 robert calvin "bobby" bland (january 27, 1930 â june 23, 2013), nÃ© brooks, also known professionally as bobby "blue" bland, was an american blues singer. bland developed a sound that mixed gospel with the blues and r&b. he was described as "among the great storytellers of blues and soul music... [who] created tempestuous arias of love, betrayal and resignation, set against roiling, dramatic orchestrations, and left the listener drained but awed." he was sometimes referred to as the "lion of the blues" and as the "sinatra of the blues"; his music was also influenced by nat king cole. bland was inducted into the blues hall of fame in 1981, the rock and roll hall of fame in 1992, and received the grammy lifetime achievement award in 1997. the rock and roll hall of fame described him as "second in stature only to b.b. king as a product of memphis's beale street blues scene". ==biography== ===early life=== bland was born robert calvin brooks in
1930_births 2013_deaths 20th-century_American_singers 21st-century_American_singers African-American_singers American_blues_singers American_male_singers American_soul_singers Blues_Hall_of_Fame_inductees Duke_Records_artists Dunhill_Records_artists Electric_blues_musicians Grammy_Lifetime_Achievement_Award_winners Kent_Records_artists Northern_soul_musicians People_from_Germantown,_Tennessee Rock_and_Roll_Hall_of_Fame_inductees Soul-blues_musicians United_States_Army_soldiers