BMG acquires the rights to the John Lee Hooker music catalog
BMG has recently announced they have acquired the music rights to the John Lee Hooker catalog from his estate. The announcement included news they have gotten the rights to his entire publishing catalog – including “one bourbon, one scotch, one beer” – “boogie chillen” – “boom boom” and many other prominent hits from the iconic Blues legend. They announced as well that they have co-acquired Hooker’s entire recorded and performance royalty income with partner Fujipacific Music…. this includes Hooker’s recorded catalog from 1980 – 2020.
BMG currently represents or owns rights in many of blues music’s biggest artists, including Son House, Howlin Wolf, Willie Dixon, Muddy Waters, Little Walter, Sonny Boy Williamson, Mississippi Fred McDowell, and other notable blues legends.
Thomas Scherer, BMG President said: “BMG is proud to be the definitive home of John Lee Hooker‘s music, one of the key inspirations and foundation stones of popular music. BMG will ensure John Lee Hooker‘s legacy is honored and respected wherever and whenever John Lee Hooker‘s music is used, performed, recorded or sold.”
An inductee into the Blues Hall Of Fame, Hooker was a recipient of a National Heritage Fellowship awarded by the National Endowment for the Arts, the U.S. government’s highest honor in the folk and traditional arts. In 1991, Hooker was inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame, while in 1997, he was presented with a star on the Hollywood Walk Of Fame. A five-time Grammy Award winner, in 2000, shortly before his death, Hooker was recognized with a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award.
I was fortunate enough to see Mr. Hooker perform on Austin, Texas back in the late 90’s – a true music genius in every sense – his boogie style – steeped in the Mississippi Hill Country and hardened by the urban landscape of post war Detroit influenced many aspects of current rock and pop music.
