Chicago Blues Drummer Sam Lay — Who Previously Backed Bob Dylan — Dead at 86

Sam Lay, a blues drummer who once played with Paul Butterfield, Howlin' Wolf, Muddy Waters and Bob Dylan, has died at 86.

His record label, Alligator Records confirmed his death in a statement, writing that Lay died in a nursing facility near his Chicago home from natural causes on Jan. 29.

"Beloved for his talent, his buoyant and outgoing personality, as well as for his sense of style (he was known for his cape and walking stick), Lay was among the most historically significant and musically innovative drummers in both the early blues and rock 'n' roll scenes," the statement read.

Lay was inducted into the Jazz Hall of Fame in 1992, the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2015 and the Blues Hall of Fame in 2018.

He first played professionally in the mid-1950s before leaving for Chicago where he backed Little Walter. Also an original member of the Paul Butterfield Blues Band in the mid-1960s, he recorded on the band's debut album and notably backed Bob Dylan at the 1965 Newport Folk Festival.

He also played alongside Corky Siegel as a member of the Siegel-Schwall Band, and continued to do so for the rest of his career. "As Charlie Musselwhite always says, 'Sam does not just play the drums. He sings them,'" Siegel, 78, once said of Lay, according to the Chicago Tribune.

In 1969, Lay recorded under his own name for the first time with Sam Lay in Bluesland. He recorded seven albums as lead total, with his most recent in 2003 for I Get Evil.

In 2002, Lay was honored by the Chicago Chapter of the Recording Academy with the Legends and Heroes Award. At the event, Dylan sent a telegram honoring the drummer.

According to the statement, the telegram read, in part, "It's so well-deserved. Walter, Wolf and Muddy, they must have known it, too — that you're second to none — your flawless musicianship and unsurpassed timing, a maestro with the sticks and brushes."

Lay was also the subject of a 2015 documentary titled Sam Lay in Bluesland when he was 80. The documentary featured Lay sharing his story through words and music, featured special appearances by other musicians, among them Siegel, and included performance films that Lay personally shot.

A few days after Lay's death, Siegel said, according to the Chicago Tribune, "Sam loved and lived and shared his life, squeezing every drop of rhythm, articulation, dynamics, tone, and melody out of it, with every cow bell and whistle, and all he could muster. Too much — never enough. Music completes what words fail to say and Sam said it all. With cane and cape, like a superhero, he brought so much joy to the world."

Lay is survived by daughter Debbie Lay (Hiley), four grandchildren, and three great-grandchildren. His wife, Elizabeth (Buirts) Lay, died in 2017. His son Bobby died in 2019, and his son Michael died last month.