Chicago became a centre for electric blues in the early 1950s. Chicago blues is influenced to a large extent by the Mississippi blues style, because many performers had migrated from the Mississippi region. Howlin' Wolf, Muddy Waters, Willie Dixon and Jimmy Reed were all born in Mississippi and moved to Chicago during the Great Migration. Their style is characterised by the use of electric guitar, sometimes slide guitar, harmonica and a rhythm section of bass and drums.

Little Walter and Sonny Boy Williamson (Rice Miller) are well known harmonica (called 'harp' by blues musicians) players of the early Chicago blues scene. Other harp players such as Big Walter Horton were also influential.

Muddy Waters and Elmore James were known for their innovative use of electric slide guitar. B.B. King and Freddie King (no relation), who did not use slide guitar, were influential guitarists of the electric blues style, even though they were not from Chicago.

Howlin' Wolf and Muddy Waters were known for their deep, gravelly voices.

Bassist and composer Dixon played a major role on the Chicago blues scene. He composed and wrote many standard blues songs of the period, such as Hoochie Coochie Man, I Just Want to Make Love to You (both penned for Muddy Waters) and Wang Dang Doodle and Back Door Man for Howlin' Wolf.

Most artists of the Chicago blues style recorded for the Chicago-based Chess Records label. Other prominent blues labels of this era included Vee-Jay Records.