HR0515 103RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY

HR0515 LRB103 35477 MST 65546 r

HOUSE RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, Buddy Guy was born to a sharecropper's family near the town of Lettsworth, Louisiana in 1936 and began playing guitar at the age of seven after building his own guitar; and

WHEREAS, Buddy Guy moved to Chicago in 1957, gaining recognition for a fiery and flashy guitar playing style that drew the attention of other blues players and songwriters, including Muddy Waters and Willie Dixon; and

WHEREAS, Buddy Guy began working as a guitarist for Chicago's Chess Records in 1960, playing a pivotal role on albums for other artists, including Muddy Waters, Koko Taylor, Howlin' Wolf, and Little Walter, among others, while also launching his own career as a solo artist, which developed into extensive tours around the world; and

WHEREAS, Buddy Guy opened his own nightclub, Buddy Guy's Legends, in Chicago in 1989, where he has played annual residencies and acted as a host for other blues musicians; and

WHEREAS, Buddy Guy was inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame in 1985 and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2005; he was awarded the National Medal of Arts in 2003 and was a Kennedy Center honoree in 2012; that same year, he performed the song Sweet Home Chicago at the White House, where he was joined by President Obama for the chorus; he won the Grammy Award for lifetime achievement in 2015; therefore, be it

RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE ONE HUNDRED THIRD GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we declare November 24, 2023 as Buddy Guy Day in the State of Illinois; and be it further

RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be presented to Buddy Guy as an expression of our esteem and respect.