Media Publication Reviews – Gospel On Fire

Rev. John Lee Hooker Jr., Grammy nominated Blues legend releases first Gospel Song

Detroit native John Lee Hooker Jr., is the son of one of the greatest Blues and Legendary music icons in the world, the late John Lee Hooker (1971-2001). He is a musical artist who has received multiple awards throughout his career – 2 Grammy Nominations, The California Music Award for Best Traditional Artist (2004), The W.C. Handy Award (2004), the Bay Area Music Chapter Come Back Artist of the Year Award, and the 2018 Bobby Blue Bland Lifetime Achievement Award. Now, the celebrated artist has released his first…

Black Grooves | Reverend John Lee Hooker Jr. – Testify

John Lee Hooker Jr. grew up in Detroit, Michigan as the son of one of the greatest blues music icons in the world, the late and the great John Lee Hooker (1917-2001). As a bluesman, Rev. Hooker traveled the world performing with musical artists such as B.B. King, Snoop Dogg, Taj Mahal, Lenny Kravitz, Z.Z. Top, Buddy Guy and the late Etta James. After a long and successful career in secular music, Hooker became an ordained…

Reverend John Lee Hooker Jr. – Testify

“From the blues to the good news,” declares the Reverend John Lee Hooker Jr.’s website, though listening to his new album, Testify, blues has not left the building entirely. It’s just backing up lyrics of encouragement and warning instead of “Extramarital Affair” and “Pay the Rent.”

Son of the legendary bluesman John Lee “Boogie Man” Hooker, Reverend John Lee Jr. received Grammy nominations for his blues albums. But a life of imprisonment, addiction, and having been being shot and stabbed forced him to make…

FORTUNATE SON: The Rev. John Lee Hooker Jr. embraces his role as a proselytizing musical torchbearer

September 2017, Spielberg, Austria: The Rolling Stones gathered to perform before roughly 100,000 people at the Red Bull Ring as part of the No Filter Tour, and their opening act — John Lee Hooker Jr. — asked for those assembled to pause for a moment.

They were in the dressing room of guitarist Keith Richards, one of rock ‘n’ roll’s most legendary hedonists, but Hooker was no stranger to…..

Featured Interview – John Lee Hooker, Jr.

…Every year I used to throw big time family reunions
you probably say, so what’s the big deal?
It’s cause I haven’t seen my family since the reading of the will
I’m contemplating suicide because they hurt my pride
but I believe I’m gonna wait around until my change come…

Wait Until My Change Come,” John Lee Hooker, Jr., Frank Thibeaux, William Griffin, 2010

The above lyrics are much more potent when sang and heard rather than read and envisioned. I got a listen right around the time I first met John Lee Hooker, Jr. in 2010, at the Blue Wing Blues Festival in Upper Lake, California. He was riding high with a new CD at the time, Live In Istanbul Turkey. It was a state of the art…