Pinetop Perkins, one of the last Delta bluesmen and the oldest Grammy winner, died Monday. He was 97.
The piano man was having chest pains and died of cardiac arrest, according to Hugh Southard, Perkins' agent for the last 15 years.
"He was absolutely the premier blues piano player," Bruce Iglauer, founder of Chicago's Alligator Records, an independent blues label, told the Chicago Tribune. "His career spanned literally over 80 years. He was the symbol of a whole generation of musicians."
Perkins was born in Belzoni, Mississippi, in 1913 as Joseph William.
For years, he played in bars in the Mississippi Delta, and toured far beyond them with rock pioneer Ike Turner in the 1950s. He performed with the likes of Sonny Boy Williamson and slide guitarist Robert Nighthawk.
Perkins also played with another legend, Muddy Waters.
Perkins won a Grammy in February for best traditional blues album for "Joined at the Hip: Pinetop Perkins & Willie 'Big Eyes' Smith." That win made Perkins the oldest Grammy winner, edging out late comedian George Burns, who was 95 when he won in the spoken category for "Gracie: A Love Story" in 1990.
Perkins also won a 2007 Grammy for best traditional blues album for his collaboration on the "Last of the Great Mississippi Delta Bluesmen: Live in Dallas." He received a lifetime achievement Grammy in 2005.
"He was a guy who put a huge amount of humor in his music," said Iglauer. "When you think of his blues, they made you smile."
