Blues musician Rush to get honorary doctorate

Blues musician Bobby Rush, who was partly raised in Pine Bluff, will receive an honorary Doctorate of Humanities degree from Rhodes College at commencement Saturday in Memphis, officials announced Tuesday.

Rush was the college's Mike Curb Institute for Music Visiting Scholar in the Arts in 2014. He has taught a course titled "Music and Community in Memphis," participated in symposia and public lectures, and performed with Rhodes College students in Memphis-area venues, according to a news release from the college.

This semester, Rush worked with the Curb Institute on a project involving dozens of students that culminated in a recording of a blues version of "America the Beautiful," which will be released in recognition of Memorial Day as a celebration of unity, the college said.

Rush was born Emmett Ellis Jr. near Homer, La., and moved to Arkansas when he was 11 or 12 years old. By the early 1950s, Rush was living and performing in Chicago, part of the blues scene in the city.

He won a 2017 Grammy award in the Best Traditional Blues Album category for "Porcupine Meat." A memoir titled "I Ain't Studdin' Ya: My American Blues Story," co-written by Herb Powell and published by Hachette Books, is scheduled to be released next month, according to Rush's website. He now lives in Jackson, Miss.

Commencement for the Rhodes College Class of 2021 will be held at 8:30 a.m. Saturday at the Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium in Memphis.

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