Ry Cooder

Person · Male

Ry Cooder

guitarist, singer, and songwriter

From
Los Angeles, United States
Since
1947–present
Releases
82
  • folk
  • rock
  • americana
  • roots rock

About

Ryland Peter Cooder (born March 15, 1947) is an American musician, songwriter, film score composer, record producer, and writer. He is a multi-instrumentalist but is best known for his slide guitar work, his interest in traditional music, and his collaborations with traditional musicians from many countries.

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Cooder's solo work draws upon many genres. He has played with John Lee Hooker, Captain Beefheart, Taj Mahal, Gordon Lightfoot, Ali Farka Touré, Eric Clapton, the Rolling Stones, Van Morrison, Neil Young, Randy Newman, Linda Ronstadt, Vishwa Mohan Bhatt, David Lindley, the Chieftains, Warren Zevon, Manuel Galbán, the Doobie Brothers, Little Feat, and Carla Olson and the Textones (on record and film). He formed the band Little Village in 1991. He produced the album Buena Vista Social Club (1997), featuring traditional musicians in Cuba, which became a worldwide hit. Wim Wenders directed the documentary film of the same name (1999), which was nominated for an Academy Award in 2000.
Cooder was ranked at No. 8 on Rolling Stone magazine's 2003 list of "The 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time", while a 2010 list by Gibson Guitar Corporation placed him at No. 32. In 2011, he published a collection of short stories called Los Angeles Stories.

From Ry Cooder on Wikipedia, under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Member of

Discography

Albums 27
EPs 1
Singles 4
Live 24
Compilations 12
Other 14

Links

Parent

Also known as

Ryland Cooder · Ryland Peter Cooder

Tags

  • classic pop and rock
  • film soundtrack
  • guitar
  • ry cooder
  • soundtrack

Identifiers

ISNI
0000000121375045
IPI
00006703315
IPI
00040649689

Data from MusicBrainz, saved 11 Nov 2026. Photo from Wikimedia Commons, covers from the Cover Art Archive and Apple Music.