in Columbus, GA, in 1953, blues guitarist/vocalist Robert Cray has--along with Albert Collins and Stevie Ray Vaughan--been credited with helping to create the blues "renaissance" of the 1980s. He began his music career in 1979 and has won three Grammy awards, with his 1986 album "Strong Persuader" selling over one million copies. Cray's father was a career military man, so although Cray was born in Columbus, GA, he was raised in areas as varied as Virginia, California and Germany due to his father's various postings over the years, but the family finally settled in Tacoma, WA, in 1968. He had begun to study piano while his family was living in Germany, and was musically influenced by such artists as Ray Charles and Sam Cooke. He became a fan of The Beatles and eventually switched his choice of instruments from piano to guitar (a lucky meeting with actor John Belushi resulted in Cray's getting a part in the film National Lampoon's Animal House (1978) as a member of the band Otis D