Stevie Ray Vaughan was an American blues guitarist who came to prominence in the early Eighties. He released a string of successful albums throughout the decade with his band, Double Trouble. An innovator of Texas blues, Vaughan almost single-handedly commercialized the genre with the release of his debut, Texas Flood, in 1983.
Vaughan's battles with alcohol and drug addiction were highly publicized before he became sober in 1986. On August 26, 1990, Vaughan co-headlined a show at the Alpine Valley Music Theater with Eric Clapton and Robert Cray. After the show, Vaughan boarded a helicopter to return to Chicago. Several minutes after takeoff the helicopter crashed into a nearby ski slope. All aboard, including Vaughan, were killed. The guitarist was 35 years old.
Stevie Ray Vaughan is the younger brother of former Fabulous Thunderbirds guitarist Jimmie Vaughan.
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