{{Use mdy dates|date=February 2012}} '''Willie Kent''' (February 24, 1936<ref>{{cite web|url=http://ssdi.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/ssdi.cgi |title=RootsWeb: Database Index |website=Ssdi.rootsweb.ancestry.com |date= |access-date=2015-07-27}}</ref> – March 2, 2006)<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/obituaries/article701960.ece|title=Willie Kent obituary|newspaper=The Times|date=April 5, 2006|access-date=2015-07-27}}{{dead link|date=September 2024|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}</ref> was an American Chicago blues singer, bassist and songwriter.
==Career== Kent was born in Inverness, Sunflower County, Mississippi. Although he had played the bass guitar in Chicago's clubs since the 1950s, Kent worked full-time in careers other than music until he was over 50 years of age.<ref name="russell">{{cite book | first= Tony | last= Russell | year= 1997 | title= The Blues: From Robert Johnson to Robert Cray | edition= | publisher= Carlton Books Limited | location= Dubai | page= 130 | isbn= 978-1-85868-255-6}}</ref> Following heart surgery, he stopped work as a truck driver, and formed a band.<ref name="russell"/> In 1971, Kent took up residence at Ma Bea's Lounge in West Madison, Chicago. The house band became known as Sugar Bear and the Beehives, headed by Kent (the Sugar Bear) with guitarist Willie James Lyons and drummer Robert Plunkett. For the next six years, this troupe backed visiting musicians, such as Fenton Robinson, Hubert Sumlin, Eddy Clearwater, Jimmy Johnson, Carey Bell, Buster Benton, John Littlejohn, Casey Jones, and Mighty Joe Young. The house band's proficient playing led to their recording a live album in October 1975 at Ma Bea's, billed as ''Ghetto''.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.williekentblues.com/biography/biography.html|title=Willie Kent - Biography|website=Williekentblues.com|access-date=December 7, 2019}}</ref>
Kent continued to play live shows, even after being diagnosed with colon cancer in early 2005.<ref name="amg"/> He died in Englewood, Illinois in March 2006.<ref name="amg">{{cite web|author=Jason Ankeny |url=http://www.allmusic.com/artist/willie-kent-mn0000960574/biography |title=Willie Kent | Biography |website=AllMusic |date= |access-date=2015-07-27}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|author=Doc Rock |url=http://thedeadrockstarsclub.com/2006.html |title=The Dead Rock Stars Club 2006 January To June |website=Thedeadrockstarsclub.com |date= |access-date=2015-07-27}}</ref>
==Discography== *1975 – ''Ghetto'' (Storyville Records) *1989 – ''I'm What You Need'' (Big Boy Records) *1991 – ''Ain't It Nice'' (Delmark Records) *1991 – ''King of Chicago's West Side Blues'' (Wolf Records) *1993 – ''Live at B.L.U.E.S. in Chicago'' (Wolf Records) *1994 – ''Too Hurt to Cry'' (Delmark Records) *1995 – ''Blues and Trouble'' (Isabel Records) *1996 – ''Long Way to Ol' Miss'' (Delmark Records) *1998 – ''Everybody Needs Somebody'' (Wolf Records) *1998 – ''Make Room for the Blues'' (Delmark Records) *1998 – ''Who's Been Talking'' with Lil' Ed Williams (Earwig Music Company) *2001 – ''Comin' Alive!'' (Blue Chicago Records)<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.allmusic.com/artist/willie-kent-mn0000960574#discography|title=Willie Kent Songs, Albums, Reviews, Bio & More...|website=AllMusic|access-date=October 14, 2024}}</ref>
==Awards and honors== {{Refimprove|section|date=October 2024}} * W.C. Handy Awards: Best Blues Instrumentalist, Bass 1995, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, and 2005<ref name="amg"/> * Critics' Choice: Most Outstanding Blues Musician, Bass from Living Blues magazine (1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2001)<ref name="amg"/> * Readers' Choice: Album of the Year 2001 from Soul Bag magazine, France, for ''Comin' Alive'' * Critics' Choice: Album of the Year 2001 from Soul Bag magazine, France, for ''Comin' Alive'' * France Blues Award: Best Blues Musician, Bass for the years 2002, 2003 * Chicago's Album of the Year 1998: for ''Make Room for the Blues''<ref name="amg"/> * Library of Congress' Best Blues Recording of the Year 1991: for ''Ain't It Nice''<ref name="amg"/>
==References== {{Reflist}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kent, Willie}} Category:1936 births Category:2006 deaths Category:Chicago blues musicians Category:Electric blues musicians Category:American blues singers Category:Blues bass guitarists Category:Blues musicians from Mississippi Category:Deaths from colorectal cancer in California Category:20th-century American singers Category:20th-century American bass guitarists Category:Guitarists from Illinois Category:Guitarists from Mississippi Category:People from Inverness, Mississippi Category:American male bass guitarists Category:20th-century American male singers Category:Earwig Music artists