Sean F. Killeen Lead Belly research collection

Lead Belly (Leadbelly), born Huddie William Ledbetter, was a blues musician and a prominent figure in the early years of the American folk movement. He was multi-instrumental, but mostly known for his skills on the 12-string guitar. In his early 20's Lead Belly left home and wandered through Louisiana and Texas earning a living by playing guitar whenever he could. He played with the blues singer Blind Lemon Jefferson for a short while.

Lead Belly's temper often landed him in jail. In 1915 he was sentenced to a chain-gang in Harrison County. In 1918, Lead Belly killed a relative and was sent to jail for a second time. After writing a song appealing to Governor Pat Morris Neff, Lead Belly was released having only served 7 of his 35 year sentence. While serving time in the 1930's for attempted homicide, Lead Belly was discovered by folklorist John Lomax and his son. Together they recorded hundreds of Lead Belly's songs for the Library of Congress. Lomax also used these songs for his book, "Negro Folk Songs as Sung by Lead Belly" (1939).

Upon his release, Lead Belly teamed up with John Lomax, gaining wide recognition within the recording industry. After a falling out with Lomax, Lead Belly continued recording his music. He was given a regular radio broadcast on Henrietta Yurchenko's show on WNCY in New York and toured in Europe. Lead Belly died in 1949 of lateral sclerosis.