Mississippi bluesman R L Burnside has died, aged 78. He had been in declining health since heart surgery in 1999, and died in hospital in Memphis, Tennessee.
Burnside didn't begin his music career until the age of 65. Although he had played guitar in local bars ever since the forties, it was only when he signed to Fat Possum Records in 1991 that he came to wider attention. Once with Fat Possum he went on to record a dozen albums and toured worldwide.
Paying tribute to Burnside, Fat Possum's Matthew Johnson told reporters yesterday how Burnside played guitar "just 'cause he wanted to. He never really wanted a career, never said he did. We just sort of gave him one."