caption death_date death_place birth_name birth_place landscape background birth_date image article_title name
wray , live in 2003 5 november 2005 copenhagen , denmark fred lincoln wray , jr. . dunn , north carolina , u.s. yes solo_singer 2 may 1929 link wray - 3-8-03 photo by anthony pepitone.jpg link wray
 link wray
link wray

fred lincoln ` link ' wray , jr. -lrb- may 2 , 1929 -- november 5 , 2005 -rrb- , was an american rock and roll guitarist , songwriter and vocalist who first came to popularity in the late 1950s .
building on the distorted electric guitar sound of early records , his 1958 instrumental hit `` rumble '' by link wray and his ray men popularized `` the power chord , the major `` modus operandi '' of modern rock guitarists '' , making possible `` punk and heavy rock '' .
`` rolling stone '' placed wray at no. 45 of the 100 greatest guitarists of all time .
in 2013 he was announced as a nominee for the rock and roll hall of fame .
his musical style primarily consisted of rock and roll , rockabilly and country .
