Link Wray has been forced to overcome quite a few obstacles in his life. He’s been hospitalized twice with tuberculosis and lost one of his lungs in the process. He learned how to play guitar from a local black musician in a time when racial interaction was frowned upon.

His most successful song, “Rumble,” engulfed him in controversy because some people thought it was too suggestive. He also had problems with several of the record labels he signed with.

But things are finally coming full circle. Wray is now idolized because of his huge contributions to punk and heavy metal music. At the age of 68, he has embarked on his first American tour in more than a decade.

“I’ll keep playing music until I fall over dead,” Wray said. “Then they’ll have to pry my guitar from my cold fingers. This is my life; this is all I’ve ever done. I don’t ever want to do anything different.”

The reemergence of his music on the soundtracks of such blockbusters as “Independence Day” and “Pulp Fiction” assures Wray that he won’t have to.

The inclusion of “Rumble” on the former and “Comanche,” under the band name The Revels, on the latter has introduced a much younger generation of fans to the original bad boy’s music.

“The reason why I’m back on tour is because my music was on those soundtracks,” Wray said. “I’m sixty-eight years old now, but I play to a younger crowd that is full of fire. These fucking young kids are fantastic.

“My age doesn’t influence my music,” he insisted. “I’ll admit, I’m an old fucker on stage playing. If I fall on stage and still play the song, the kids don’t give a shit. They ignore my age as long as I deliver the sound. At every concert, they’ve seen that I still play the music like I used to. It always leaves them in total shock.”

Wray has had the type of career that would leave the most determined people in shock.

He was born Frederick Lincoln Wray on May 2, 1929, the second son of two preachers.

His older brother, Vernon, and his younger brother, Doug, would eventually join Link as vocalist and rhythm guitarist, respectively — the Raymen.

In 1949, Wray was drafted into the army and sent to Korea and Germany. While overseas, he contracted tuberculosis and was laid up in a hospital bed with nothing better to do than practice playing his guitar.

“When I came out of the VA Hospital,” Wray said, “I was just a young guy playing in local bars and theaters. Nobody knew me. Then I put together a little song called ‘Rumble’ and Dick Clark played it on American Bandstand. Everyone was playing it and it was number one in all of these big cities like New York City and Los Angeles.

“That song made me a big star,” he added. “I didn’t even know what that meant back then. Now I’m beginning to. I put out ‘Rumble’ in 1957, and now it’s 1997, 40 years later, and it was just in a major movie. I’m honored and very happy that young kids have started to like my music. I just don’t know what to make of it.”

Wray believes music is now coming full circle. He believes the first rock and roll dynasty, which included such luminaries as Elvis Presley and Little Richard, ended with the assassination of President Kennedy.

The second dynasty came with the British invasion and such ground-breaking acts as the Rolling Stones and the Beatles.

The music then transformed into hippie music, glitter music (Wray cites T-Rex as belonging to this category) and punk music.

Now, music has come full circle with the teenage rediscovery of pre-JFK assassination rock and roll.

Wray did his part in insuring the cycle would continue by inventing the fuzzy, distorted rock guitar sound that defines punk and heavy metal music.

Musicians as varied as Nirvana, the Sex Pistols, Offspring and Neil Young owe their careers to the day Wray decided the studio take of “Rumble” wasn’t distorted enough.

But Wray is modest when he talks about his accomplishment.

“I don’t know if I was the originator of punk music,” he stated. “I suppose that I was the first guy who did the screaming and heavy guitars. Before I did that, there were people like Frank Sinatra and Pat Boone,” he said with hysterical laughter. “I was just trying to create my own sounds.”

His most famous creation occurred when he poked several holes in his speaker cone with a pencil. The result was a muddy, distorted sound that would change the voice of rock and roll forever.

“I’ve never looked for a better sound,” Wray added. “I don’t try to make my music better. I don’t even try to make hit records. I just do what I like. I liked the effect I gave to ‘Rumble’ and I still do.

“But I don’t have to fuck up my speakers anymore to get it. There’s technology now that makes my sound much louder and distorted than it ever used to be. I like my music to be loud.”

However, Wray isn’t really impressed with the technology being utilized by the latest wave of techno stars.

“It’s not my world,” he explained. “I’m a rock and roller. My son loves that type of music. He thinks it is the greatest thing. That’s what his friends listen to, they don’t listen to my music or older stuff. But they probably will when they get older.

“But it is kind of different over here,” Wray added, referring to Denmark, the country where he has lived for over a decade. “America is full of rock and rollers. I remember the ’80s when disco was going on. I didn’t listen to it and other people liked it. I don’t listen to techno music now, so I really can’t comment too much on it.”

Wray will be bringing his timeless attitude to a pair of all-ages shows at the M-Shop tonight at 7 and 9:30 p.m. Tickets are $8.