Photo: Flickr photographer daniel_n_reid · CC BY 2.0 · credits

Tier 2 · legacy legend

Chris Thomas King

Person · male · United States · Baton Rouge · born 1964 · recording since 1990

American blues musician and actor

blues

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Also known as 克里斯·托马斯·金

Debut: 1990
Recording span: 33 years
Release groups: 24
Timeline events: 22
Wiki language versions: 15

Compare this artist Read the biography Jump to timeline

Timeline

22 events▣ Album 20◦ Birth 1★ Debut release 1

1960s
1. 14 October 1964 · Birth
  Born 1964-10-14
  source: wikidata
1990s
1. 1990 · Debut release
  Debut release: Cry of the Prophets
  First documented Album in the MusicBrainz discography.
  source: musicbrainz
2. 1990 · Album
  Album: Cry of the Prophets
  Album
  source: musicbrainz
3. 1993 · Album
  Album: Simple
  Album
  source: musicbrainz
4. 1994 · Album
  Album: 21st Century Blues… From da ’Hood
  Album
  source: musicbrainz
5. 1997 · Album
  Album: Chris Thomas King
  Album
  source: musicbrainz
6. 1998 · Album
  Album: Red Mud
  Album
  source: musicbrainz
7. 1999 · Album
  Album: Me, My Guitar and the Blues
  Album
  source: musicbrainz
2000s
1. 2001 · Album
  Album: It's A Cold Ass World - The Beginning
  Album
  source: musicbrainz
2. 2001 · Album
  Album: The Legend of Tommy Johnson Act 1: Genesis 1900's-1990's
  Album
  source: musicbrainz
3. 2001 · Album
  Album: Act II Revelations: 2000 & Beyond
  Album
  source: musicbrainz
4. 15 October 2002 · Album
  Album: Dirty South Hip-Hop Blues
  Album
  source: musicbrainz
5. 29 July 2003 · Album
  Album: Along the Blues Highway
  Album
  source: musicbrainz
6. 16 September 2003 · Album
  Album: The Roots: The Soul of Chris Thomas King
  Album
  source: musicbrainz
7. 2004 · Album
  Album: Why My Guitar Screams & Moans
  Album
  source: musicbrainz
8. 4 October 2005 · Album
  Album: Red Mud Sessions
  Album
  source: musicbrainz
9. 2006 · Album
  Album: Rise
  Album
  source: musicbrainz
2010s
1. 2011 · Album
  Album: Antebellum Postcards
  Album
  source: musicbrainz
2. 2012 · Album
  Album: Bona Fide
  Album
  source: musicbrainz
3. 2017 · Album
  Album: Hotel Voodoo
  Album
  source: musicbrainz
2020s
1. 11 September 2020 · Album
  Album: ANGOLA
  Album
  source: musicbrainz
2. 2023 · Album
  Album: Big Grey Sky
  Album
  source: musicbrainz

Biography

English biography473 words · 4 sectionssource: wikipedia-en · licence CC BY-SA 4.0 · revision 1377172659

Biography

Chris Thomas King (born Durwood Christopher Thomas, October 14, 1962) is an American blues musician, book author, and actor based in New Orleans, Louisiana.

History

King was born in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, United States. He is the son of blues musician Tabby Thomas. His early recordings were released under the name Chris Thomas. He has won awards including "Album of the Year" for both Grammy Award and Country Music Awards. King has sold more than 10 million records in the United States. He is featured playing the part of Tommy Johnson in the Coen brothers' 2000 film O Brother, Where Art Thou?. He is also featured in Down from the Mountain and More Music from Ray soundtracks.
In June 2021, King's book The Blues: The Authentic Narrative of My Music And Culture was published by Chicago Review Press. The book posits that the blues and related genres derive from the urban and urbane Creole culture of New Orleans. He further argues that the received narrative of blues' genesis in the Mississippi Delta is both incorrect and that the narrative derives from erasure of New Orleans Creole accomplishments.

Artistic career

King is a pioneer of rap/blues fusion. He conceived the first sample-based blues concept album in the early 1990s by writing and producing the first all-rap/blues album for RCA Records titled 21st Century Blues… from da Hood.
As an entrepreneur King took control of his master recordings in the early 1990s, forming 21st Century Blues Records. He also established a publishing company, Young Blues Rebel, LLC. 21st Century Records signed the New Orleans Ninth Ward rap/blues duo the 21C-B-Boyz and the London, England-based NuBlues, to 21st Century Blues Records in 2003.
King's acting career includes prominent roles in several films, including two music-related films. In the Oscar-winning film Ray he plays band leader and blues guitar player Lowell Fulson. During production he collaborated with Ray Charles in scoring the film. In O Brother, Where Art Thou?, he portrays a skilled blues guitarist who claims he sold his soul to the devil in exchange for his skill on guitar. The character is based on blues musicians Tommy Johnson and Robert Johnson, both of whom have been linked to selling their soul to the devil at a rural Mississippi crossroads. King also accompanies the film's band the Soggy Bottom Boys on guitar; his rendition of Skip James's "Hard Time Killing Floor Blues" was recorded live during filming and included on the film's Grammy Award-winning soundtrack.
King also starred in the Wim Wenders art house film The Soul of a Man, as Blind Willie Johnson and Kill Switch as Detective Storm with Steven Seagal.

Documentary appearances

Last of the Mississippi Jukes (2003)
Lightning in a Bottle (2004)
The Soul of a Man (2003)
22nd Annual W.C. Handy Blues Awards (2001)
Down from the Mountain (2000)
Inside Look: Down from the Mountain (2000)

Discography & profile

Normalised profile

Percentiles are computed over every artist in the database, so a tier-3 artist can still sit in the 95th percentile on a single axis.

Normalised profile metrics with percentile rank
Metric	Value	Percentile
Wikipedia language versions	15	72.5th
Spotify monthly listeners	—	no data
Release groups in DB	24	88.5th
Studio albums	20	96.4th
Awards recorded	0	0th
Timeline events	22	94.7th
Recording span (years)	33	71.4th
Genres	2	74th

Percentiles are computed at render time; missing values mean the artist has no data on that axis.

Discography (24 release groups · 20 studio albums)

Albums · 20

Cry of the Prophets
1990 · studio album
Search Spotify Search YouTube Music
Tracklist · 11 tracks · 42:52
1Angel Lady0:56
2Heart and Soul4:14
3Wanna Die With a Smile on My Face3:24
4Help Us, Somebody5:39
5Dance to the Music Till My Savior Comes3:59
6I'm Gonna Make It5:02
7Alpha Omega4:13
8All Nite Long3:20
9Last Real Man4:37
10I Need You4:04
11Cry of the Prophets3:24
Simple
1993 · studio album
Search Spotify Search YouTube Music
Tracklist · 12 tracks · 51:30
1War5:15
2Itch4:21
3Simple4:59
4Blood on the Dagger4:45
5Whatever Happened to the Revolution4:07
6The Game3:30
7Fool for Love3:43
8Used to Be Mine4:13
9Plaquemine Blues3:21
10Party for the World3:53
11Sad, Sad World3:36
12Valley of Dreams5:47
21st Century Blues… From da ’Hood
1994 · studio album
Search Spotify Search YouTube Music
Tracklist · 15 tracks · 53:32
1Intro0:06
221CB3:36
3Hellhounds0:16
4KKKrossroads3:20
5Kickin’ True Blue4:09
6Up From da Underground3:16
7Blues From da ’Hood6:07
8Da Gambler5:08
9Time Bomb3:36
10Homesick Blues5:59
11Phone Interlude0:31
12My Pain, Your Pleasure4:24
13Kill Somebody Tonight3:57
14AnotherDeadHomie0:33
15Stop8:34
Chris Thomas King
1997 · studio album
Search Spotify Search YouTube Music
Tracklist · 10 tracks · 42:40
1Impatiently4:04
2Ain't That A...5:03
3I'll Play the Blues for You3:50
4Weekend Rendezous4:02
5I Cried4:39
6L.A. Angel3:35
7Wonderful4:15
8Take Me4:12
9C'est la vie5:44
10Wanna Die With a Smile on My Face3:16
Red Mud
1998 · studio album
Search Spotify Search YouTube Music
Tracklist · 14 tracks · 54:39
1Red Mud4:12
2If It Ain't One Thang, It's Two4:01
3Soon This Morning Blues3:51
4Come On in My Kitchen4:25
5I'm on Fire3:33
6Sinking Feeling3:06
7Alive3:46
8Dark Cloud3:21
9Hoodoo Party3:46
10Rambling on My Mind3:07
11Wanna Die With a Smile on My Face2:55
12Death Letter Blues5:29
13Bus Station Blues4:08
14Raining Angels4:59
Me, My Guitar and the Blues
1999 · studio album
Search Spotify Search YouTube Music
Tracklist · 11 tracks · 42:24
1Why Blues3:23
2Like Father, Like Son4:44
3Superstitious Blues3:56
4Cain3:23
5Stay Just as You Are4:33
6Born Under a Bad Sign3:51
7Gambling Woman2:35
8Me, My Guitar and the Blues3:17
9Bourbon Street Blues3:56
10Stones in My Passway3:46
11Your Are My Heaven5:00
It's A Cold Ass World - The Beginning
2001 · studio album
Search Spotify Search YouTube Music
Tracklist · 10 tracks · 41:50
1The Blues Is Back3:35
2Soon This Morning3:50
3Cheatin' Women Blues4:30
4Cocaine (Snow White)6:25
5Mary Jane2:50
6Take Yo Time3:40
7Going Home to Louisiana3:45
8South Side Shuffle1:40
9You'll Be Sorry, Baby8:15
10Don't Work Too Hard3:20
The Legend of Tommy Johnson Act 1: Genesis 1900's-1990's
2001 · studio album
Search Spotify Search YouTube Music
Tracklist · 11 tracks · 48:36
1O Brother, Where Art Thou?3:54
2Trouble Will Soon Be Over4:13
3Canned Heat Blues3:45
4Flooded in the Delta4:11
5Watermelon Man6:06
6John Law Burned Down the Liquor Sto'4:01
7Red Shoes4:29
8Bonnie & Clyde in D Minor5:14
9Do Fries Go With That Shake?3:29
10O Brother, Where Art Thou? (reprise)4:19
11Spread the Glory (Requiem)4:55
Act II Revelations: 2000 & Beyond
2001 · studio album
Search Spotify Search YouTube Music
Tracklist · 12 tracks · 46:02
1The Cloning (Resurrection Overture #5)1:35
2Welcome To Da Jungle4:18
321st Century Blues4:43
4Keep'n It Real Blues3:10
5Da Thrill Is Gone (From Here)5:45
6Dirty South Chicken Heads1:16
7Southern Chicks3:37
8Ghetto Child (You're Not Alone)3:37
9I Want Yo Kiss4:08
10Mississippi Kkkrossroads3:47
11Gonna Take A Miracle4:53
12Revelations5:13
Dirty South Hip-Hop Blues
2002 · studio album
Search Spotify Search YouTube Music
Tracklist · 22 tracks · 1:10:48
1Cloning Overture1:35
2Welcome to Da Jungle4:19
3Yo Kiss4:05
4Ghetto Child, You're Not Alone3:47
5Feel Me4:27
6Da Thrill Is Gone From Here4:41
7Tha Real3:09
8Fruit0:37
9Mississippi KKKrosroads3:45
10Revelations5:12
11Ghetto Life3:45
12Hard Time Killing Floor Blues3:20
13Poetry of Young Bill3:18
14911 Interlude0:22
15Gonna Take a Miracle4:29
16Give Me a Chance4:41
17Dirty South Chicken Heads1:18
18Southern Chicks Blues2:11
19Southern Chicks2:46
20N Word Rap4:19
2121st Century Blues (Intro)0:22
2222nd Century Blues4:20
Along the Blues Highway
2003 · studio album
Search Spotify Search YouTube Music
Tracklist · 14 tracks · 58:04
1Red Mud4:20
2Why3:03
3Soon This Morning Blues3:58
4I'm on Fire3:54
5Alive3:44
6Me, My Guitar and the Blues3:17
7O Brother, Where Art Thou?3:02
8Dust My Broom6:52
9You Know I Like That3:49
10Willie4:56
11Beale Street Tonight4:02
12Bad to Worse3:46
13Night Roads4:41
14Going Back to Louisiana4:40
The Roots: The Soul of Chris Thomas King
2003 · studio album
Search Spotify Search YouTube Music
Tracklist · 19 tracks · 1:02:59
1Hard Time Killing Floor3:12
2Cypress Grove5:31
3John Law Burned Down The Liquor Sto'3:50
4O Brother, Where Art Thou?2:58
5Come On In My Kitchen4:46
6Watermelon Man6:08
7Trouble Soon Will Be Over4:13
8Dark Clouds3:21
9If I Had Possession Over Judgment Day3:09
10Death Letter Blues5:29
11Sinking Feelin'3:04
12Canned Heat Blues3:46
13Southern Chicks Blues2:14
14Rock Island Line2:40
15Midnight Special1:00
16Martha's Blues0:24
17Cotton Fields1:06
18C.C. Rider1:12
19Raining Angels4:56
Why My Guitar Screams & Moans
2004 · studio album
Search Spotify Search YouTube Music
Tracklist · 13 tracks · 47:43
1Starr4:07
2Action (Interlude)0:08
3Kiss4:38
4Legend3:57
5Song for Mama4:07
6King Snake3:31
7Juke Joint Lover4:05
8Louisiana Party3:42
9Come Home Tonight4:14
10Down3:36
11Wicked4:08
12Scream3:31
13Cracked3:59
Red Mud Sessions
2005 · studio album
Search Spotify Search YouTube Music
Tracklist · 12 tracks · 46:46
1Red Mud4:13
2If It Ain’t One Thang, It’s Two4:02
3Soon This Morning Blues3:53
4Come On In My Kitchen4:26
5I’m on Fire3:33
6Sinking Feeling3:04
7Alive3:45
8Dark Cloud3:20
9Rambling on My Mind3:07
10Wanna Die With a Smile on My Face2:55
11Death Letter Blues5:28
12Raining Angels5:00
Rise
2006 · studio album
Search Spotify Search YouTube Music
Tracklist · 11 tracks · 46:51
1What Would Jesus Do?4:06
2Faith5:25
3Baptized in Dirty Water5:07
4Flow Mississippi Flow4:11
5St. James Infirmary4:38
6When Magnolias Bloom3:44
7Big Yellow Taxi3:24
8Like a Hurricane (Ghost of Marie Laveau)5:06
9Deepest Ocean4:32
10’Tis the Last Rose of Summer4:13
11What a Wonderful World2:25
Antebellum Postcards
2011 · studio album
Search Spotify Search YouTube Music
Tracklist · 10 tracks · 37:44
1I Wanna Be Your Drug Tonight3:49
2Wayfaring Stranger4:16
3Rehab (Winehouse Blues)3:02
4California Letter3:36
5How Does It Feel3:27
6Sketches of Treme3:11
7Caught in Between4:59
8I Am a Man of Constant Sorrow3:05
9Louis Collins4:25
10Michael Row the Boat Ashore3:54
Bona Fide
2012 · studio album
Search Spotify Search YouTube Music
Tracklist · 10 tracks · 43:40
1Don’t Want Me Around4:08
2Big Rock Candy Mountain3:52
3These Blues Gon’ Tell My Story4:21
4I’m Done Crying Now3:42
5Last Go Round5:17
6Stuck in Greenville3:52
7Mind Over Matter4:08
8You Got to Walk That Lonesome Valley3:49
9Goodbye Chicago6:38
10The Wind Cries Mary3:53
Hotel Voodoo
2017 · studio album
Search Spotify Search YouTube Music
Tracklist · 10 tracks · 44:27
1American Man (In The Key Of Free)4:04
2Voodoo Child (On Hell's Highway)4:15
3Friday Night Bleu5:34
4Have You Seen My Princess4:37
5Rock And Roll Conjurer3:00
6Les Bleus Was Born In Louisiana3:35
7White Folks Call It Jazz3:30
8Tabby's On The Bayou6:09
9Someone Like You (Adele)6:06
10Rainbow Lullaby3:37
ANGOLA
2020 · studio album
Search Spotify Search YouTube Music
Tracklist · 10 tracks · 31:59
1GEORGE FLOYD (SAY HIS NAME)1:02
2THE FLAG2:55
3DRENCHED IN OUR BLOOD6:25
4NINE POUND STEEL4:26
5JENA LOUISIANA3:35
6I SHALL BE RELEASED4:11
7I SLEEP WITH ONE EYE OPEN2:05
8RECKONING1:12
9THE POLICE1:57
10BLACK LIVES MATTER REPRISE4:11
Big Grey Sky
2023 · studio album
Search Spotify Search YouTube Music
Tracklist · 10 tracks · 41:28
1Big Grey Sky4:28
2Get Behind Me4:10
3Chokin' Kind4:34
4One More Scotch3:47
5Like a Cowboy Rambling3:32
6I Got a Woman3:37
7Home5:07
8Have You Ever Loved a Woman4:06
9Sunshine3:52
10Mean Old World4:15

Album · 2

Album release groups, by first release date
Cover	Year	Title	Notes	First release
	2002	A Young Man's BluesSearch Spotify Search YouTube Music Tracklist · 11 tracks · 49:22 1The Game3:29 2Wanna Die With A Smile On My Face3:24 3Help Us, Somebody3:21 4Plaquemine Blues5:39 5I'm Gonna Make It5:01 6Simple4:59 7Itch4:22 8Sad, Sad World3:36 9The Devil's Daughter4:59 10Blood On The Dagger4:45 11Valley Of Dreams5:47	Compilation	5 November 2002
	2008	Live on Beale StreetSearch Spotify Search YouTube Music Tracklist · 7 tracks · 34:07 1Blues Stock Introduction0:41 2I'll Play the Blues for You5:07 3Blues From da Hood5:05 4My Pain, Your Pleasure5:41 5C'est la vie6:56 6L.A. Angel4:27 7KKKrossroads6:10	Live	2008

EP · 2

EP release groups, by first release date
Cover	Year	Title	Notes	First release
	2009	Nawlins Callin'Search Spotify Search YouTube Music Tracklist · 6 tracks · 22:00 1Basin Street3:29 2It's You2:54 3You Don't Know Me4:24 4When You're a Clown3:59 5A Song for the Most Beautiful Girl in the World3:21 6N'Awlins3:53		2009
	2016	Les Bleus Made In LouisianaSearch Spotify Search YouTube Music Tracklist · 4 tracks · 17:01 1Les Bleus Was Born In Louisiana3:00 2I Can Fly5:23 3Cross Road Blues2:33 4Rolling In The Deep6:05		2016

Stats & PK

Percentile within all 23,672 published artists.Put Chris Thomas King head-to-head →

Chris Thomas King metrics with percentile rank among published artists
Metric	Value	Percentile
Wikipedia language versions	15	72.5th
Spotify monthly listeners	—	no data
Release groups in DB	24	88.5th
Studio albums	20	96.4th
Awards recorded	0	0th
Timeline events	22	94.7th
Recording span (years)	33	71.4th
Genres	2	74th

Awards & honours

No awards recorded

No major awards are stored for this artist yet.

Browse the best-documented artists

Where this record comes from

portrait—Wikimedia Commons · CC BY 2.0 · retrieved 11 October 2026
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:ChrisThomasKingKohSamuiFest2005.jpg
aliases/urls—musicbrainz · CC0 · retrieved 10 October 2026
https://musicbrainz.org/artist/6015dfbf-8f97-440b-9dff-2282953ecea5
discography—musicbrainz · CC0 · retrieved 10 October 2026
https://musicbrainz.org/artist/6015dfbf-8f97-440b-9dff-2282953ecea5
core—wikidata · CC0 · retrieved 10 October 2026
https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q4382250
genre—wikidata · CC0 · retrieved 11 October 2026
https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q4382250
seed-list—wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0 · retrieved 10 October 2026
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chris_Thomas_King
biography—wikipedia-en · CC BY-SA 4.0 · retrieved 10 October 2026
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chris_Thomas_King

Why this artist is in the database

List of blues musicians — rank #59
| 1962 | | Louisiana | Electric blues* |

Tier rule: genre canon: blues
Image: Flickr photographer daniel_n_reid · CC BY 2.0 · Wikimedia Commons
Wikidata: Q4382250 · MusicBrainz: 6015dfbf-8f97-440b-9dff-2282953ecea5

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Timeline

1960s

Born 1964-10-14

1990s

Debut release: Cry of the Prophets

Album: Cry of the Prophets

Album: Simple

Album: 21st Century Blues… From da ’Hood

Album: Chris Thomas King

Album: Red Mud

Album: Me, My Guitar and the Blues

2000s

Album: It's A Cold Ass World - The Beginning

Album: The Legend of Tommy Johnson Act 1: Genesis 1900's-1990's

Album: Act II Revelations: 2000 & Beyond

Album: Dirty South Hip-Hop Blues

Album: Along the Blues Highway

Album: The Roots: The Soul of Chris Thomas King

Album: Why My Guitar Screams & Moans

Album: Red Mud Sessions

Album: Rise

2010s

Album: Antebellum Postcards

Album: Bona Fide

Album: Hotel Voodoo

2020s

Album: ANGOLA

Album: Big Grey Sky

Biography

Biography

History

Artistic career

Documentary appearances

Discography & profile

Normalised profile

Discography (24 release groups · 20 studio albums)

Albums · 20

Album · 2

EP · 2

Stats & PK

Awards & honours

Where this record comes from

Why this artist is in the database

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Ron "Pigpen" McKernan

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