Buddy Guy

More so than any genre, the blues embrace aging. Players in their sixties are kids to the stars who've made it to their seventies, eighties — the legendary Diamond Teeth Mary McClain played annual shows in Miami well into her nineties. So it's pretty perfect that blues legend Buddy Guy, who turns 70 this summer, has been tapped to play his roundly admired Chicago-style guitar licks in celebration of the 80th anniversary of Miami's best music venue, the Gusman Center downtown. Guy is a hero to Ron Wood, Eric Clapton, and the numerous other players under his influence; Keith Richards and Carlos Santana contributed to Guy's latest release, Bring 'Em In. Clapton called Guy "without a doubt the best guitar player alive." More credibly, Guy has won five Grammys and been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (in 2005). Former partner of Junior Wells, Guy was originally a protégé of Muddy Waters and Guitar Slim, from whom he picked up a love of stage antics like using drumsticks for picks and lunging into the audience. This should be a show for the ages.