Howlin' Wolf Grave — Oakridge Cemetery, Hillside, Illinois

Howlin' Wolf is buried at Oakridge Cemetery in Hillside, Illinois, a western suburb of Chicago. He died on January 10, 1976, of kidney failure at age 65, having continued performing almost until the end despite serious health problems including a heart attack and a car accident that left him with kidney damage. His funeral was attended by B.B. King, Eddie Shaw, and other major figures of the Chicago blues world. The grave is a pilgrimage site for blues devotees.

Wolf's final years were marked by both physical decline and creative recognition — the British blues revival had made him an influence on the Rolling Stones, the Doors, the Yardbirds, and Led Zeppelin, all of whom acknowledged their debt explicitly. He toured Europe and received the kind of respectful treatment from white audiences that America had rarely given him. His appearance on the Rolling Stones' Rock and Roll Circus in 1968 — performing 'No Place to Go' with a band that included Mick Jagger on bass, Keith Richards on guitar, Charlie Watts on drums, and Brian Jones on organ — captured him at his most commanding.

Oakridge Cemetery in Hillside is a large suburban cemetery accessible by car from Chicago. Wolf's grave is marked and maintained. The broader Chicago blues geography — the South and West Side clubs where he performed, the Chess Records building, the Maxwell Street market — is part of any serious blues pilgrimage to the city.