Robert Johnson, “King of the Delta Blues Singers”, was born in Hazlehurst in Copiah County, on May 8, 1911. Crystal Springs is the sister city and host of the Robert Johnson Blues Foundation Spring Festival, which commemorates the birth of the Mississippi blues legend. Robert and his mother did not stay long in Hazlehurst. After working as migrant labor, his mother moved the family to Memphis where he lived for several years.

    His interest in music flourished through the 1920s. He would return to Hazlehurst, then back to the Delta spending lots of time in Robinsonville and Helena, Ark.

    By the mid-1930s, Johnson was well known through the Delta, Mississippi, and Tennessee, and began to think about recording his music. He contacted H.C. Spier in Jackson, who connected him with someone who could help him. In 1936 he began to record his songs, among them his most popular Terraplane Blues.    

    Robert Johnson was a gifted singer, guitarist and songwriter whose life story is wrapped in mystery and legend. Only two photographs are known to exist of him and he recorded only 29 songs before his death in 1938 at the age of 27.

    Although his burial place remains uncertain, it is generally accepted that his death was not accidental. Johnson was poisoned by a jealous husband (or girlfriend) while performing at a juke joint near Greenwood, and died on Aug. 16, 1938. He defined the ’30s blues era. Though he only wrote 29 songs, his impact on the world of music has been incredible. Many consider him the father of modern rock and roll.

    Source: www.robertjohnsonbluesfoundation.org