R.L. Burnside Passes Away

Bluesman R.L. Burnside, 79, died in his hospital bed in Memphis, Tenn., September 1st. Cause of death was undetermined at press time, but Burnside’s health had been failing for a couple of years.

A former sharecropper, Burnside’s first recordings appeared in 1967 and he spent the ’70s and ’80s touring with a band that comprised himself, his sons and a son-in-law, but without much attention.

A ’90s blues documentary that featured Burnside changed that, along with subsequent tours supporting the Jon Spencer Blues Explosion.

In 1998, he released the commercially successful Come On In, with a song featured on “The Sopranos” television show and its soundtrack.