The 2024 Grammy Awards in Los Angeles’ Crypto.com Arena saw local blues icon Bobby Rush take home his third “Best Traditional Blues Album” Grammy award Sunday night.
In a phone conversation Monday morning Rush shared his reaction.
“Last night was one of the better nights in my life,” Rush said. “I was honored just to be nominated but I wasn’t expecting to win. You know there’s some pretty tough competition and some great guys were up for that Grammy.”
Best Traditional Blues Album nominees for the 2024 Grammys included Eric Bibb for “Ridin,” Mr. Sipp for “Soul Side of Sipp,” Tracy Nelson for “Life Don’t Miss Nobody,” John Primer with “Teardrops for Magic Slim Live At Rosa’s Lounge,” and Bobby Rush for “All My Love For You.”
“I accepted the award on behalf of all those guys I looked up to like B.B. King and Muddy Waters. It was something when I won my first Grammy at age 83. That was great! Better late than never you know. But I didn’t expect to still be going strong at the age I am now. God has His own plans.”
Independent reporting for Pine Bluff & Jefferson County since 1879.
Rush took home his first Grammy in 2017 for “Porcupine Meat” and a second in 2021 for “Rawer than Raw.” He was additionally nominated for Best Contemporary Blues Album in 2001 with “Hoochie Man,” again in 2014 and 2015 for Best Blues Album for “Down in Louisiana” and “Decisions” respectively, and once more for Best Traditional Blues Album with “Sitting on Top of the Blues” in 2020.
“I’m still full of fire and enthused about what I’m doing. I’m learning every day and I love it,” Rush said.
He said appreciates the local support.
“I just want to thank the Pine Bluff Commercial for all you’ve written about me. What’s written in those articles is what people know about me. Those stories are part of why I’ve had the success that I have,” Rush said.
When asked his exact age, Rush explained.
“When I was a kid they gave me a younger age on my original birth certificate than I really was so I just went with it,” he said.
Rush never directly answered the query about age but instead replied, “In 1947 when we moved from Louisiana to Sherrill, I got a corrected birth certificate saying I was born November 10, 1933, so I suppose that is my actual date of birth.” Doing the math, that makes Rush 90 years young.
Rush was also asked about his future plans.
“I’m doing radio and television interviews here in Los Angeles later this morning, then I leave for Phoenix, then San Diego before I fly out for London and France later this week. I’m just blessed to be doing what I’m doing,” Rush said.
“I’ll see y’all in Arkansas at Fordyce on the Cotton Belt Fest Friday evening, April 26,” he said.
Rush regularly returns to the area lending his support to numerous blues legacy projects being planned for Pine Bluff and even has a three block section of downtown’s Third Avenue named “Bobby Rush Way” in his honor.
Bobby Rush signs his autobiography, I Ain’t Studdin’ Ya, published in 2021. (Special to The Commercial/Richard Ledbetter)
Three time Grammy Award winner Bobby Rush performed at the 41st annual Fordyce on the Cotton Belt Festival in 2022. He will make a return appearance at the festival on April 26. He took home his latest Grammy on Sunday. (Special to The Commercial/Richard Ledbetter)
Blues performer Bobby Rush, shown here visiting with young fans in this 2022 photo when he was performing in Pine Bluff, won his third Grammy on Sunday night. (Special to The Commercial/Richard Ledbetter)