From the Shadow of the Blues: My Story of Music Addiction and Redemption

Born in Detroit, John Lee Hooker Jr. began singing as a featured attraction in his father’s shows as a teenager. His father was a sharecropper’s son who became known for hit songs like “Boogie Chillen,” “I’m in the Mood,” and “Boom Boom,” and in 1972, he and his father performed live and recorded an album in Soledad Prison. Junior seemed to have a golden ticket to a successful music career, but problems brewed as his father’s troubled marriage ripped apart the family.

Drug addiction and a series of crimes landed Junior in and out of jails and prisons for several decades, including at Soledad, San Quentin, and Avenal. A brush with the law led to a sentence at Synanon, the infamous drug rehabilitation program turned religious cult. Shot, stabbed, and convicted multiple times, Junior was at his lowest point when he found the Lord. He emerged clean and sober and began a successful career as a blues singer, earning two Grammy nominations as well as the Bobby “Blue” Bland Lifetime Achievement Award. He eventually devoted himself fully to his faith. He testifies, preaches, and performs gospel music in churches and prisons in both America and Germany.

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