If you’ve seen Sinners, the latest film from Michael B. Jordan, you may have noticed a strikingly familiar face in the role of Sammie — none other than blues legend Buddy Guy himself. At 88, Guy is not only performing in films but still playing live shows at his Chicago blues club, driven by a lifelong mission: keeping the blues alive.
“There’s very few radio stations other than satellite who play blues now,” Guy shared with Variety. “The older people I learned from are no longer with us. But when I was coming up, AM stations played everybody’s records. There was gospel, jazz, and the blues — and everyone knew who Lightnin’ Hopkins was.”
Despite his efforts, Guy acknowledges that younger generations often aren’t familiar with the genre’s pioneers. “They’re like, ‘Who is that? Who’s Muddy Waters?’ My grandkids didn’t know anything about the blues until they turned 21 and came into the club while I was playing. They said, ‘Granddad, I didn’t know you could do that!’”
Guy’s commitment to preserving the blues is personal — a torch passed on to him by two of his late friends and mentors. “Muddy Waters and B.B. King, I knew ’em before they passed away,” Guy recalls. “They told me, ‘Man, if you outlive me, just try to keep the blues alive.’”
His relationship with the blues greats runs deep. Originally from Baton Rouge, Louisiana, Guy didn’t imagine he was good enough to play alongside legends like Waters when he first arrived in Chicago. Back then, he was working as a custodian at Louisiana State University.
“I come up to Chicago, and the next thing I know, Muddy was asking me to play,” he shared in a 2015 interview. “And I found out that the money Muddy was making wasn’t much more than I was making at LSU. But here’s Howlin’ Wolf, Muddy Waters, Little Walter, Sonny Boy Williamson… they were having so much fun just playing. And I learned that they were doing it for the love of music, not money.”
Guy also recalls invaluable guidance from B.B. King, another lifelong hero. “B.B. King once told me he never played the same thing twice,” Guy said in a 2023 interview. “He said, ‘If you come to hear me play, you’ll never hear me play anything the same way twice.’ So if you come and see a Buddy Guy show, I won’t intentionally try and do anything note for note.”
True to form, Guy remains active in live performance. Most recently, he played at the final date of the 2025 Experience Hendrix Tour at the Fox Theatre in Atlanta. His presence on stage — and now on the big screen — continues to honor his promise to Waters and King: to keep the soul of blues music burning bright for future generations.
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