When John Belushi strolled into a South Side Chicago bar dressed as “Joliet” Jake Blues in 1979, no one there knew he was filming “The Blues Brothers.” He stayed in character, ordered drinks like a local, and even talked his way into free rounds by singing soul classics. Dan Aykroyd later recalled, “John disappeared for three hours during the shoot. We found him in a bar on Maxwell Street, still wearing the hat and shades, calling himself Jake.” That was not an act. For Belushi, Jake Blues was an extension of himself, rooted in the soul music he grew up on and the Chicago streets that raised him.

Released in 1980, “The Blues Brothers” was not just a musical comedy. It was a defiant celebration of Black music, Chicago’s culture, and the rebellious energy of late-70s cinema. Aykroyd, who co-wrote the script, created the original concept as a love letter to the blues, developed with Belushi at the height of their success on “Saturday Night Live.” What many don’t know is that Belushi had never cared much for blues music until Aykroyd brought him to the 505 Club in New York in 1976. It was there that Belushi watched the Curtis Salgado perform. That night changed everything. He became obsessed, diving into the catalogs of Otis Redding, Howlin’ Wolf, and Sam & Dave. Salgado even served as the direct inspiration for Jake Blues.

During the chaotic production, director John Landis faced massive challenges. The car chases in “The Blues Brothers” were unprecedented at the time. The climactic pile-up scene involved 103 cars and a real-life freeway shutdown in downtown Chicago. Universal Studios execs were skeptical and warned the crew against such scale. But Aykroyd insisted, saying, “If we’re going to bring blues to the big screen, it has to roar like a V8 engine.” To sweeten the deal, he wrote a 324-page script, famously bound in blue, and handed it to Landis as a phone book of insanity.

Real-life chaos followed the actors off set too. Belushi, already struggling with substance use, was notorious for vanishing at night. One evening, after a particularly intense day of shooting, the crew could not locate him. A woman in a Chicago suburb called Landis at 2 AM and said, “Your actor’s sleeping on my couch. He said he’s on a mission from God.” The production paused while Belushi recovered, but those unscripted detours became part of the legend.

“The Blues Brothers” also brought together a rare lineup of legendary artists: Aretha Franklin, James Brown, Ray Charles, John Lee Hooker, and Cab Calloway. Many had not appeared in major Hollywood films before. Aretha Franklin’s performance of “Think” was so powerful that Landis adjusted the blocking on set to match her rhythm. Hooker’s street-side rendition of “Boom Boom” was recorded live on Maxwell Street, giving it raw authenticity that still pulses through the scene.

In a 2021 interview, Dan Aykroyd revisited Belushi’s legacy through “The Blues Brothers” while promoting “Ghostbusters: Afterlife.” He said, “No one knew how to merge anarchy with soul like John did. Jake wasn’t a character. That was him, electric, uncontrollable, and full of love for the music.” That same year, in “The King of Staten Island,” Pete Davidson paid tribute by wearing a Jake Blues shirt in one scene, a nod to Belushi’s continued cultural presence.

To this day, fans of “The Blues Brothers” gather annually in Joliet, Illinois, for a celebration called The Blues Brothers Con. In 2022, Jim Belushi, John’s brother, joined the festivities dressed as Jake, performing “Soul Man” with Dan Aykroyd in front of thousands. For those few minutes, the spirit of the original film came roaring back, straight from the streets of Chicago.

John Belushi’s embodiment of Jake Blues was not acting. It was Chicago soul made flesh, wrapped in sunglasses, a fedora, and a mission no studio exec could ever script.