The Night Stevie Ray Vaughan Stunned Huey Lewis

Anyone who witnessed Stevie Ray Vaughan at the Reading Festival in 1983 remembers how effortlessly he could transform a doubtful crowd into stunned admirers. Yet even a guitarist of his caliber didn’t always receive instant praise.

A year later, Vaughan encountered a far colder reception while touring the United States with Huey Lewis and the News during their hugely successful Sports tour.

A Risk Worth Taking

When Lewis was planning the tour, he personally chose Vaughan and his band, Double Trouble, to serve as the opening act. But the decision initially sparked disagreement behind the scenes.

“Stevie Ray’s manager at the time asked for more money than they were worth,” Lewis recalled in a recent social media post recounting the episode. “My agent said, ‘This is ridiculous. We can’t pay them this kind of money. They’re not worth anything. We’re just helping them by putting them on the tour. They should be paying us. Blah, blah, blah.’”

Lewis ignored the objections and trusted his instincts.

“I said, ‘Forget about it. Just pay him. Trust me. You’ll be glad you did.’”

A Difficult First Night

The tour kicked off at the 7,000-seat Zoo Amphitheatre in Oklahoma City, where Lewis watched nervously from the side of the stage as Vaughan delivered a blazing performance that seemed to fall on indifferent ears.

“They were just killing it,” Lewis later recalled. “Then the song ended, and there was a moment of dead silence. Then the audience started chanting, ‘Huey, Huey, Huey, Huey.’”

Music critic Gene Triplett, writing for The Oklahoman, noted that Vaughan’s playing evoked legendary blues-rock figures such as Jimi Hendrix, Michael Bloomfield, Johnny Winter, and Eric Clapton. Still, much of the audience seemed unimpressed.

“His scrambling, incredibly articulate riffs and solos recalled all the gifted blues-rock heroes of a bygone era … but few people seemed to care, and he wasn’t called back for an encore,” Triplett wrote. “Much of the crowd seemed more concerned with the long lines at the beer taps.”

Words of Encouragement

After the disappointing set, Vaughan and Double Trouble retreated to their tour bus feeling deflated. Lewis soon followed them there and offered a pep talk meant to lift their spirits.

“Look, fellas, you’re tremendous,” he told them. “Here’s the thing, the audience is invested in us. They know our music. They play the record on the way to the venue. No matter how good you are, they’re bound to think that we’re going to be much, much better. There’s no way you’re going to score here. What’s going to happen is, when they go home tonight, they’re going to say, ‘Hey, you know what? That first band was pretty good.’”

Lewis urged the group to relax and simply enjoy the remainder of the tour. His encouragement proved accurate. Night after night, the shows ended with Vaughan joining Huey Lewis and the News onstage to play “Bad Is Bad,” turning the collaboration into one of the tour’s highlights.

A Guitarist Who Earned Respect

For the members of the headlining band, Vaughan’s presence on tour became unforgettable. Guitarist Chris Hayes later reflected on the experience during a 2025 interview with Vertex Effects.

“Stevie Ray Vaughan was great,” Hayes said. “He toured with us for a year. It was like every night was a guitar lesson.”

Hayes also remembered Vaughan’s formidable physical presence.

“He was as strong as an ox. The guy had the hands of an ironsmith. He was so strong that he would crush your hand when he shook it. The guy was super strong and really wiry and muscular.”

Offstage, Hayes got to see a more relaxed side of the blues guitarist during a late-night hangout fueled by a bottle of Crown Royal whisky.

“One night, about halfway through the tour, he said, ‘Hey Chris, come on the bus with me. I want to hang out,’” Hayes recalled. “I went, ‘Great! I get to hang out with Stevie Ray Vaughan! This is freaking awesome!’ So he kicks all the other guys in the band off the bus and makes them ride on the crew bus, and it’s just me and Stevie on the bus with a bottle of Crown Royal.”

“We just drank that whole bottle of Crown Royal. Of course, he could handle it. I was sick as a dog in the morning… but man, it was such a great time for me because he was kind of one of my heroes.”

What began as a difficult opening night ultimately became a memorable year on the road—one where Vaughan not only sharpened his reputation but left a lasting impression on the musicians who shared the stage with him.