AC/DC Biography

Stiff Upper Lip is the 17th album from a group that many would call the world’s greatest rock band. The 12-song disc finds AC/DC as unflappable as ever, a vibrant, vital rock band at the top of their game.

Anchored by one of rock’s most rhythmic duos - brothers Angus and Malcolm - and buoyed by the infamous throaty drawl of singer Brian Johnson, Stiff Upper Lip not only serves up the kind of carnal shards that fans have come to expect, (it’s their first studio album in five years) but also tips its hat to the blues-rock-roots of AC/DC and brother/producer George Young - who returns to the work the boards for the first time since 1978’s classic Powerage. "Malcolm and I were sitting around going over possible producers one day," recalls Angus. "We started talking about records and stuff and the idea of using George again just snapped into our heads at the same time. Obviously he knows what AC/DC is all about. For us there has always been that subtle blues element in what we do. All good rock has that foundation of the blues in it somewhere."

From Angus’ scorching intro on the album’s title song, "Stiff Upper Lip," to the bluesy stomp of "Meltdown," right through the clipped bursts of thunderous guitar on the rousing "Can’t Hold Me Back," it’s evident that the boys’ camaraderie set the tone. "It was fun to make this record," says Angus. "We never like to be under pressure, and no band should make an album like it’s some sort of a chore. George likes to capture the character of the people in the studio and I think we did that. He doesn’t care so much about what’s technologically correct, as long as it sounds like AC/DC."

Vocalist Brian Johnson says he has another barometer when making an AC/DC record.

"This one was a 135,000 cigarette album," he laughs. "I can always tell if we’re making a good one, when the smokes are going before, during, and after a take."

Angus agrees: "We’re a bit like the old army when we go into record. Don’t forget that the number one staple in World War I and II was tobacco." A proper metaphor for a band that has never looked over their shoulder.

"We know who we are," says Angus. "We trust each other and rely on that. A lot of music you hear starts getting that fast food mentality - just put it out. We’ve never been about that." Brian says the process of give and take is important, as well. He points out that "Stiff Upper Lip" was a song that captured the band’s playful approach. "When the boys first played me that riff I just started going off in what I like to call my ‘Satchmo’ voice," laughs Brian. "I was like ‘is this too much?’ But the boys were ‘no, no that’s perfect.’ We had such a great vibe making this record. I think all the brothers had such simpatico going with the guitar exchanges and riffs – the whole thing was just a refreshing ball."

Other standouts fans will be flocking to are the blistering "Satellite Blues" and the slippery ride of "Can’t Stand Still." "I love that one," says Brian. "When I listen to that song it reminds me of everything that’s fun and alive about rock n’ roll. I sang it through in one take and if you listen at the end you can even hear the boys applauding. That’s the kind of atmosphere we had throughout the making of this album."

No wonder. George Young has produced some of AC/DC’s most classic albums, including their 1974 debut High Voltage, 1977’s Let There Be Rock, 1978’s If You Want Blood (You Got It), and Powerage. Says Brian: "I think the album has a wonderful feel – almost pre-Back In Black (produced by Mutt Lange) – which was the AC/DC era where George’s hand was felt the most. He really makes recording exciting. He makes it feel like everyone is contributing their best all of the time."

Back In Black, of course, is also a bittersweet demarcation line in AC/DC folklore. The band’s original singer, the legendary Bon Scott, died tragically before the making of what some consider AC/DC’s milestone work. Brian Johnson was chosen in April of 1980, and quickly stepped up to record the album the following month. Fans embraced the disc like no other AC/DC album. It would go on to make history for AC/DC, breaking dozens of sales records, and landing them sold out concerts across the globe, forever cementing their reputation as hard rock’s preeminent troubadours.

From their very first gig in the early ‘70’s in Sydney, Australia at a place called the Chequers Club (artists such as Sammy Davis Jr. and Frank Sinatra performed there) the AC/DC legend grew in direct proportion to the band’s take-no-prisoners philosophy. "We’d play anywhere anytime, and not always to adoring fans," laughs Angus. "But we never stopped playing – mostly in fear of what would happen when we did." The group earned their stripes as one of rockdom’s most dedicated live bands, with Angus’ schoolboy attire becoming one of the most famous trademarks in rock history.

Throughout the years, AC/DC has managed to create that rarest of bond between their fans. Whether it was the classic Let There Be Rock of 1977, the anthem laced Highway To Hell of 1979, or the pseudo-best of collection, Who Made Who of 1986, the soundtrack for Stephen King’s movie Maximum Overdrive (He’s one of the group’s most vocal fans) AC/DC has never given in to the crass commercialism or shameless self-promotion that have scarred other bands’ careers.

Their most recent release, the 1997 Bonfire box set, a 5-CD collection crafted by the band as a tribute to Bon, was done with the usual AC/DC understatement. "That project wasn’t ever about nostalgia," says Angus. "It was about his spirit. We even called on fans to help us track things down."

Angus has said that one of the keys of AC/DC’s longevity has always been the ability of their audience to relate to them. "We always stop and say ‘what would our fans think?’" says Angus. "Sometimes it’s like we’re on a first name basis with ‘em. We’ve learned never to pay too much attention to the trends, or to what the experts are telling you is the next big thing. Our fans know what to expect from us. And that’s how we approach making a record. I always say sometimes it’s the guy digging the ditch that can tell you more about building the road then all the engineers put together."

Jimi Hendrix Biography

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In his brief four-year reign as a superstar, Jimi Hendrix expanded the vocabulary of the electric rock guitar more than anyone before or since. Hendrix was a master at coaxing all manner of unforeseen sonics from his instrument, often with innovative amplification experiments that produced astral-quality feedback and roaring distortion. His frequent hurricane blasts of noise, and dazzling showmanship — he could and would play behind his back and with his teeth, and set his guitar on fire — has sometimes obscured his considerable gifts as a songwriter, singer, and master of a gamut of blues, R&B, and rock styles.

When Hendrix became an international superstar in 1967, it seemed as if he'd dropped out of a Martian spaceship, but in fact he'd served his apprenticeship the long, mundane way in numerous R&B acts on the chitlin circuit. During the early and mid-'60s, he worked with such R&B/soul greats as Little Richard, the Isley Brothers, and King Curtis as a backup guitarist. Occasionally he recorded as a session man (the Isley Brothers' 1964 single "Testify" is the only one of these early tracks that offers even a glimpse of his future genius). But the stars didn't appreciate his show-stealing showmanship, and Hendrix was straightjacketed by sideman roles that didn't allow him to develop as a soloist. The logical step was for Hendrix to go out on his own, which he did in New York in the mid-'60s, playing with various musicians in local clubs, and joining White blues-rock singer John Hammond, Jr.'s band for a while.

It was in a New York club that Hendrix was spotted by Animals bassist Chas Chandler. The first lineup of the Animals was about to split, and Chandler, looking to move into management, convinced Hendrix to move to London and record as a solo act in England. There a group was built around Jimi, also featuring Mitch Mitchell on drums and Noel Redding on bass, that was dubbed the Jimi Hendrix Experience. The trio became stars with astonishing speed in the U.K., where "Hey Joe," "Purple Haze," and "The Wind Cries Mary" all made the Top 10 in the first half of 1967. These tracks were also featured on their debut album, Are You Experienced?, a psychedelic meisterwerk that became a huge hit in the U.S. after Hendrix created a sensation at the Monterey Pop Festival in June of 1967.

Are You Experienced? was an astonishing debut, particularly from a young R&B veteran who had rarely sung, and apparently never written his own material, before the Experience formed. What caught most people's attention at first was his virtuosic guitar playing, which employed an arsenal of devices, including wah-wah pedals, buzzing feedback solos, crunching distorted riffs, and lightning, liquid runs up and down the scales. But Hendrix was also a first-rate songwriter, melding cosmic imagery with some surprisingly pop-savvy hooks and tender sentiments. He was also an excellent blues interpreter and passionate, engaging singer (although his gruff, throaty vocal pipes were not nearly as great assets as his instrumental skills). Are You Experienced? was psychedelia at its most eclectic, synthesizing mod pop, soul, R&B, Dylan, and the electric guitar innovations of British pioneers like Jeff Beck, Pete Townshend, and Eric Clapton.

Amazingly, Hendrix would only record three fully conceived studio albums in his lifetime. Axis: Bold as Love and the double-LP Electric Ladyland were more diffuse and experimental than Are You Experienced? On Electric Ladyland in particular, Hendrix pioneered the use of the studio itself as a recording instrument, manipulating electronics and devising overdub techniques (with the help of engineer Eddie Kramer in particular) to plot uncharted sonic territory. Not that these albums were perfect, as impressive as they were; the instrumental breaks could meander, and Hendrix's songwriting was occasionally half-baked, never matching the consistency of Are You Experienced? (although he exercised greater creative control over the later albums).

The final two years of Hendrix's life were turbulent ones musically, financially, and personally. He was embroiled in enough complicated management and record company disputes (some dating from ill-advised contracts he'd signed before the Experience formed) to keep the lawyers busy for years. He disbanded the Experience in 1969, forming the Band of Gypsies with drummer Buddy Miles and bassist Billy Cox to pursue funkier directions. He closed Woodstock with a sprawling, shaky set, redeemed by his famous machine-gun interpretation of "The Star-Spangled Banner." The rhythm section of Mitchell and Redding were underrated keys to Jimi's best work, and the Band of Gypsies ultimately couldn't measure up to the same standard, although Hendrix did record an erratic live album with them.

In early 1970, the Experience re-formed again — and disbanded again shortly afterwards. At the same time, Hendrix felt torn in many directions by various fellow musicians, record-company expectations, and management pressures, all of whom had their own ideas of what Hendrix should be doing. Coming up on two years after Electric Ladyland, a new studio album had yet to appear, although Hendrix was recording constantly during the period.

While outside parties did contribute to bogging down Hendrix's studio work, it also seems likely that Jimi himself was partly responsible for the stalemate, unable to form a permanent lineup of musicians, unable to decide what musical direction to pursue, unable to bring himself to complete another album despite jamming endlessly. A few months into 1970, Mitchell — Hendrix's most valuable musical collaborator — came back into the fold, replacing Miles in the drum chair, although Cox stayed in place. It was this trio that toured the world during Hendrix's final months.

It's extremely difficult to separate the facts of Hendrix's life from rumors and speculation. Everyone who knew him well, or claimed to know him well, has different versions of his state of mind in 1970. Critics have variously mused that he was going to go into jazz, that he was going to get deeper into the blues, that he was going to continue doing what he was doing, or that he was too confused to know what he was doing at all. The same confusion holds true for his death: contradictory versions of his final days have been given by his closest acquaintances of the time. He'd been working intermittently on a new album, tentatively titled First Ray of the New Rising Sun, when he died in London on September 18, 1970, from drug-related complications.

Hendrix recorded a massive amount of unreleased studio material during his lifetime. Much of this (as well as entire live concerts) was issued posthumously; several of the live concerts were excellent, but the studio tapes have been the focus of enormous controversy for over 20 years. These initially came out in haphazard drabs and drubs (the first, The Cry of Love, was easily the most outstanding of the lot). In the mid-'70s, producer Alan Douglas took control of these projects, posthumously overdubbing many of Hendrix's tapes with additional parts by studio musicians. In the eyes of many Hendrix fans, this was sacrilege, destroying the integrity of the work of a musician known to exercise meticulous care over the final production of his studio recordings.

Even as late as 1995, Douglas was having ex-Knack drummer Bruce Gary record new parts for the typically misbegotten compilation Voodoo Soup. After a lengthy legal dispute, the rights to Hendrix's estate, including all of his recordings, returned to Al Hendrix, the guitarist's father, in July of 1995. — Richie Unterberger

Yngwie Malmsteen Biography

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Yngwie J. Malmsteen arrived on the scene in 1983 when he emigrated to America from his native Sweden. Malmsteen created a style - an ear-searing blend of metal bombast and classical beauty that is one of the most immediately recognizable of ALL guitarists. He elevated classical chops to new heights, adding a definite European stamp both dark-sounding and blindingly fast.

"I've been exposed to classical music since I was five years old," says Yngwie, who was born in Stockholm on June 30, 1963. "My mother listened to Bach so much, and I grew to really love his music. Bach's chord progressions and melodies are the most beautiful things ever written.

"My family was very musical," he adds. "My sister played flute and piano and my brother played guitar, drums, piano, violin, and accordian. My father even played guitar."

Malmsteen maintains that his biggest classical influence is 19th-century violin virtuoso Nicolo Paganini. "I was in my early teens the first time I heard his music," recalls Yngwie," and he's been my idol ever since. I got turned on to him through a Swedish TV show. A Russian violinist was playing some Paganini stuff on the program, and I freaked. I quickly put a portable tape recorder in front of the TV to get it on tape. When I found out later what the guy was playing, I went out and bought Paganiniâs "24 Caprices," which is my all-time favorite thing to listen to.

"Thatâs how I wanted to play guitar. He did with his instrument what few have ever come close to doing. He was a rock and roller-very wild and very extreme."

Yngwie's work overflows with classically influenced playing. His Grammy-nominated debut solo album, "Yngwie J. Malmsteen's Rising Force," is regarded by many as the definitive document of neoclassical rock guitar.

"Those compositions ["Black Star" and "Far Beyond the Sun"] sort of sum up my style," says Yngwie. "There are fast runs, slow harmonies, and some really nice arpeggios in them. Those songs are like icons for me. I'll probably play them until the day I die."

Malmsteen first picked up a guitar on September 18, 1970-the day Jimi Hendrix died. "Hendrix did inspire me to play," Yngwie affirms, "but I was more influenced by his image than his music. He looked so cool and was a fantastic performer."

Says Yngwie: "I don't think anyone can actually teach someone how to play guitar. The desire should come from inside. Guitar is at a stage where one has to do oneâs own innovations. Playing electric guitar is not like playing classical violin, which has been around for hundreds of years. To play classical violin, one has to be taught the specific skills needed to perform that particular kind of music. Once you get past the basics needed to play guitar, the rest is up to you."

Guitarists with mind-boggling technique can be quite boring on stage, but Malmsteen impresses as well as entertains. He is always in constant motion, whether playing his Stratocaster with his teeth or twirling it around his body.

"When I play a song at rehearsals I often get bored with it," he admits. "But as soon as I get in front of an audience I'll get excited and everything comes alive. I'm not just playing for myself. I live for my audience-they're everything. It's the best feeling imaginable to go on stage and have the crowd love you. As long as there's an audience, I'll never lose the desire to play."

Metallica Biography

FORMED: 1981, Los Angeles, CA

The most consistently innovative metal band of the late 80s and 90s was formed in 1981 in California, USA, by Lars Ulrich (b. 26 December 1963, Copenhagen, Denmark; drums) and James Alan Hetfield (b. 3 August 1963, USA; guitar/vocals) after each separately advertised for fellow musicians in the classified section of American publication The Recycler. They recorded their first demo, No Life Til' Leather, with Lloyd Grand (guitar), who was replaced in January 1982 by David Mustaine (b. 13 September 1961, La Mesa, California, USA), whose relationship with Ulrich and Hetfield proved unsatisfactory. Jef Warner (guitar) and Ron McGovney (bass) each had a brief tenure with the band.

At the end of 1982 Clifford Lee Burton (b. 10 February 1962, USA, d. 27 September 1986; bass, ex-Trauma) joined the band, playing his first live performance on 5 March 1983. Mustaine departed to form Megadeth and was replaced by Kirk Hammett (b. 18 November 1962, San Francisco, California, USA; guitar). Hammett, who came to the attention of Ulrich and Hetfield while playing with rock band Exodus, played his first concert with Metallica on 16 April 1983. The Ulrich, Hetfield, Burton and Hammett combination endured until disaster struck the band in the small hours of 27 September 1986, when Metallica's tour bus overturned in Sweden, killing Cliff Burton. During those four years, the band put thrash metal on the map with the aggression and exuberance of their debut, Kill 'Em All, the album sleeve of which bore the legend "Bang that head that doesn't bang".

This served as a template for a whole new breed of metal, though the originators themselves were quick to dispense with their own rule book. Touring with New Wave Of British Heavy Metal bands Raven and Venom followed, while Music For Nations signed them for European distribution. Although Ride The Lightning was not without distinction, notably on "For Whom The Bell Tolls', it was 1986's Master Of Puppets that offered further evidence of Metallica"s appetite for the epic. Their first album for Elektra Records in the USA (who had also re-released its predecessor), this was a taut, multi-faceted collection that both raged and lamented with equal conviction.

After the death of Burton, the band elected to continue, the remaining three members recruiting Jason Newsted (b. 4 March 1963; bass) of Flotsam And Jetsam. Newsted played his first concert with the band on 8 November 1986. The original partnership of Ulrich and Hetfield, however, remained responsible for Metallica's lyrics and musical direction. The new line-up's first recording together was The $5.98 EP - Garage Days Re-Revisited - a collection of cover versions including material from Budgie, Diamond Head, Killing Joke and the Misfits, which also served as a neat summation of the band's influences to date.

Sessions for ... And Justice For All initially began with Guns 'N' Roses producer Mike Clink at the helm. A long and densely constructed effort, this 1988 opus included an appropriately singular spectacular moment in "One" (a US Top 40/UK Top 20 single), while elsewhere the barrage of riffs somewhat obscured the usual Metallica artistry. The songs on 1991's US/UK chart- topper Metallica continued to deal with large themes - justice and retribution, insanity, war, religion and relationships. Compared to Kill "Em All nearly a decade previously, however, the band had grown from iconoclastic chaos to thoughtful harmony, hallmarked by sudden and unexpected changes of mood and tempo.

The MTV -friendly "Enter Sandman" broke the band on a stadium level and entered the US Top 20. The single also reached the UK Top 10, as did another album track, "Nothing Else Matters". Constant touring in the wake of the album ensued, along with a regular itinerary of awards ceremonies. There could surely be no more deserving recipients, Metallica having dragged mainstream metal, not so much kicking and screaming as whining and complaining, into a bright new dawn when artistic redundancy seemed inevitable. Metallica was certified as having sold nine million copies in the USA by June 1996, and one month later Load entered the US charts at number 1. The album marked a change in image for the band, who began to court the alternative rock audience.

The following year's Reload collected together more tracks recorded at the Load sessions, and featured 60s icon Marianne Faithfull on the first single to be released from the album, "The Memory Remains". Garage Inc. collected assorted cover versions, and broke the band's run of US number 1 albums when it debuted at number 2 in December 1998. The following year's S&M, recorded live with the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra, evoked the worst excesses of heavy rock icons Deep Purple. In January 2001, Jason Newsted announced he was leaving Metallica after almost fifteen years service with the band. During spring 2001 Metallica entered the studio again, although with no bassist, and began recording the new album which they hoped would be released by christmas that year or early 2002. However, in July 2001 James Hetfield announced that he was in re-hab for alcohol and 'other' addictions. The recording of the new album was put on hold until he recovered.
Robert Trujilo is the new bass player!

Thanks to Andre Joao Ferreira for submitting the biography.

Stevie Ray Vaughan

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1954 - Stephen Ray Vaughan is born October 3 at Methodist Hospital in Dallas, Texas to Jim and Martha Vaughan.

1961 - Stevie receives his first guitar. He described it as "a plastic toy, with only three strings." Under the guidance of his brother Jimmie (b. 1951), Stevie's talent begins to form.

1966 - Jimmie's friend Doyle Bramhall hears Stevie playing guitar (a song called "Jeff's Boogie") and is duly impressed. He encourages the young guitarist to keep practicing. As Stevie put it, "He was the first one that ever told me I was good."

1970 - While working as a dishwasher in a Dallas burger joint called Dairy Mart, Stevie falls into a barrel full of grease. He decides to quit his job and pursue his dream of being a full-time musician and forms the band Blackbird. He later described the "grease incident" in a television interview:

"Part of my job was to clean out the trash bins. One night, I was standing on top of a barrel, [and] the top caved in. I fell in grease up to [my chest], and right then I decided 'I'm not gonna do this anymore. I'm gonna play guitar'."

1971 - Stevie sits in with a high school band call Cast of Thousands for two songs as they record an album called A New Hi. Over Christmas break, Stevie drops out of high school and moves to Austin with Blackbird.

1972 - Stevie joins Krackerjack, a rock band, but quits a few months later when the lead singer decides the band should wear makeup on stage. Krackerjack's bassist is future Double Trouble member Tommy Shannon.

1973 - Marc Benno invites Stevie to join his band the Nightcrawlers. Doyle Brahmall is also a member of the band. Later that year, the Nightcrawlers drive to Hollywood to record an album for A&M records. A&M decides not to release the record and the disappointed band travels back to Texas. Stevie finds a battered '59 Stratocaster in Ray's Music Exchange in Austin. He names it "Number One" and becomes his favorite guitar for the rest of his life.

1974 - Stevie joins Paul Ray and the Cobras, a popular Austin band. For the next two-and-a-half years, Stevie hones his talent on the Austin club circuit.

1977 - The Cobras win "Band Of the Year" in an Austin music poll. Stevie leaves the Cobras in September to form a blues/R&B band called Triple Threat Revue. The line-up stars Stevie Ray, W.C. Clark (bass), Lou Ann Barton (vocals), Freddie "Pharoah" Walden (drums), and Mike Kindred (keyboards).

1978 - W.C. Clark leaves the band and is replaced by Jackie Newhouse. Saxophone player Johnny Reno briefly joins the band. Freddie Walden later quits and is replaced by Chris "Whipper" Layton. The band renames itself Triple Threat.

1979 - In August, Triple threat plays at the San Francisco Blues Festival. Lenora (Lenny) Bailey and Stevie Ray Vaughan are married between sets at the Rome Inn in Austin on December 20.

1980 - Lou Ann Barton leaves Triple Threat to join Roomful of Blues. Stevie Ray renames the group Double Trouble. The group performs at the Steamboat 1874 club in Austin on April 1. This performance is recorded for radio and will later be released as the 1992 album In The Beginning.

1981 - On January 2, Tommy Shannon replaces Jackie Newhouse on bass. A taping of a performance at an Austin music festival winds up in the hands of Mick Jagger.

1982 - Stevie and Double Trouble play a private party for the Rolling Stones at New York's Danceteria on April 22. The band performs at the Montreux International Jazz Festival in Switzerland, the first unsigned and unrecorded band to do so. David Bowie, who was in the audience, asks Stevie to play on his Let's Dance album. Jackson Browne, who was also in the audience in Montreaux, offers Stevie free studio time at his Downtown Studio in Los Angeles. In that studio, the band records what will become Texas Flood in only two days. Stevie Ray Vaughan & Double Trouble are signed to Epic Records by legendary A&R man John Hammond.

1983 - Texas Flood, Stevie Ray Vaughan & Double Trouble's first album, is released on June 13. It is nominated for two Grammy awards: "Best Traditonal Blues Recording" and "Best Rock Instrumental Performance" (for "Rude Mood"). The band appears on the "Austin City Limits" telvision show. Stevie wins three categories in the Guitar Player's Readers Poll: "Best New Talent", "Best Blues Album", and "Best Electric Blues Guitarist" (beating out none other than Eric Clapton!). He becomes only the second guitarist in history to win three Guitar Player awards in one year (the first is Jeff Beck). Stevie will win the "Best Electric Blues Guitarist" award every year until 1991.

1984 - Couldn't Stand The Weather is released on May 15. Stevie wins his first Grammy: "Best Traditional Blues Recording" for his performace of "Texas Flood" from Montreux (this song appears on Blues Explosion from Atlantic Records). "Voodoo Chile (Slight Return)" from Couldn't Stand The Weather is nominated for "Best Rock Instrumental Performnce". In November, Stevie wins two W.C. Handy National Blues Awards: "Entertainer of the Year" and "Blues Instrumentalist of the Year." It is the first time a white person has won either award.

1985 - Keyboard player Reese Wynans joins Double Trouble. Epic releases Soul To Soul on September 30. This becomes Double Trouble's third gold album. Stevie receives his fifth Grammy nomination: "Best Rock Instrumental Performance" (for "Say What!" from Soul To Soul). He also produces Lonnie Mack's comeback album Strike Like Lightning and plays in several of its songs.

1986 - While on tour in Ludwigshafen, Germany, Stevie's years drug and alcohol abuse catch up with him and he collapses. He manages to struggle through two more shows, but the last 13 tour dates are canceled when Stevie enters a London drug rehabilitation clinic. Stevie's father Jim dies of Parkinson's disease on August 27. Live Alive is released on November 15.

1987 - Stevie makes a cameo apperance as himself in the movie "Back to the Beach," performing a duet of "Pipeline" with surf-guitar legend Dick Dale. In September, Stevie appears on the Cinemax special "Blues Session" with Eric Clapton, Phil Collins, B.B. King, and Albert King. He and Tommy Shannon emerge clean and sober from an Atlanta detox center. Later that year, Stevie files for divorce from Lenora Bailey Vaughan.

1988 - Stevie Ray appears on the MTV special "Stevie Wonder's Characters" and headlines a concert at the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival. The performance (including a jam with B.B. King, Albert Collins, and Katie Webster) is filmed for inclusion in the Showtime special "Coast To Coast". Stevie's divorce from Lenora is finalized.

1989 - In January, Stevie and Double Trouble perform at an inaugural party for President George Bush in Washington, D.C. In Step is released on June 6. This is the first album that Stevie makes without the aid of drugs. "Crossfire" becomes Stevie's first #1 album radio hit and earns Stevie another Grammy ("Best Contemporary Blues Recording"). Double Trouble tours North America with Jeff Beck and appears on "Austin City Limits" for the second time.

1990 - On January 30, Stevie performs three songs on "MTV Unplugged." Stevie and Jimmie travel to Memphis to record Family Style in March and April. The album is released later that year. In June, he embarks on a two-month co-headlining tour with Joe Cocker. On August 25, Double Trouble performs at a concert at Alpine Valley, Wisconsin. The line-up includes Robert Cray, Eric Clapton, and Buddy Guy. After a rousing final encore on the 26th, Stevie boards a helicopter on its way to Chicago. Shortly after midnight on August 27, Stevie Ray Vaughan is killed, along with the pilot and three members of Eric Clapton's entourage when the helicopter crashes into a fog-shrouded hill. He is buried in a private ceremony at Laurel Land Cemetary in Dallas, Texas on August 31. The mourners include Billy Gibbons Stevie Wonder, Buddy Guy, Bonnie Raitt, Ringo Starr, and Dr. John. Outside the chapel, more than 3,000 fans gathered to say goodbye.