Lead Belly

Lead Belly is, to my ear, one of the foundational aquifers of American music. Born in 1888 Louisiana and wielding a twelve-string guitar, he carried songs that would later feed folk, blues, and rock for generations. Tracks like Goodnight, Irene still circle the globe, and his posthumous inductions into both the Rock and Roll and Grammy Halls of Fame confirm that his stature only grew after death. I'm always moved by artists whose influence outlives the recognition they got while alive. There's a raw, street-tempered authority in his voice that survives even crackly old recordings, and I find it deeply humbling.

Name (English)

Lead Belly

Name (Japanese)

レッドベリー

Reading

れっどべりー

Born

January 20, 1888 – December 6, 1949

Zodiac / Chinese zodiac

Aquarius / Rat

Origin

Mooringsport, Louisiana, United States

Occupation

guitarist / singer / street artist / accordionist / composer

Awards & achievements

• 2001 Grammy Hall of Fame
• 1998 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame

• Official sitehttp://www.leadbelly.org/
• Wikipedia (English)https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lead%20Belly
• Wikipedia (Japanese)https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E3%83%AC%E3%83%83%E3%83%89%E3%83%99%E3%83%AA%E3%83%BC
• Wikidatahttps://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q314310

Tags

• Louisiana
• guitarist
• singer
• street artist

Last updated

2026-06-17

Facts are limited to publicly available information up to 2024; non-public or unconfirmed items are omitted. English text is machine-assisted (facts translated by Sonnet, "My Take" written by Opus 4.8). The Japanese page is the source of record.