Steve Miller - Class of 2016 Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame

At long last the legendary Steve Miller has been picked for the 2016 Class of the Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame! 

Encouraged by Les Paul from the age of five to continue playing guitar after hearing a recording of him (Les Paul was a frequent visitor to the Miller house. Dr Miller and his wife had been best man and maid of honor at the wedding of Les Paul and his bride Mary Ford) . As a youngster he played in Chicago with the likes of Muddy Walters, Buddy Guy and Howlin Wolf to name a few.

In 1962 whilst at University he formed a band called The Ardells which would come to include a certain chap named Boz Scaggs (Scaggs had actually been part of his band when at School called The Marksmen, Miller had taught a young Boz some chords so he could join the band). Boz Scaggs would also play a part on the first two albums by The Steve Miller Band in 1968 (Children of the Future and Sailor).

In 1966 he formed The Steve Miller Blues Band (later The Steve Miller Band), no doubt influenced by the likes of the Butterfield Blues Band in San Francisco where Miller had now decided to stay and ply his craft. A big break came the same year when they backed up Chuck Berry for the live recording of  the Live At The Filmore Auditorium.

His albums had sold well and a few of them were Top Forty Albums (Children of the Future #134, Sailor #24, Brave New World #22, Your Saving Grace #38, Number 5 #23, Rock Love #81, Recall the Beginning...A Journey from Eden #109) but it wasn't until The Joker in 1973 that he would enjoy great success with the album reaching #2. The success came after ditching the more Psychedelic Blues for a more smooth Rock/Blues sound. The title track was a #1 Single in 1974 (infact 16 years later it was also #1 in the UK after being used in a Levi's TV Advert). More hit singles would follow and also a few more hit albums including Fly Like An Eagle (1976 #3), Book of Dreams (1977 #2), Abracadabra (1982 #3) and whilst he may not be as a huge a seller as he was back in those days his last couple of albums Bingo (2010 and his first album for 17 years!) and Let Your Hair Down (2011) have been a couple of his finest works.

He's joined in The Class of 2016 by Deep Purple, Chicago, Cheap Trick, and N.W.A.