Odie Payne was a great blues percussionist. He toured and recorded with Elmore James, Tampa Red, Muddy Waters, Chuck Berry, Otis Rush, and the legendary Magic Sam, leaving an enduring mark on popular music.



Born on August 27, 1926 Odie Payne Jr. was the second son of three children of Odie and Evlena Payne. At an early age he was infected with the drumming virus. He was well known for drumming on his desk all day, so much so that his homeroom teacher signed his yearbook with "I hope someday you become a drummer."



Odie Payne performed his first blues gig in 1949 with Tampa Red on the south side of Chicago. For the next three decades, until his death on March 1, 1989, he created a blues legacy that still lives on.