Sugar Blue is one of the most skilled and versatile instrumentalists playing harmonica today. His harp style blends jazz and blues influences propelled by his excellent technique and virtuosity on the instrument.

Blue grew up in the environment of the famous Apollo Theatre in Harlem, New York, where his mother was a performer. He learned harmonica as a child and was doing recording sessions by the time he was twenty-five. Blue met Mick Jagger of the Rolling Stones while living in Paris in 1976 and was invited to be a guest on the Stones' recording sessions for their Some Girls album. His well-known eighteen-note riff opening the Rolling Stones track “Miss You” from that album became one of the most prominent harmonica riffs in rock. He recorded on two more Rolling Stones albums after that, as well as touring with the band.

Blue went on to play with many luminaries from the blues scene, including Junior Wells, Carey Bell, James Cotton, Big Walter Horton, and Willie Dixon. He also played with jazz great Stan Getz, and in 1985 was awarded a Grammy for his work on a live jazz album from the Montreux Jazz Festival.

Blue was born James Whiting in New York, New York, in 1950. He is still performing and recording today.