Donald Kinsey

Nicknamed “B.B. King Jr.” in early teens for his ability to bend a blues note, Donald Kinsey is an American blues and reggae guitarist from Gary, Indiana.

Kinsey got recruited to play with the legendary Albert King at an early age 17. After 3 years of apprenticeship under King, including recording on his album Roadhouse Blues, Kinsey ventured to Kingstown, Jamaica, where he began back-and-forth touring and recording gigs with both Peter Tosh and Bob Marley & The Wailers. The 23-year-old Kinsey was among those present in the room when assassins attempted to gun down Bob Marley in Jamaica, just prior to the Smile Jamaica concert in December 1976.

Kinsey injected a distinct American blues vibe into his reggae sessions: for example, “Johnny Was,” from Bob Marley’s LP Rastaman Vibration, and “No Sympathy,” out of Tosh’s 1976 record Legalize It, are both powerful and poignant showcases for his particular guitar solos.

In 1984, Kinsey formed The Kinsey Report, a blues band that included his father, the Mississippi bluesman Lester “Big Daddy” Kinsey, and two of his brothers.