Born Robert Spencer around 1911 in Hazelhurst, Mississippi, he adopted the last name of his birth father, whom he'd never met, when he was a teenager. As a child, he learned to play the harmonica and the Jew's harp, though he waited many years before learning the guitar.

He married Virgina Travis in February 1929, but she died in childbirth the following year. It was that summer that he first heard Son House play. Johnson was deeply affected by the great Mississippi bluesman and started following him and his partner, Willie Brown, everywhere. When the bluesmen took breaks during their performances, Johnson would invite himself onstage for brief and, by all accounts, mediocre performances. Hoping to begin a career of his own, he left that scene for southern Mississippi, where he played at juke joints and parties. It was there that he met and secretly married Callie Craft in May 1931.

When Johnson next ran into Son House and Willie Brown, the bluesmen were astounded at the progress he had made on the guitar. He had developed an incredible talent and unique sound so quickly that it was rumoured Johnson had sold his soul to the Devil at the crossroads. Johnson fuelled the rumours when he told the story in Cross Road Blues and his popularity in Mississippi began to take off.

ARC salesman Ernie Oertle hooked Johnson up with Don Law, who subsequently conducted five recording sessions with him. Three sessions took place in a San Antonio, Texas hotel room in November 1936; there were two more the following June, in a Dallas office building. Johnson received a few hundred dollars for the 29 sides he recorded, which was quite substantial at the time for a black man in depressed Mississippi. He became something of a star in his home state and travelled constantly around much of the country, playing anywhere he could. He was playing a juke joint in Mississippi in the summer of 1938 when he was poisoned, likely by a jealous girlfriend. He suffered in bed for a few days before dying on August 16.

There are as many myths about Robert Johnson as there are substantiated facts. But what is certain is that he was a Delta bluesman whose virtuosity is virtually unrivalled. He developed his slide style by watching local legends such as Son House and Charley Patton, but was most influenced by local bluesman Ike Zinneman, whose music was never recorded. Lonnie Johnson, Skip James and Scrapper Blackwell were also major influences on his playing.

Johnson has come to be the most celebrated bluesman in history. Both his music and lyrics have received attention and praise from music fans and academics, since his music reached a broader audience in the 1960s. In 1961, Columbia released the first compilation of his music, King of the Delta Blues Singers; a second volume followed in 1970. Following years of legal delays, his collected works were finally released in 1990. The Complete Recordings exceeded all expectations, selling more than a million copies and becoming the best-selling blues album in history. Johnson's impact on blues, folk, country and rock music is virtually immeasurable, influencing the likes of Led Zeppelin, Bob Dylan and the Rolling Stones.