John
Dawson Winter III (February
23, 1944 – July 16, 2014) was an American singer and guitarist. Winter was
known for his high-energy blues rock albums and live performances in the late 1960s
and 1970s. He also produced three Grammy Award–winning albums for blues singer and
guitarist Muddy Waters. After his
time with Waters, Winter recorded several Grammy-nominated blues albums. In
1988, he was inducted into the Blues Foundation Hall of Fame and in 2003, he was ranked
63rd in Rolling Stone magazine's
list of the "100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time".Johnny Winter was
born in Beaumont, Texas, on
February 23, 1944. He and younger brother Edgar (born 1946) were nurtured at an early age by their
parents in musical pursuits. Their father, Leland, Mississippi native John
Dawson Winter Jr. (1909–2001), was also a musician who played saxophone and
guitar and sang at churches, weddings, Kiwanis and Rotary Club gatherings. Johnny
and his brother, both of whom were born with albinism, began performing
at an early age. When he was ten years old, the brothers appeared on a local
children's show with Johnny playing ukulele.