[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/9922a5fdc1d9bc74156122d53e28bf3e.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:The badass of old blues.]]

Howlin' Wolf (born Chester Arthur Burnett, June 10, 1910 – January 10, 1976) was an influential American blues singer and harmonica player, whose low voice inspired many {{Blues}} and BluesRock musicians: Music/CaptainBeefheart, Music/{{Cream}}, Music/IggyPop, Music/FrankZappa, Music/JanisJoplin, Music/LedZeppelin, Music/{{Swans}},...

His SignatureSong is "Smokestack Lightnin'", though other songs, like "Back Door Man", "Spoonful", "Killing Floor", "How Many More Years" (often considered one of the earliest RockAndRoll songs), "Moanin' at Midnight" and "Evil" have also become blues standards.

In 1991 he was posthumously inducted in the Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame. His SignatureSong "Smokestack Lightnin'" was included in the MediaNotes/NationalRecordingRegistry in 2009 for being "historically, culturally and aesthetically important."
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'''Albums with their own page'''
* ''Music/MoaninInTheMoonlight'' (1959)
* ''Music/TheHowlinWolfAlbum'' (1969)
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! '''''Tropin' in the Moonlight''''':
* AlliterativeTitle: "'''M'''oanin' at '''M'''idnight", "'''M'''oanin' in the '''M'''oonlight".
* CoverVersion: "Back Door Man" was covered by Music/TheDoors on their debut ''Music/TheDoorsAlbum''. Music/{{Soundgarden}} covered "Smokestack Lightnin'". "How Many More Times" on Music/LedZeppelin's ''Music/LedZeppelin1969'' was inspired by "How Many More Years?"; "Lemon Song" from ''Music/LedZeppelinII'' was UsefulNotes/{{plagiari|sm}}zed almost note-for-note from "Killing Floor", with some other blues songs mixed in. A lawsuit from Chess Records in the early '70s and an out-of-court settlement have given him the credit he deserves.
* IHaveManyNames: He was also known as "Big Foot Chester" and "Bull Cow" during his youth.
* IntercourseWithYou: "Crawling King Snake" and "Back Door Man" are to be understood as referring to a phallic symbol and "a man having an affair with a married woman, presumably while the husband is away at war, using the back door as an entrance & exit symbolically".
* NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast: A singer calling himself a howlin' wolf who released an album called "Wolf at your door"?
* ScaryBlackMan and ScaryMusicianHarmlessMusic: He was an imposing man, 6'3" and 275 pounds, and had a voice that made him sound like he was 15 feet tall. His physical presence and raw, dark, intense vocal style was well known for scaring the living bejesus out of his audience. Yet in reality, he was a nice and friendly person -- even if he was known to [[SirSwearsALot swear a lot]].
* SelfTitledAlbum: ''Music/TheHowlinWolfAlbum''.
* ShoutOut:
** Music/FrankZappa mentions him as an influence on his music in the liner notes of his debut album ''Music/FreakOut'' (1966). In a 1970 poll ("Faves, Raves & Composers in Their Graves") he named the single "Who Will Be Next?" by Music/HowlinWolf one of his ten favorite records with the explanation: "Because it's very serious."
** Music/IggyPop sang the entire ''Music/{{Fun House|Album}}'' album by Music/TheStooges with Howlin' Wolf's vocals in mind.
** Music/{{Swans}} dedicated "Just a Little Boy" to him.
** Music/LucindaWilliams mentions him in "Lake Charles": We used to drive through Lafayette to Baton Rouge/in a yellow El Camino, listening to Howlin' Wolf.
* StageNames: His real name was Chester Arthur Burnett.
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