Photo: 33stradale / CC BY-SA 3.0 (source: Wikimedia Commons)
My Take
Lightnin' Hopkins is country blues in its purest, most stubborn form. He played the way he wanted, when he wanted, often making up verses on the spot, and a lot of his recordings have this feeling that he might wander off in any direction at any moment. That looseness is exactly the appeal; you're hearing a man think out loud through a guitar. He influenced a whole generation of rock and folk players who tried to chase that raw, talking-blues immediacy and never quite caught it. Sam Hopkins didn't chase trends, and that's why his catalog still sounds completely undated.
Overview
Lightnin' Hopkins (March 15, 1912 - January 30, 1982) was an American country blues singer, guitarist, and songwriter from Centerville, Texas. A defining figure of the Texas blues tradition, he was known for his loose, improvisational style and prolific recording career spanning the 1940s through the 1970s. He received a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 2013 and was inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame.
1. Profile
- Name (English)
- Lightnin' Hopkins
- Name (Japanese)
- ライトニン・ホプキンズ
- Reading
- らいとにん・ほぷきんず
- Born
- March 15, 1912 – January 30, 1982
- Zodiac / Chinese zodiac
- Pisces / Rat
- Origin
- Centerville, Texas, United States
- Blood type
- Private
- Height
- Private
- Agency
- Private
- Occupation
- Guitarist / Singer / Songwriter / Recording artist / Composer
2. Background
- Elementary school
- Private
- Junior high
- Private
- High school
- Private
- University
- Private
Awards & achievements
- 2013 Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award
3. Relationships
- Spouse
- Private
- Children
- Private
- Parents
- Private
- Siblings
- Private
4. Personality
Motto
Private
6. Links
Guitarist — see all → · Singer — see all → · More people from United States →
7. About this entry
Tags
- Last updated
- 2026-06-02
Facts are limited to publicly available information up to 2024; non-public items are marked "Private / Unknown". English text is machine-assisted (facts translated by Sonnet, "My Take" written by Opus 4.8). The Japanese page is the source of record.