10/15/1925 - 12/23/2007
Oscar Emmanuel Peterson (August 15, 1925 – December 23, 2007) was a Canadian jazz pianist and composer. He was called the "Maharaja of the keyboard" by Duke Ellington, "O.P." by his...
read more
read more
07/29/1916 - 03/02/1942
Charles Henry "Charlie" Christian (July 29, 1916 – March 2, 1942) was an American swing and jazz guitarist. He was one of the first to produce improvised masterpieces using electrically amplified equipment.
09/25/1933 - 08/03/2008
Erik Darling (September 25, 1933 – August 3, 2008) was an American songwriter and a folk music artist. He was an important influence on the folk scene in the late 1950s and early 1960s.
04/04/1913 - 04/04/1983
McKinley Morganfield, known as Muddy Waters, was an American blues musician, generally considered the Father of modern Chicago blues. A major inspiration for the British blues explosion in the 1960s, Muddy was ranked #17...
read more
read more
06/14/1936 - 07/01/2005
Renaldo "Obie" Benson (June 14, 1936 – July 1, 2005) was an American soul and R&B singer and songwriter. He was best known as the bass of Motown group the Four Tops, which he joined in 1953 and continued to perform with for ove...
read more
read more
06/25/1925 - 12/12/1987
Clifton Chenier (June 25, 1925 - December 12, 1987), a Creole French-speaking native of Opelousas, Louisiana, was an eminent performer and recording artist of Zydeco, which arose from Cajun and Creole music, with R&B, jazz, and blues influence...
read more
read more
01/20/1935 - 04/25/2010
Dorothy Michelle Provine (January 20, 1935 – April 25, 2010) was an American singer, dancer, actress, and comedienne.
05/23/1910 - 12/30/2004
Arthur Jacob Arshawsky (May 23, 1910 – December 30, 2004), better known as Artie Shaw, was an American jazz clarinetist, composer, and bandleader. He was also the author of both fiction and non-fiction writ...
read more
read more
11/26/1933 - 10/30/2007
Robert Gerard Goulet (November 26, 1933 – October 30, 2007) was a Canadian American entertainer as a singer and actor.
02/21/1933 - 04/21/2003
Eunice Kathleen Waymon (February 21, 1933 – April 21, 2003), also known by her stage name Nina Simone, was an American singer, songwriter, pianist, arranger, and civil rights activist widely associated with jazz music.
Simone aspired to...
read more
read more
Perry Como (Pierino Ronald Como)
05/18/1912 - 05/12/2001
Pierino Ronald "Perry" Como (May 18, 1912 – May 12, 2001) was an American singer and television personality. During a career spanning more than half a century he recorded exclusively for the RCA Victor label after signing with it i...
read more
read more
06/24/1900 - 01/24/1972
Gene Austin (June 24, 1900 – January 24, 1972) was an American singer and songwriter, one of the first "crooners". His 1920s compositions "When My Sugar Walks Down the Street" and "The Loneso...
read more
read more
05/07/1931 - 10/17/2007
Teresa Brewer (7 May 1931 – 17 October 2007) was an American pop singer whose style incorporated elements of country, jazz, R&B, musicals and novelty songs.
10/26/1915 - 01/23/2010
Royland Earl Wild (November 26, 1915 – January 23, 2010) was an American pianist widely recognized as a leading virtuoso of his generation. Harold C. Schonberg called him a "super-virtuoso in theHorow...
read more
read more
Art Blakey (Arthur Blakey)
10/11/1919 - 10/16/1990
Arthur "Art" Blakey (October 11, 1919 – October 16, 1990), known later as Abdullah Ibn Buhaina, was an American jazz drummer and bandleader.