Sonny Terry was born on October 24, 1911, in Greensboro, NC. His real name is Saunders Terrell. When he was a sixteen-year old boy he became because he happened to overcome two road casualties. That fact made a great impact on Sonny’s life and career as he made a decision to become a blues singer.
Sonny Terry debuted with a song which was called "Mountain Blues", but before it he had met a popular guitarist Blind Boy Fuller who had become his partner and friend (it was in 1934). And 1937 was very successful for Sonny as he was noticed by the Vocalion label, and the musician was suggested to release music for that very label.
After Sonny Terry had signed a contract with the Vocalion label he met guitarist Brownie McGhee who later became his partner. Unfortunately in 1941 his friend and partner Blind Boy Fuller dies, and so together with Brownie McGhee Sonny moves to New York where the two musicians performed as a duet and as solo artists.
Sonny Terry together with Brownie McGhee issued plenty of songs for different labels such as Savoy, Fantasy and Folkways, so pretty soon they became rather popular known as folk and blues singers. And the next step to their success was their joining the cast of Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, so it was their first role on Broadway.
