Alexis Andrew Nicholas Koerner, known professionally as Alexis Korner, was a British blues musician and radio broadcaster, who has sometimes been referred to as "a founding father of British blues". A major influence on the sound of the British music scene in the 1960s, he was instrumental in the formation of several notable British bands including The Rolling Stones and Free. Korner was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in the musical influence category in 2024.
Alexis Korner, Musikhalle Hamburg, November 1972
Korner and Peter Thorup in Bremen
Korner with Snape
British blues is a form of music derived from American blues that originated in the late 1950s, and reached its height of mainstream popularity in the 1960s. In Britain, blues developed a distinctive and influential style dominated by electric guitar, and made international stars of several proponents of the genre, including the Rolling Stones, the Animals, the Yardbirds, Eric Clapton, Fleetwood Mac and Led Zeppelin.
Alexis Korner, often called the father of British blues
Georgie Fame, a major figure of the British R&B movement, in 1968
Peter Green performing with Fleetwood Mac in 1970
Cream, one of the most influential bands to emerge from the movement, c. 1966
