Blues-Rock.
While rock and blues have historically always been closely linked, blues-rock as a distinct genre did not arise until the late 
1960s. The genre was originally British, with artists like 
Alexis Korner and 
John Mayall forming groups that acted as a training ground for future stars of the genre such as 
Free, 
Savoy Brown and the earliest incarnations of 
Fleetwood Mac, while American players like 
Johnny Winter, 
Paul Butterfield and the group 
Canned Heat were also pioneers. The revolutionary electric blues playing of 
Jimi Hendrix (a veteran of many American 
rhythm & blues and 
soul groups from the early-mid 1960s) and his 
power trios, The Jimi Hendrix Experience and 
Band of Gypsys, has had broad and lasting influence on the development of blues-rock, especially for 
guitarists.
 
Eric Clapton was another guitarist with a lasting influence on the genre; his work in the 1960s and 
1970s with 
John Mayall and the Bluesbreakers, 
The Yardbirds, the supergroup 
Blind Faith, 
Cream, 
Derek and the Dominos and an extensive solo career have all been seminal in bringing of blues-rock into the 
mainstream.
 In the late 60s 
Jeff Beck, another former member of The Yardbirds, revolutionised blues rock into a form of heavy rock, taking the 
UK and the 
USA by storm with his band, 
The Jeff Beck Group. 
Jimmy Page, a third alumnus of The Yardbirds, went out to form 
The New Yardbirds which would soon become known as 
Led Zeppelin. Led Zeppelin was a huge force in the early 70s blues-rock scene. Other blues-rock musicians influential on the English scene of the 1970s included 
Rory Gallagher (who was actually 
Irish) and 
Robin Trower.
 Beginning in the early 
1970s, American blues-rock grew to include 
Southern rock and 
hard rock bands like the 
Allman Brothers Band, the 
James Gang, the 
Fabulous Thunderbirds and 
ZZ Top, while - except for the advent of groups such as 
Foghat (founded by former Savoy Brown members) - the British scene became focused on 
heavy metal innovation. Blues-rock had a re-birth in the early 
1990s and continues to have lasting influence today, with many artists such as 
John Mayer, 
The White Stripes, 
The Black Keys, 
The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion, and 
Joe Bonamassa performing and releasing albums to enthusiastic fans.