More than three decades after bursting into the musical mainstream in 1978 with the hit “Move It On Over”, rock ’n’ roll and blues legends George Thorogood and the Destroyers continue to perfect an unmistakably familiar sound that has transcended the years.

It’s a sound that can be heard on recordings such as “Bad To The Bone”, “Born to be Bad”, “Haircut”, and now “The Dirty Dozen”, released last year. Thorogood said his signature sound is something that he cultivated early on, culled from years of listening to greats like John Lee Hooker, Bo Didley and Chuck Berry. Thorogood will bring that signature sound to the House of Blues on the Sunset Strip on March 2, playing a venue he said is perfectly suited for his up-front, hard-edged style.

“You don’t stay true to it, it’s the sound you have. It’s like the way I walk or the way I talk. This is what’s natural to me,” Thorogood said. “I listened to these songs by these legends, and like an actor, I am always watching these people. Lee Marvin always chose a signature role, but the average actor goes after something you know you can do, and that’s what I did.”

Thorogood said he began playing guitar as a teen and related to early music by the Rolling Stones and classics by blues legends such as Howlin’ Wolf. He performed as a street musician throughout the country, trying to get “any break I could.” Once after doing a week-long engagement, which he considered long-term employment at the time, he decided it was time to head in a new direction.

In the early 1970s, he joined drummer Jeff Simon and bassist Bill Blough in Delaware to form George Thorogood and the Destroyers.

“I wondered about what I was going to do, and a lot of people said ‘you need a band’. Playing alone is just too difficult to do, and playing solo just isn’t me. I ran into Jeff Simon and said ‘how about we start a band?’ He said lets give it a try, and from day one we knew we would get there.”

Thorogood said he was fortunate to have started during the ‘70s, because many artists like Lynyrd Skynyrd and Bonnie Raitt were producing popular music that was similar at the time. The group released the self-titled “George Thorogood and the Destroyers” album on Rounder Records in 1977, and began performing around Boston’s blues circuit. That recording was followed in 1978 by “Move It On Over”, which featured Thorogood’s now famous cover of the Hank Williams song by the same name. While that put Thorogood on the map, it was his “Bad To The Bone” release on EMI Records in 1982 that made him a household name.

“I just got to the point. From songs like ‘One Bourbon, One Scotch, One Beer’ up to ‘Get a Haircut’, we would just put together twelve tunes for an album, and that’s what I went with,” Thorogood added. “Unless you are a brilliant musician like Miles Davis, you say to yourself, I have to have ‘a song‘. That’s how you get songs like ‘Bad To The Bone’ and “One Bourbon, One Scotch, One Beer’.”

The band now has a total of 25 studio albums, live recordings and compilations, and 2004’s “Greatest Hits: 30 Years of Rock” was number one on Billboard’s Blues chart for 60 weeks. “The Dirty Dozen” also debuted at number one on the Billboard Blues charts when it was released last July.

The band has continued to maintain a tour schedule that has them playing between 70 and 75 shows a year. The current line-up includes Thorogood, Simon and Blough, as well as Jim Suhler on guitar and Buddy Leach on saxophone. The band is currently on a 60-date tour of the United States, with performances at the House of Blues in Las Vegas and San Diego on Saturday and Sunday, before returning to the Sunset Strip on Tuesday.

Thorogood said it is the live performances that really keep him excited, because they give him a chance to interact with fans on a face-to-face basis, like at the House of Blues, which allows the audience to be close to the band.

“The fans are what this band is about, and what it will always be about. I am not a studio musician, I am a live performer,“ Thorogood said. “We get to make a record, but we always say that the fans are the sixth member of the band. If ever there was a venue designed for this act, the House of Blues is it. You will get to see us in our element.”

More than three decades after bursting into the musical mainstream in 1978 with the hit “Move It On Over”, rock ’n’ roll and blues legends George Thorogood and the Destroyers continue to perfect an unmistakably familiar sound that has transcended the years.

It’s a sound that can be heard on recordings such as “Bad To The Bone”, “Born to be Bad”, “Haircut”, and now “The Dirty Dozen”, released last year. Thorogood said his signature sound is something that he cultivated early on, culled from years of listening to greats like John Lee Hooker, Bo Didley and Chuck Berry. Thorogood will bring that signature sound to the House of Blues on the Sunset Strip on March 2, playing a venue he said is perfectly suited for his up-front, hard-edged style.

“You don’t stay true to it, it’s the sound you have. It’s like the way I walk or the way I talk. This is what’s natural to me,” Thorogood said. “I listened to these songs by these legends, and like an actor, I am always watching these people. Lee Marvin always chose a signature role, but the average actor goes after something you know you can do, and that’s what I did.”

Thorogood said he began playing guitar as a teen and related to early music by the Rolling Stones and classics by blues legends such as Howlin’ Wolf. He performed as a street musician throughout the country, trying to get “any break I could.” Once after doing a week-long engagement, which he considered long-term employment at the time, he decided it was time to head in a new direction.

In the early 1970s, he joined drummer Jeff Simon and bassist Bill Blough in Delaware to form George Thorogood and the Destroyers.

“I wondered about what I was going to do, and a lot of people said ‘you need a band’. Playing alone is just too difficult to do, and playing solo just isn’t me. I ran into Jeff Simon and said ‘how about we start a band?’ He said lets give it a try, and from day one we knew we would get there.”

Thorogood said he was fortunate to have started during the ‘70s, because many artists like Lynyrd Skynyrd and Bonnie Raitt were producing popular music that was similar at the time. The group released the self-titled “George Thorogood and the Destroyers” album on Rounder Records in 1977, and began performing around Boston’s blues circuit. That recording was followed in 1978 by “Move It On Over”, which featured Thorogood’s now famous cover of the Hank Williams song by the same name. While that put Thorogood on the map, it was his “Bad To The Bone” release on EMI Records in 1982 that made him a household name.

“I just got to the point. From songs like ‘One Bourbon, One Scotch, One Beer’ up to ‘Get a Haircut’, we would just put together twelve tunes for an album, and that’s what I went with,” Thorogood added. “Unless you are a brilliant musician like Miles Davis, you say to yourself, I have to have ‘a song‘. That’s how you get songs like ‘Bad To The Bone’ and “One Bourbon, One Scotch, One Beer’.”

The band now has a total of 25 studio albums, live recordings and compilations, and 2004’s “Greatest Hits: 30 Years of Rock” was number one on Billboard’s Blues chart for 60 weeks. “The Dirty Dozen” also debuted at number one on the Billboard Blues charts when it was released last July.

The band has continued to maintain a tour schedule that has them playing between 70 and 75 shows a year. The current line-up includes Thorogood, Simon and Blough, as well as Jim Suhler on guitar and Buddy Leach on saxophone. The band is currently on a 60-date tour of the United States, with performances at the House of Blues in Las Vegas and San Diego on Saturday and Sunday, before returning to the Sunset Strip on Tuesday.

Thorogood said it is the live performances that really keep him excited, because they give him a chance to interact with fans on a face-to-face basis, like at the House of Blues, which allows the audience to be close to the band.

“The fans are what this band is about, and what it will always be about. I am not a studio musician, I am a live performer,“ Thorogood said. “We get to make a record, but we always say that the fans are the sixth member of the band. If ever there was a venue designed for this act, the House of Blues is it. You will get to see us in our element.”