The "Los Angeles Times" wrote that Johnson's recordings for the albums "revolutionized the Mississippi Delta style that became the foundation of the Chicago blues sound". "The Wall Street Journal" wrote that "when his album "King of the Delta Blues Singers" made its belated way to England in the mid-1960s, it energized a generation of musicians". English rock musician Eric Clapton cited "King of the Delta Blues Singers", along with its second volume, as an early inspiration on his recording career. In 1980, "King of the Delta Blues Singers" became the first album to be inducted by the Blues Foundation into the Blues Hall of Fame. "The Hartford Courant" selected "King of the Delta Blues Singers" for its list of the 25 Pivotal Recordings That Defined Our Times (1999). In 2003, the album was ranked number 27 on "Rolling Stone" magazine's list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time, with its ranking dropping to number 374 on the 2020 update of the list. (The album was not included in the 2012 version of the Rolling Stone list, instead being replaced by The Complete Recordings at number 22.) "Mojo" magazine ranked it number six on its list of 100 Records That Changed the World (2007).