| |||||||
| |||||||
| 1 | HOUSE RESOLUTION | ||||||
| 2 | WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois House of | ||||||
| 3 | Representatives wish to congratulate the legendary George | ||||||
| 4 | "Buddy" Guy on the momentous occasion of his 90th birthday on | ||||||
| 5 | July 30, 2026; and | ||||||
| 6 | WHEREAS, Buddy Guy was born in 1936 to a sharecropping | ||||||
| 7 | family on the Feduccia family's Three Rivers Landing | ||||||
| 8 | plantation in Lettsworth, Louisiana, and his journey from | ||||||
| 9 | humble beginnings to global icon embodies the American spirit; | ||||||
| 10 | at the age of seven, he fashioned his first guitar from a piece | ||||||
| 11 | of wood, his mother's hairpins, and screen door wire, a | ||||||
| 12 | testament to the ingenuity born of necessity; and | ||||||
| 13 | WHEREAS, Buddy Guy arrived in Chicago on September 25, | ||||||
| 14 | 1957 with only a guitar and the hope of a better life; though | ||||||
| 15 | he initially faced hunger and hardship, he was soon embraced | ||||||
| 16 | by the titans of the Windy City blues scene, including Muddy | ||||||
| 17 | Waters and Otis Rush, eventually becoming a foundational | ||||||
| 18 | session guitarist for the legendary Chess Records; and | ||||||
| 19 | WHEREAS, Buddy Guy is a pioneer of the West Side Sound, | ||||||
| 20 | characterized by high-energy electric riffs, frantic | ||||||
| 21 | showmanship, and a soul-stirring vocal wail; his innovative | ||||||
| 22 | use of distortion and feedback, accidentally discovered when a | ||||||
| |||||||
| |||||||
| 1 | customer's dress brushed against his guitar strings, predated | ||||||
| 2 | and paved the way for the rock and roll revolution of the | ||||||
| 3 | 1960s; and | ||||||
| 4 | WHEREAS, Buddy Guy's influence is woven into the very | ||||||
| 5 | fabric of modern music, serving as a direct inspiration to | ||||||
| 6 | guitar titans, including Jimi Hendrix and Stevie Ray Vaughan, | ||||||
| 7 | and he was famously declared by far and without a doubt the | ||||||
| 8 | best guitar player alive; and | ||||||
| 9 | WHEREAS, Buddy Guy, beyond his musical virtuosity, has | ||||||
| 10 | been a stalwart guardian of the blues heritage; he enriched | ||||||
| 11 | the cultural landscape of Chicago by launching the | ||||||
| 12 | Checkerboard Lounge in 1972 and opening Buddy Guy's Legends in | ||||||
| 13 | 1989, providing a stage for generations of musicians and | ||||||
| 14 | ensuring that Chicago remains the blues capital of the world; | ||||||
| 15 | and | ||||||
| 16 | WHEREAS, Buddy Guy has received every conceivable honor in | ||||||
| 17 | his field, including 8 Grammy Awards, a Lifetime Achievement | ||||||
| 18 | Grammy, 37 Blues Music Awards, a Kennedy Center Honor, the | ||||||
| 19 | Presidential National Medal of Arts, and induction into both | ||||||
| 20 | the Rock and Roll and Blues Halls of Fame; and | ||||||
| 21 | WHEREAS, Buddy Guy, in fulfilling a final promise to his | ||||||
| 22 | mentors Muddy Waters and B.B. King to "keep the damn blues | ||||||
| |||||||
| |||||||
| 1 | alive", has become a living link to an era of American music | ||||||
| 2 | birthed by Black Americans, a genre that reflects the nation's | ||||||
| 3 | deepest contradictions, its hard-won progress, and its | ||||||
| 4 | enduring prosperity; therefore, be it | ||||||
| 5 | RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE ONE | ||||||
| 6 | HUNDRED FOURTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that | ||||||
| 7 | we congratulate Buddy Guy on his 90th birthday, and we commend | ||||||
| 8 | his unparalleled contributions to the arts, his activism for | ||||||
| 9 | the preservation of blues history, and his status as a genuine | ||||||
| 10 | Chicago and American treasure; and be it further | ||||||
| 11 | RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be | ||||||
| 12 | presented to Buddy Guy as a symbol of our profound respect and | ||||||
| 13 | esteem. | ||||||