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" Copeland lived for 20 months with a heart implant called the left ventricular assist device, longer than anyone else. "
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Staff Report
Johnny "Clyde" Copeland, a Grammy-winning blues guitarist, died July 3, seven months after he had received a heart transplant. He was 60. Although he will be remembered for his influential style, he also was a medical marvel. Copeland lived for 20 months with a heart implant called the left ventricular assist device, longer than anyone else. Amazingly, he also performed while using LVAD. Copeland received a heart transplant Jan. 1 of this year. He died of complications following his eighth heart surgery, which was needed to repair a valve. He performed in Memphis this year at the W.C. Handy Awards and the Beale Street Music Festival. Perhaps best-known for his 1985 release Showdown!, a collaboration with Albert Collins and Robert Cray that won a Grammy for best traditional blues recording. But Copeland's career spanned five decades, and he worked with Sonny Bo Williamson, Big Mama Thornton, T-Bone Walker and many others. Following his early success in the blues, Copeland found success in soul music, touring with Otis Redding and Eddie Floyd. He returned to the blues in the 1970s. In 1981 his career gained new momentum as he signed to Rounder Records. His debut release was Copeland Special. A series of successful releases for Rounder followed. including Bringing It All Back Home, which was inspired by Copeland's 10 country tour of West Africa. Copeland was nominated for a Grammy again in 1989 in the traditional blues category for his album Ain't Nothin' But a Party. Copeland received four W.C. Handy Awards. Known as ''The Ambassador of the Blues,'' he often toured Europe and Africa, and was honored by the French National Academy of Jazz and the Montreux Jazz Festival. He is survived by his wife, Sandra, of Teaneck, N.J.; two sons and five daughters. His youngest daughter, Shemekia, is a singer who has performed with her father for the past two years.
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