Sue Foley (born March 29, 1968)[1] is a Canadian multi-award-winning blues guitarist and singer/songwriter known for her fiery Texas blues style and refined acoustic touch. A five-time Blues Music Award winner for Traditional Blues Female,[2] and a Juno recipient, she has shared the stage with musicians including B.B. King and Buddy Guy. In 2024 she released One Guitar Woman: A Tribute to The Female Pioneers of Guitar which earned a 2025 Grammy Award nomination for Best Traditional Blues Album.[3] Foley also holds a PhD in Musicology, and is the author of the forthcoming book Guitar Women,[4] exploring the lives and legacies of trailblazing female guitarists.
Foley was born in Ottawa, Ontario, and spent her early childhood in Canada. She learned to play guitar at age 13, became interested in blues music from listening to the Rolling Stones, and played her first gig at age 16. After high school graduation, she relocated to Vancouver where she formed the Sue Foley Band and toured Canada.[5]
In 1988–1989, the Sue Foley Band teamed with Mark Hummel to tour across the United States, Canada, and Europe as well as recording an album. The collaboration lasted a little over a year with 300 dates on the road in 1989. Clifford Antone saw Foley sitting in with Duke Robillard while the band was in Memphis for the W.C. Handy Awards that year. By the age of 21, Foley had relocated to Austin, Texas, where she began recording for Antone's Records. Her first release was Young Girl Blues.[6]
In 2001, Foley won the Juno Award for her CD, Love Comin' Down.[7] Over the course of her career, Foley has earned seventeen Maple Blues Awards and three Trophees de Blues de France, and multiple awards at the Blues Music Awards in Memphis,Tennessee.[8]
In 2018, Foley released the album, The Ice Queen, which featured guest appearances by Billy Gibbons of ZZ Top and Jimmie Vaughan.
In 2024, Foley released the album One Guitar Woman, a solo acoustic tribute to the female pioneers of guitar. The album was nominated for a 2025 Grammy Award for Best Traditional Blues Album.[9] The same year she won her fifth consecutive Koko Taylor Award (Traditional Blues Female Artist) at the 2025 Blues Music Awards ceremony.[10]
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