Link Wray

For me, Link Wray is one of those quiet revolutionaries history almost forgot. His 1958 instrumental "Rumble" introduced distortion and tremolo to rock before most players knew what to do with them, and you can hear its DNA in everyone from Page to punk. What strikes me most is how long recognition took: a 2023 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction, decades after he reshaped the electric guitar's vocabulary. I have a soft spot for craftsmen who change the sound of music without chasing the spotlight, and Wray, ranked 45th greatest guitarist by Rolling Stone, is exactly that kind of artist.

Name (English)

Link Wray

Name (Japanese)

リンク・レイ

Reading

りんく・れい

Born

May 2, 1929 – November 5, 2005

Zodiac / Chinese zodiac

Taurus / Snake

Origin

Dunn, North Carolina, United States

Occupation

guitarist / composer / singer / recording artist / lyricist

Awards & achievements

• 2023 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame

• Official sitehttp://www.linkwray.com/
• Wikipedia (English)https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Link%20Wray
• Wikipedia (Japanese)https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E3%83%AA%E3%83%B3%E3%82%AF%E3%83%BB%E3%83%AC%E3%82%A4
• Wikidatahttps://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q252248

Tags

• North Carolina
• guitarist
• composer
• singer

Last updated

2026-06-18

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.