Buddy Guy's 90th Birthday Concert Unites Blues Stars
Buddy’s Got The Blues: A 90th Birthday Concert Celebration brought Eric Clapton, John Mayer, Joe Bonamassa, Susan Tedeschi, Billy Gibbons and other artists together on October 1, 2026, to honor blues guitarist Buddy Guy’s milestone birthday. The complete concert was available worldwide as a Nugs livestream.
How to watch and who is performing
The stream began at 7:30 p.m. ET, 4:30 p.m. PT and 12:30 a.m. in the UK. Access did not require a Nugs subscription. HD tickets cost $39.99, while 4K tickets cost $49.99, and active subscribers received a 25 percent discount. A portion of livestream sales was designated for the American Cancer Society. Eric Clapton, John Mayer, Susan Tedeschi and Derek Trucks headed the announced lineup. The other announced performers were Jon Batiste, Aloe Blacc, Joe Bonamassa, Gary Clark Jr., Shemekia Copeland, Robert Cray, Samantha Fish, Eric Gales, Billy Gibbons, Ivan Neville, Robert Randolph, Bobby Rush, Isaiah Sharkey, Kenny Wayne Shepherd, Jimmie Vaughan, Ally Venable, Willie Weeks and Kim Wilson. Rolling Stones drummer Steve Jordan was the concert’s musical director.
Why Buddy Guy’s celebration matters to guitar players
The concert connected several generations of blues and rock guitarists with a musician who helped define electric blues. Across a career of more than seven decades, Guy paired an aggressive electric blues sound with fiery showmanship. His guitar work influenced Jimi Hendrix, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Eric Clapton and John Mayer, so the bill joined established players shaped by his example with younger musicians carrying blues guitar forward. Guy said the celebration was meant to honor the people who taught the musicians, their peers and the generations following them. For guitar players, the event showed how one player’s sound and stage approach can pass between generations.
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