Blues guitarist Robert Johnson recorded only 29 songs in his life, then died in 1938 at the age of 27. His legend has only grown over time. The most famous story about Johnson is that he sold his soul to the devil at a crossroad in Mississippi, which gained him the talent to play guitar like no one else. That tale only arose years after he died, linked to the song “Cross Road Blues,” because a black man from Mississippi couldn't possibly have the talent or practiced enough to play like Johnson did. But that's not the only myth that persists about him.
Some decades later, a new yarn was spun—not about Johnson’s life, but his afterlife. No one seemed to know exactly where his mortal remains were buried, and the idea took hold that there were at least three possible gravesites. Though the actual mystery has been cleared up over the years, the myth rolls on. The New York Times boosted it in September 2019, the National Park Service still provides an outdated account, and the rumor continues to travel easily among tourists and blues pilgrims. It just seems to fit: Robert Johnson, that perfectly unknowable spirit of the blues, can’t find eternal rest.
However, plenty of people who knew Johnson knew the real story, and all it took was connecting the dots to locate his actual burial spot. Read about the myth and the reality of Robert Johnson's grave at Atlas Obscura.