By 2014, Joe Bonamassa was already well-established as one of the top blues rockers on the scene and released his eleventh studio album Different Shades of Blue. This is the first album featuring all Bonamassa originals including the crowd favorite, “Love Ain’t a Love Song” written by Joe and Jerry Flowers (Keith Urban/Counting Crowes) which boasts a staggering 28 million streams worldwide! The tune is a non-stop party, equipped with blaring horns, a driving drum beat, and a face-melting Joe solo on an original 1963 Strat he bought when he was a teenager.

“Stop” was originally written by the ukulele playing blue-eyed soul star, Sam Brown in 1988 and became her biggest hit. Joe decided to “amp things up a bit” and created a sultry blues-drenched rendition for his 2009 album Ballad of John Henry. If you listen closely, Joe says “you can almost hear my voice crack slightly on the last verse.” With the song raking in over 14 million streams, I don’t think anyone cares!

I know you already have that catchy hard-hitting riff in your head. For his 2016 chart-topping record Blues of Desperation, Joe joined forces with one of the most prolific and trusted songwriters in blues to write the incredible tune “Mountain Climbing,” Tom Hambridge. Hambridge has received two Grammy Awards and has written songs for artists like Johnny Winter, Buddy Guy, ZZ Top, and many more. With the song being featured on Conan O’Brien’s show and being a crowd energizer, it is no surprise that in just two years, “Mountain Climbing” has received over 13 million plays.

Nearly fourteen years later and Joe’s cover of Lowell Fulson’s blues standard “Reconsider Baby” from Had to Cry Today still holds up today. Notable musicians like Elvis Presley, Eric Clapton, T-Bone Walker, and Robert Cray have all covered this impactful blues ballad. According to Joe he “decided to do it in a minor key to give it even more feel and soul.” With over 12 million streams, it looks like that tactic played off.

We are going way back in the Bona-vault for this one. In 2003 on his third solo album, Joe decided to pay tribute to his favorite British blues-rocker Jeff Beck by covering the Beck and Rod Stewart slow burning tune “Blues Deluxe” and even named the whole album after it! It has gained Joe about 12 million streams and he notes that the tune “shows the timelessness of the blues and proves that the blues is a living thing that evolves with its players.”