Instrumental Guitar Pioneer. Born three-quarters Shawnee Indian, he was known in the musician circles as the "King of Grunge." His life's passion for the guitar and playing began at age 8. His first band was in the late 1940s with his brothers known as, "Lucky Ray & the Lazy Pine Wranglers." In the mid-1950s, after serving in the U.S. Army, he relocated to Washington, D.C. where he experimented with different guitar techniques and was performing with his band "The Wraymen." In 1958, his tune "Rumble" was recorded by the Cadence Records label and reached number 16 on the national pop singles charts. He had the follow-up hit "Raw-Hide" and with his brother formed Rumble Records in 1959. Under their own label, accompanied by his Ray Men band, he recorded the songs, "Branded," "Genocide" and "Jack the Ripper" which was picked up by the Swan Records label in 1963. By the late 1960s, he'd retired from music but his swaggering guitar style continued to be an inspiration for some of the most potent guitarists of the classic rock era. Over the years, his early instrumentals have become natural favorites of soundtrack producers, appearing in: "Pink Flamingos" (1983), "Streets of Fire" (1984), "Pulp Fiction" (1994), "12 Monkeys" (1995), "Desperado" (1995), "Independence Day" (1996), "Blow" (2001) and many other films and TV shows. In 1998, his tune "Jack the Ripper" was the feature song for the Taco Bell television commercials. With the entire soundtrack activity in the mid-1990's, he was convinced to return once again to stage and tour. In 2002, Guitar World magazine elected him one of the 100 greatest guitarists of all time. He passed away after performing forty North American dates in 2005, to celebrate the release of his album "Wray's Three Track Shack." In 2007, he was inducted into the Native American Music Hall of Fame. In 2023, he was posthumously inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame under the Early Influence category.