Buddy Guy has been called the bridge between the blues and rock and roll. He is one of the historic links between Chicago electric blues pioneers Muddy Waters and Howlin' Wolf and popular musicians like Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck, Jimi Hendrix and Jimmy Page as well as later revivalists like Stevie Ray Vaughan. This was what Stevie Ray Vaughan meant when he said, "Without Buddy Guy, there would be no Stevie Ray Vaughan."

Guy could arguably be considered the inspiration, directly or indirectly, for every rock power trio format since Cream. Clapton admitted that he got his idea for a blues-rock power trio during his teenage years while watching Buddy Guy's trio perform in England in 1965. Clapton later formed the rock band Cream, which was "the first rock supergroup to become superstars" and was also "the first top group to truly exploit the power-trio format, in the process laying the foundation for much blues-rock and hard rock of the 1960s and 1970s."

Eric Clapton said "Buddy Guy was to me what Elvis was for others." Clapton, who's not prone to hyperbole, insisted in a 1985 Musician magazine article that "Buddy Guy is by far and without a doubt the best guitar player alive...if you see him in person, the way he plays is beyond anyone. Total freedom of spirit, I guess. He really changed the course of rock and roll blues."

Recalls Guy: "Eric Clapton and I are the best of friends and I like the tune "Strange Brew" and we were sitting and having a drink one day and I said 'Man, that "Strange Brew"...you just cracked me up with that note.' And he said 'You should...cause it's your licks...' " As soon as Clapton completed his famous Derek & the Dominos sessions (spawning "Layla") in October 1970, he co-produced  the Buddy Guy & Junior Wells Play The Blues album with Guy's longtime harp and vocal compatriot. That record, released in 1972, is regarded by some critics as among the finest electric blues recordings of the modern era.

Guy previously served on the Hall of Fame's nominating committee. Guy has won five Grammy Awards both for his work on his electric and acoustic guitars, and for contemporary and traditional forms of blues music. By 2004, Buddy Guy had also earned 23 W.C. Handy Awards (more than any other artist has received), Billboard Magazine's prestigious The Century Award (Guy was its second recipient) for "distinguished artistic achievement," the title of Greatest Living Electric Blues Guitarist, and the Congressional Medal of Arts (awarded by the President to those who have made extraordinary contributions to the creation, growth and support in the arts in the United States).

Guy was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame on March 14,2005 byEric Clapton and B.B. King.. Clapton recalled in 1965, seeing Guy perform in London's The Marquee Club and was impressed by Guy's playing, his looks, his star power. He remembered seeing Guy pick the guitar with his teeth and play it over his head-two tricks that later influenced Jimi Hendrix. Guy's acceptance speech was concise: "If you don't think you have the blues, just keep living."

***Muddy Waters passed the torch to Buddy shortly before his death when he said, "Don't let them g*d***n blues die on me." Guy has kept that promise by passing on reverence to the blues to the next generation. The Buddy Guy Foundation helps pay for the tombstones of long forgotten blues musicians, giving them the respect Guy feels they deserved in life. Guy is also the proprietor of Buddy Guy's Legends, the premier blues nightclub in Chicago.***

                                                      All the above was found at WIKIPEDIA. Very informative link.