George Thorogood & The Destroyers

George Thorogood’s raw-throated vocals and slashing slide-guitar licks have made him an American blues-rock hero. With his longtime backing band The Destroyers, including lifers Billy Blough on bass and Jeff Simon on drums, he brought gritty roadhouse sounds to the rock mainstream in the ’80s. Born in Wilmington, DE, in 1950, Thorogood soaked up Delta and Chicago blues as a youth. He kicked off his career playing unplugged and alone in the early ’70s before gathering The Destroyers together for a full-on bar-band assault. They released their self-titled debut LP in 1977, with tunes like John Lee Hooker’s “One Bourbon, One Scotch, One Beer” overflowing with boozy, bluesy swagger. From the late ’70s through the early ’80s they built a big grassroots following with their indie releases, gaining the support of ultra-cool BBC tastemaker John Peel in England. Thorogood’s mainstream breakthrough came with a move to the majors in 1982 and the hit “Bad to the Bone,” destined to occupy jukeboxes across America forevermore. In the decades to come, Thorogood declined to fix what wasn’t broken, touring tirelessly and recording occasionally without ever abandoning the blues-rocking boogie vibe that made him a legend.