Ronnie Baker Brooks

Ronnie Baker Brooks (born January 23, 1967)

Life and career He was born Rodney Dion Baker in Chicago, Illinois, United States.

At the age of nine, he first appeared on stage playing guitar alongside his father. It was produced by Janet Jackson. He was nominated for a Blues Music Award in 2000 for Best New Artist.

Brooks next album was The Torch (2006). The Boston Herald described it as "ferocious and unrelenting, The Torch may be the year's best blues album." The album included contributions from Lonnie Brooks, Eddy Clearwater, Jimmy Johnson, Willie Kent, and Al Kapone and was produced by Jellybean Johnson. From 2007 to 2010, Brooks toured with band members Carlton Armstrong, C.J. Anthony Tucker, and Steve Nixon, to support The Torch. On occasions when his younger brother, Wayne Baker Brooks, joined him and his father on stage, they were billed as the Brooks Family Band.

In 2012, the blues journalist David Brais declared Brooks "blues royalty", stating that "his particular style of Chicago blues has been performed on stages around the world. It honors the true torch bearers of this unique sound which includes Willie Dixon, Buddy Guy, B.B. King, Luther Allison and his father."

Times Have Changed was released in January 2017.

His latest album Blues in My DNA, was released on October 11, 2024. It was his Alligator Records debut. He won a Blues Music Award for 'Song of the Year' for that album's title track, along with two further such awards for 'Contemporary Blues Album of the Year' and, in his own name, as the 'Contemporary Blues Male Artist of the Year'.

Brooks lives in Dolton, Illinois, and when he is not touring, he is a regular performer at the Odyssey East Lounge on Chicago's South Side.

Discography Year Title Record label 1998 Golddigger Watchdog Records 2001 Take Me Witcha Watchdog Records 2006 The Torch Watchdog Records 2017 Times Have Changed Provogue 2024 Blues in My DNA Alligator