His first national hit was “Chicken Heads” on the Galaxy label in 1971. He also booked and promoted many shows himself rather than working through an agency., Rush’s initial 45 rpm singles appeared in the 1960s on various Chicago labels, including Jerry-O, Salem, and Checker. He achieved renown for his entrepreneurial flair by working multiple gigs the same night and sometimes collecting double pay by disguising himself as an emcee at his own shows.

His musical approach, which he later coined “folk funk”, married various contemporary sounds with lyrical themes that often borrowed from African American folklore and traditional blues. Rush, who played guitar, bass, and harmonica, developed a lively and sometimes risque stage act that blended music, dance, and comedy. After moving to Chicago in the 1950s, he worked with Earl Hooker, Luther Allison, and Freddie King.

Rush built his first instrument, a one-stringed “diddley bow,” and by his teens was donning a fake mustache and playing at local juke joints and on the road with bluesmen including Elmore James, Boyd Gilmore, and John “Big Moose” Walker. He eventually took the stage name “Bobby Rush” out of respect for his father, who was a preacher. His upbeat and often provocative live shows established him as a favorite among southern soul and blues audiences and later brought him international acclaim., Rear, Bobby Rush was born Emmett Ellis, Jr., on Novem(although he has claimed birthdates before and after that date) in Homer, Louisiana, and at eleven moved with his family to Pine Bluff, Arkansas. Rush's distinctive “folk funk” style, featured on his recordings for the Jackson-based LaJam label and others, bridged the blues he heard as a youth and modern soul music. , Front, Bobby Rush, a Louisiana native who lived for decades in Chicago, earned the title “king of the chitlin circuit” after relocating to Jackson in the early 1980s.

Bobby rush lived six decades on