Editing Blues (section)

==In popular culture==
[[File:Tajmahalblues.jpg|thumb|right|upright=0.8|The music of [[Taj Mahal (musician)|Taj Mahal]] for the 1972 movie ''[[Sounder (film)|Sounder]]'' marked a revival of interest in acoustic blues.]]
Like many other genres, blues has been called the "[[Satan|devil]]'s music" or "music of the devil", even of inciting violence and other poor behavior.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Curiel|first=Jonathan|date=2004-08-15|title=Muslim roots of the blues / The music of famous American blues singers reaches back through the South to the culture of West Africa|url=https://www.sfgate.com/opinion/article/Muslim-roots-of-the-blues-The-music-of-famous-2701489.php|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050905161734/http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=%2Fchronicle%2Farchive%2F2004%2F08%2F15%2FINGMC85SSK1.DTL|archive-date=Sep 5, 2005|access-date=2021-10-26|website=SFGATE|language=en-US}}</ref> In the early 20th century, the blues was considered disreputable, especially as white audiences began listening to the blues during the 1920s.<ref name="trkeja"/> The close association with the devil was actually a well-known characteristic of blues lyrics and culture between the 1920s and 1960s. The devil's connection to the blues has faded from popular memory since then for a number of reasons, other than in the narrow sense of Robert Johnson selling his soul to the devil at the crossroads. A study of the devil's role in the blues was published in 2017, called ''Beyond the Crossroads: The Devil & The Blues Tradition''.<ref>{{cite book |title=Beyond the Crossroads: The Devil and the Blues Tradition |publisher=The University of North Carolina Press |first=Adam |last=Gussow |author-link=Gussow |year=2017 |url=https://archive.org/details/beyondcrossroads0000guss}}</ref>

During the blues revival of the 1960s and 1970s, acoustic blues artist [[Taj Mahal (musician)|Taj Mahal]] and Texas bluesman [[Lightnin' Hopkins]] wrote and performed music that figured prominently in the critically acclaimed film ''[[Sounder (film)|Sounder]]'' (1972). The film earned Mahal a [[Grammy Award|Grammy]] nomination for Best Original Score Written for a Motion Picture and a [[BAFTA]] nomination.{{Citation needed|date=June 2024}} Almost 30&nbsp;years later, Mahal wrote blues for, and performed a banjo composition, claw-hammer style, in the 2001 movie release ''[[Songcatcher]]'', which focused on the story of the preservation of the [[Appalachian music|roots music of Appalachia]].

[[File:Dan Aykroyd on set of MTV Music Television NYC.jpg|thumb|left|[[Dan Aykroyd]] helped popularize blues music through his role in [[The Blues Brothers]] film, which brought together iconic blues artists and introduced the genre to a wider audience.]]

Perhaps the most visible example of the blues style of music in the late 20th century came in 1980, when [[Dan Aykroyd]] and [[John Belushi]] released the film ''[[The Blues Brothers (film)|The Blues Brothers]]''. The film drew many of the biggest living influencers of the [[rhythm and blues]] genre together, such as [[Ray Charles]], [[James Brown]], [[Cab Calloway]], [[Aretha Franklin]], and [[John Lee Hooker]]. The band formed also began a successful tour under the [[The Blues Brothers|Blues Brothers]] marquee. 1998 brought a sequel, ''[[Blues Brothers 2000]]'' that, while not holding as great a critical and financial success, featured a much larger number of blues artists, such as [[B.B. King]], [[Bo Diddley]], [[Erykah Badu]], [[Eric Clapton]], [[Steve Winwood]], [[Charlie Musselwhite]], [[Blues Traveler]], [[Jimmie Vaughan]], and [[Jeff Baxter]].

In 2003, [[Martin Scorsese]] made significant efforts to promote the blues to a larger audience. He asked several famous directors, such as [[Clint Eastwood]] and [[Wim Wenders]], to participate in a series of documentary films for [[Public Broadcasting Service|PBS]] called ''[[The Blues (film)|The Blues]]''.<ref>{{Citation |title=The Blues |date=2003-09-28 |type=Documentary, Music |url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0287198/ |access-date=2025-05-18 |others=B. B. King, Ike Turner, Pinetop Perkins |publisher=Road Movies Filmproduktion, Vulcan Productions}}</ref> He also participated in the rendition of compilations of major blues artists in a series of high-quality CDs. Blues guitarist and vocalist [[Keb' Mo']] performed his blues rendition of "[[America, the Beautiful]]" in 2006 to close out the final season of the television series ''[[The West Wing]]''.

The blues was highlighted in season 2012, episode 1 of ''[[In Performance at the White House]]'', entitled "Red, White and Blues". Hosted by [[Barack]] and [[Michelle Obama]], the show featured performances by [[B.B. King]], [[Buddy Guy]], [[Gary Clark Jr.]], [[Jeff Beck]], [[Derek Trucks]], [[Keb Mo]], and others.<ref>{{cite web |title=In Performance at the White House: Red, White and Blues |url=http://www.pbs.org/inperformanceatthewhitehouse/shows/red-white-and-blues/ |website=PBS |access-date=July 23, 2018 |archive-date=July 24, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180724002319/http://www.pbs.org/inperformanceatthewhitehouse/shows/red-white-and-blues/ |url-status=dead }}</ref>

The 2025 vampire horror film ''[[Sinners (2025 film)|Sinners]]'' explores the blues genre through a supernatural narrative placed in the 1930s Mississippi Delta.<ref>{{cite web|title=Sinners BBFC |url=https://www.bbfc.co.uk/release/sinners-q29sbgvjdglvbjpwwc0xmdi0mdu0 |website=BBFC|access-date=April 26, 2025|</ref>