Artist · EveryDisc catalogue

Screamin’ Jay Hawkins

Screamin’ Jay Hawkins (real name Jalacy J. Hawkins) (18.07.1929 — 12.02.2000) was an African-American rock and roll and rhythm and blues musician, singer, and songwriter. One of the most famous and influential American musicians of the 1950s, whose powerful operatic vocals, highly eccentric, theatrical manner of performing his own songs, and use of grotesque, macabre aesthetics and black humor in his work had a noticeable influence on rock and pop music. Some researchers recognize him as the forefather and pioneer of the shock-rock style.