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so I especially treasure being a part of recognizing their work. And then there is the Blues Hall of
Fame. I cannot begin to express the joy I feel when I get to phone a blues man or woman to let them
know that they have been chosen to be inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame. This is the highest
honor within the blues world, and I have considered it my own honor and privilege to put together
the annual induction ceremony. Hearing the speeches, learning more about each of our inductees
and their history, seeing the pride in the faces of their family and their friends when they walk up on
the stage to accept the honor – there is nothing more magical than that.

LL: The COVID-19 global pandemic has been quite a challenge for everyone, including the
Blues Foundation and the entire Blues community. In my home, my husband and I are two
Blues musicians and educators who are now completely out of work and income. How has The
Blues Foundation been affected and what have they done in response?
Buddy Guy
BN: The Blues Foundation has been
Barbara Newman seated next to the life-like statue of Little Milton directly impacted by the pandemic. We
Campbell outside the Blues Music Hall of Fame, Memphis have had to cancel our premier event –

The Blues Music Awards – and pivot to
produce a virtual event. We’ve also
postponed the 2020 Blues Hall of Fame
Inductions to BMA week in 2021, so
those inductees can have their family and
friends with them as they are celebrated
for their accomplishments. We’ve had to
close the Blues Hall of Fame Museum for
the foreseeable future until it is safe again
for people to congregate in public places.
And we’ve had to set up our staff to work
remotely from their homes, which has
added extra stress to our operations. All
these decisions, which had to be made for
the safety of our community, are
affecting our revenues, and I anticipate
the impact will ripple into future months
Lonnie Donegan
while our economy rights itself again.
The good news is we have worked very hard to position ourselves to weather a storm such as this –
that is just good not-for-profit stewardship. But we still need all the support we can get from those
who are able.

As I mentioned earlier, we quickly recognized that we also had an opportunity to help the blues
community when they most needed it by setting up the COVID-19 Blues Musician Emergency
Relief Fund. We have asked those who had already purchased Blues Music Awards tickets to
consider converting their ticket purchases to donations to this fund. Of course, we are honoring all
refund requests, because we do understand that the pandemic is hurting many besides the musicians.
But we are also seeing great generosity. In addition to ticket donations, we have received a couple of
significant grants, and many who had not purchased tickets to the BMAs are making direct
donations to the fund, often thousands of dollars per day. Still, the need is so great that we will
require continuous infusion of resources to help all the blues musicians who ultimately apply. For
now, we have already begun processing applications and writing checks for those emergency