PEOPLE KNOWN FOR: instrumentalists
American singer, songwriter, and bandleader
Bruce Springsteen, American singer, songwriter, and bandleader who became the archetypal rock performer of the 1970s and ’80s. Springsteen grew up in Freehold, a mill town where his father worked as a...
Italian composer
Domenico Scarlatti, Italian composer noted particularly for his 555 keyboard sonatas, which substantially expanded the technical and musical possibilities of the harpsichord. Domenico, the son of the famous...
German composer and musician
Carl Maria von Weber, German composer and opera director during the transition from Classical to Romantic music, noted especially for his operas Der Freischütz (1821; The Freeshooter, or, more colloquially,...
American musician
Benny Goodman, American jazz musician and bandleader and a renowned 20th-century clarinet virtuoso. Dubbed the “King of Swing,” Goodman was also a complex personality whose relentless pursuit of perfection...
Austrian composer
Anton Bruckner, Austrian composer of a number of highly original and monumental symphonies. He was also an organist and teacher who composed much sacred and secular choral music. Bruckner was the son of...
American musician
Duke Ellington, American pianist who was the greatest jazz composer and bandleader of his time. One of the originators of big-band jazz, Ellington led his band for more than half a century, composed thousands...
Canadian musician and filmmaker
Neil Young, Canadian guitarist, singer, and songwriter best known for his idiosyncratic output and eclectic sweep, from solo folkie to grungy guitar-rocker. Young grew up in Winnipeg, Manitoba, with his...
American musician
Miles Davis, American jazz musician, a great trumpeter who as a bandleader and composer was one of the major influences on the art from the late 1940s. Davis grew up in East St. Louis, Illinois, where...
American musician
Louis Armstrong, the leading trumpeter and one of the most influential artists in jazz history. Although Armstrong claimed to be born in 1900, various documents, notably a baptismal record, indicate that...
Italian composer
Luigi Boccherini, Italian composer and cellist who influenced the development of the string quartet as a musical genre and who composed the first music for a quintet for strings, as well as a quintet for...
American musician
Charlie Parker, American alto saxophonist, composer, and bandleader, a lyric artist generally considered the greatest jazz saxophonist. Parker was the principal stimulus of the modern jazz idiom known...
Russian musician
Sergey Rachmaninoff, composer who was the last great figure of the tradition of Russian Romanticism and a leading piano virtuoso of his time. He is especially known for his piano concerti and the piece...
American musician
Count Basie, American jazz musician noted for his spare, economical piano style and for his leadership of influential and widely heralded big bands. Basie studied music with his mother and was later influenced...
American musician
John Coltrane, American jazz saxophonist, bandleader, and composer, an iconic figure of 20th-century jazz. Coltrane’s first musical influence was his father, a tailor and part-time musician. John studied...
American musician
Jimi Hendrix, American rock guitarist, singer, and composer who fused American traditions of blues, jazz, rock, and soul with techniques of British avant-garde rock to redefine the electric guitar in his...
French musician
Elisabeth-Claude Jacquet de la Guerre, French composer, harpsichordist, and organist, who was the first woman to compose an opera in France. Elisabeth Jacquet was born into a family of artisans that included...
American musician
Dave Brubeck, popular American jazz pianist who brought elements of classical music into jazz and whose style epitomized that of the “West Coast movement.” Brubeck was taught piano by his mother from the...
Cameroonian musician
Manu Dibango, Cameroonian saxophonist, pianist, vibraphonist, and composer whose innovative jazz fusions and wide-ranging collaborative work played a significant role in introducing European and North...
American musician
Eubie Blake, American pianist and composer of ragtime music, popular and vaudeville tunes, and scores for musical theatre—most notably Shuffle Along (1921), his groundbreaking collaboration with singer...
American singer and songwriter
Woody Guthrie, American folk singer and songwriter whose songs, many of which are now classics, chronicled the plight of common people, especially during the Great Depression. Guthrie, the third of five...
American singer, songwriter, musician, and producer
Prince, singer, guitarist, songwriter, producer, dancer, and performer on keyboards, drums, and bass who was among the most talented American musicians of his generation. Like Stevie Wonder, he was a rare...
American composer and musician
Glenn Miller, American big band leader, arranger, composer, and trombonist, considered the premier musical symbol of the World War II generation. Miller began studies at the University of Colorado in Boulder,...
French composer and conductor
Pierre Boulez, most significant French composer of his generation, as well as a noted conductor and music theorist who championed the work of 20th-century composers. Boulez, the son of a steel manufacturer,...
American musician
Gene Krupa, American jazz drummer who was perhaps the most popular percussionist of the swing era. After the death of his father, Krupa went to work at age 11 as an errand boy for a music company. He soon...
British musician
Elton John, British singer, composer, and pianist who was one of the most popular entertainers of the late 20th century. He fused as many strands of popular music and stylistic showmanship as Elvis Presley...
American musician
Lionel Hampton, American jazz musician and bandleader, known for the rhythmic vitality of his playing and his showmanship as a performer. Best known for his work on the vibraphone, Hampton was also a skilled...
American musician
Curtis Mayfield, American singer, songwriter, guitarist, producer, and entrepreneur who was one of the principal architects of Chicago-based soul music during the 1960s and ’70s. Beginning with his earliest...
Senegalese singer
Youssou N’Dour, Senegalese singer known for his extraordinary vocal range and for introducing international audiences to mbalax—a Senegalese popular music style that blends Wolof traditional instrumental...
American musician
Ricky Skaggs, American mandolin and fiddle virtuoso, singer, and music producer who played a leading role in the New Traditionalist movement of the 1980s by adapting bluegrass music’s instrumentation and...
American musician
Frank Zappa, American composer, guitarist, and satirist of the 1960s, ’70s, and ’80s. Zappa was, in no apparent order, a first-rate cultural gadfly dedicated to upsetting American suburban complacency...
Brazilian composer
Heitor Villa-Lobos, Brazilian composer and one of the foremost Latin American composers of the 20th century, whose music combines indigenous melodic and rhythmic elements with Western classical music....
Italian musician
Arcangelo Corelli, Italian violinist and composer known chiefly for his influence on the development of violin style and for his sonatas and his 12 Concerti Grossi, which established the concerto grosso...
American musician
Hank Williams, American singer, songwriter, and guitarist who in the 1950s arguably became country music’s first superstar. An immensely talented songwriter and an impassioned vocalist, he also experienced...
Irish singer-songwriter
Van Morrison, Irish singer-songwriter and occasional saxophonist who played in a succession of groups, most notably Them, in the mid-1960s before enjoying a long, varied, and increasingly successful solo...
American musician
Dizzy Gillespie, American jazz trumpeter, composer, and bandleader who was one of the seminal figures of the bebop movement. Gillespie’s father was a bricklayer and amateur bandleader who introduced his...
American singer
Jimmie Rodgers, American singer, songwriter, and guitarist, one of the principal figures in the emergence of the country and western style of popular music. Rodgers, whose mother died when he was a young...
American musician
Harry James, American jazz musician and bandleader, and one of the most popular and dynamic trumpet players of the big band era. The son of circus performers, James learned to play drums at age 4 and the...
American musician
George Strait, American country music singer, guitarist, and “new traditionalist,” known for reviving interest in the western swing and honky-tonk music of the 1930s and ’40s through his straightforward...
American composer and conductor
Leonard Bernstein, American conductor, composer, and pianist noted for his accomplishments in both classical and popular music, for his flamboyant conducting style, and for his pedagogic flair, especially...
American singer and musician
Nat King Cole, American musician hailed as one of the best and most influential pianists and small-group leaders of the swing era. Cole attained his greatest commercial success, however, as a vocalist...
American actor and musician
Will Smith, American actor and musician whose charisma and quick wit helped him transition from rap music to a successful career in acting. Smith was given the nickname “Prince Charming” in high school,...
British composer
Benjamin Britten, leading British composer of the mid-20th century, whose operas were considered the finest English operas since those of Henry Purcell in the 17th century. He was also an outstanding pianist...
British musician
Eric Clapton, British rock musician who was a highly influential guitarist in the late 1960s and early ’70s and later became a major singer-songwriter. Clapton was born to a teenage mother and a Canadian...
American singer, composer, and musician
Stevie Wonder, American singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist, a child prodigy who developed into one of the most creative musical figures of the late 20th century. Blind from birth and raised...
American musician
Tommy Dorsey, American musician who—both independently and with his brother Jimmy—led several of the most popular big bands of the swing era. He was also a highly respected and influential trombonist....
American composer, pianist, and conductor
Marvin Hamlisch, American composer, pianist, and conductor of remarkable versatility, admired especially for his scores for film and theatre. His stylistically diverse corpus encompasses instrumental adaptations...
American composer, musician, and actor
Hoagy Carmichael, American composer, singer, self-taught pianist, and actor who wrote several of the most highly regarded popular standards in American music. Carmichael’s father was an itinerant electrician,...
American musician
Jerry Lee Lewis, American singer and pianist whose virtuosity, ecstatic performances, and colourful personality made him a legendary rock music pioneer. Born into poverty, Lewis began playing the piano...
American producer and musician
T Bone Burnett, American producer and musician, one of popular music’s most prolific and successful producers, known for his work in a wide range of genres including rock, country, and folk. Burnett spent...
American musician
Willie Nelson, American songwriter and guitarist who was one of the most popular country music singers of the late 20th century. Nelson learned to play guitar from his grandfather and at the age of 10...