Waters was born in Issaquena on April 4, 1913 and died in Westmont, Illinois, on April 30, 1983. His musical beginnings took place among the cotton plantations along the Mississippi River delta, influenced by minority music groups that refreshed the parties of settlers and farm workers.

In Issaquena, Muddy Waters had the opportunity to learn from Son House, a singer whose powerful voice set the mood for the intense hours of work, and also from the legendary Robert Jhonson, with whom he was able to maintain contact. But it was not until 1946 when Alan Lomax, a talent scout, helped Muddy to produce a song that was sent to Congress, composed of Country Blues and I be's troubled.

From there, and moved by a growing interest in music, Muddy moves to Chicago, where he learns to play the electric guitar and where he popularizes what would become his own musical trademark: the way he uses the slide to play. 

In Chicago, he records for the first time with Chess Records, showcasing just guitar, vocals and double bass, and later adds some percussion and Little Walter on harmonica to his career. Muddy Waters and Little Walter, but also Jimmy Rogers (guitar), Otis Spann (piano), and on bass and drums different musicians, formed what would become The Muddy Waters Blues Band, the group that, along with the strength of voice and charisma of Muddy, was largely constituted as one of the most popular Chicago blues, and later, a powerful influence for the British blues.