The oldest surviving Delta bluesman, Grammy Award-winning Blues musician David “Honey Boy” Edwards died Monday in his Chicago home at age 96.

Born in 1915 in Shaw, Missisippi, Edwards learned to play the guitar as a child. By the age of 17, he was already a professional musician in Memphis, Tennessee. The Associated Press reports that “By the 1950s Edwards had played with almost every bluesman of note - including Howlin’ Wolf, Little Walter, Charlie Patton and Muddy Waters. Some of Edwards’ hit songs include “Long Tall Woman Blues,” “Gamblin Man” and “Just Like Jesse James.”

His longtime manager, Michael Frank of Earwig Music Company told the Associated Press,  that “His {Edwards} death represents the loss of the last direct link to the first generation of Mississippi blues musicians.” 

Frank continued, “That piece of the history from that generation, people have to read about it from now on. They won’t be able to experience the way the early guys played it, except from somebody who’s learned it off of a record.”

Edwards’ is survived by his daughter and stepdaughter.

Watch David ‘Honeyboy’ Edwards perfrom “Sweet Home Chicago” in 2009, below: