George Thorogood, guitar hero
Steve Bailey March 14, 2012
If you know his early history in Delaware, you know he was politely shown the door, but you can't dismiss the fact that he came from somewhere, and that somewhere had an influence on him. He probably took that three-piece power blues idea further than anyone else doing it at the time. Opening for bands like The Rolling Stones showed how much influence he had among his peers—the community of players—and that's a cool badge to wear. "Move It On Over" really caught me when I was young. Then he became a big civic-arena act, and once you make it to national prominence, being embraced as a native son comes naturally. The first time he played The Grand (March 2009), he really made it a big deal, a real homecoming. If there was something about his past, he put it to bed that night. It was a triumphant show. We were proud that he considered The Grand the gold standard in Delaware.
Thomas R. Carper, political icon
Delaware Historical Society Photographs: Delaware History for the Past 50 Years