Stevie Ray Vaughn was born in Dallas, Texas on October 3, 1954. Stevie was born to Jimmie Lee "Big Jim" Vaughan and Martha Jean Vaughn. His parents worked as an asbestos worker and secretary, respectively. His older brother is renowned blues guitarist Jimmie Vaughn. Stevie began playing professionally as a teen, working in blues clubs in Dallas and Austin. He was a regular at the Cellar Club, where he gained valuable experience: "[It was] the only place that would really let me do what I wanted to do, because nobody cared. A couple of times people would get pissed and start shooting at the stage. You ducked and kept playing. I played there from age 14 'til I was 18,” he told interviewer Craig Hopkins in 1991. Vaughn was killed in a helicopter crash following a show in East Troy, Wisconsin on August 27, 1990.