the grandaddy of something
From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishthe grandaddy of somethingthe grandaddy of something informalBESTthe first or greatest example of something Louis Armstrong, the grandaddy of all jazz trumpeters → grandaddyExamples from the Corpusthe grandaddy of something• Plenty of booze and chow round out the celebration, considered the grandaddy of July Fourth blasts.