1. Link Wray received two nominations for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, prior to being inducted in the Musical Influence category in 2023.
20 Facts About Link Wray
1. 2.
Link Wray was born on May 2,1929, in Dunn, North Carolina, to Fred Lincoln Link Wray Sr.
3.
Link Wray recalled living in very harsh conditions during childhood, in mud huts, without electricity or heating, going to school barefoot, barely clothed.
4.
Link Wray recounted that his family experienced discrimination, including times when they had to hide from the Ku Klux Klan.
5.
Link Wray lived with his family in Portsmouth, Virginia from 1942 until 1955.
6.
Link Wray served in the US Army during the Korean War.
7.
Link Wray contracted tuberculosis, which hospitalized him for a year.
8.
Link Wray's stay concluded with the removal of a lung, which doctors predicted would mean he would never be able to sing again.
9.
Before, during, and after his stints with major labels Epic and Swan, Link Wray released 45s under many names.
10.
Link Wray wrote and recorded the LP Link Wray, on which he wrote about his frustrations.
11.
Link Wray subsequently formed a band initially featuring special guest Cipollina along with the rhythm section from Cipollina's band Copperhead, bassist Hutch Hutchinson, and drummer David Weber.
12.
Link Wray later did numerous concerts and radio broadcasts in the Bay Area, including at KSAN and at promoter Bill Graham's Winterland Ballroom venue, with Les Lizama later replacing Hutchinson on bass.
13.
Link Wray toured and recorded two albums with retro-rockabilly artist Robert Gordon in the late 1970s.
14.
Link Wray went on to release two albums of new music: Shadowman and Barbed Wire.
15.
Link Wray died of heart failure at his home in Copenhagen, on November 5,2005, at the age of 76.
16.
Link Wray was survived by his nine children, 24 grandchildren, and two great-grandchildren.
17.
Link Wray was cremated, and his ashes were buried in the crypt of the Christian's Church, Copenhagen.
18.
Link Wray later performed surf influenced garage rock in the 1960s, swamp rock and country rock in the early 1970s and hard rock in the late 1970s and onward.
19.
Jimmy Page described Link Wray as having a "real rebel attitude" and credited Wray in the documentary It Might Get Loud as a major influence in his early career.
20.
Link Wray was a featured collaborator on Robert Gordon's 1977 single "Red Hot".