British blues is a form of music that is derived from American blues, particularly electric blues, and originated in the late 1950s. It reached its height of mainstream popularity in the 1960s, when it developed a distinctive and influential style dominated by the electric guitar and made international stars of several proponents of the genre, including The Rolling Stones, Eric Clapton, Fleetwood Mac and Led Zeppelin. A number of these acts produced blues rock and moved into mainstream rock music. As a result, British blues helped to form many of the subgenres of rock, including hard rock and heavy metal music. Since then, direct interest in the blues in Britain has declined, but many of the key performers have returned to it in recent years, new acts have emerged and there has been a rene