Music

Marian Anderson was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1897. She began singing at the age of six in the Union Baptist Church choir. The church parishioners called her "Baby Contralto." Her father bought her a piano when she was eight, but they were unable to afford piano lessons. Anderson, however, was musically gifted and taught herself to play piano. As Anderson matured, she developed an impressive vocal range. She sang soprano, alto, tenor and bass with perfect pitch. Her church, recognizing her potential, raised $500 to pay for lessons with the voice teacher Giuseppe Boghetti.

After graduating high school in 1921, Anderson applied to the Philadelphia Music Academy but was rejected due to her race. In 1925, she won first place in a singing contest sponsored by the New York Philharmonic. Her reward was the opportunity to sing with the orchestra in a concert. Her fame as a singer grew and in 1928 she performed at Carnegie Hall. Anderson was awarded a scholarship that enabled her to tour Europe and study under the best vocal teacher on the continent.

Anderson became one of the most celebrated singers in Europe, but when she returned to the United States, she was met with discrimination and racism. Once, when scheduled to perform at Princeton University, she was denied a hotel room because of her race. Albert Einstein, outraged upon learning of her situation, invited her to say with him at his home on several occasions and the two became friends.

In 1939, the Daughters of the American Revolution denied Anderson permission to sing at Constitution Hall in Washington, DC because it was policy that the Hall was only to be used by white performers. When word leaked out to the public about Anderson being turned away, First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt intervened on her behalf. She invited Anderson to perform at the Lincoln Memorial on Easter Sunday. On April 9, 1939, in front of a crowd of 75,000 people, Anderson began singing "My Country, 'Tis of Thee." The crowd was mesmerized and her voice was broadcast to millions throughout the nation.

Anderson performed for decades. She was invited to sing the national anthem at the inauguration of President John F. Kennedy. In 1963, she was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom. She gave her final concert at Carnegie Hall in 1965. President Lyndon Johnson awarded her the American Medal of Freedom. In 1977, Congress awarded her with a gold medal and in 1986, President Ronald Reagan presented her with the National Medal of Arts. She received a Grammy Award for Lifetime Achievement in 1991.

Anderson's hauntingly beautiful voice dazzled crowds throughout the world. She was honored throughout Europe and was allowed to stay at the finest hotels and dine in the finest restaurants. However, for much of her life, she was denied these amenities in the United States due to segregation and racism. Despite the slights she received in America, it became apparent to everyone in America that talent and genius have no color barrier. She was the voice of America, and for that she was a great American.

Armstrong was born in New Orleans, Louisiana. He was the grandson of slaves. Both of his parents abandoned him and he was raised by his grandmother and uncle. However, at the age of five, he was reunited with his mother. He grew up in one of the poorest sections of New Orleans known as "The Battlefield." In 1912, he was arrested for firing a gun in the air on New Year's Eve and sent to the Colored Waif's Home for Boys. There, he received an education in music on the cornet.

He met Joe "King" Oliver, one of the greatest cornet players in New Orleans. He helped Armstrong develop his musical skills. Soon, he developed into a trumpet player. In 1918, he replaced Oliver in the "Kid Ory" band, at the time the most popular band in New Orleans. He played for parties, bars, funerals and dances. During the summers, he started playing on riverboats and learned to read music. In 1923, he then received an invitation by his old mentor to join a Creole Jazz Band in Chicago. There, he began playing in clubs and recorded records.

In 1924, he moved to New York and joined Fletcher Henderson's Orchestra, the city's top dance band. Armstrong's style transformed the band. The style of music that was infused into the Orchestra made it the first Jazz big band in America. He also started recording records on the side with other famous jazz artists as well as blue singers such as Bessie Smith and Ma Rainey.

In 1925, he formed his own band called Louis Armstrong and His Hot Five (later, the Hot Seven). He recorded more than 60 records with his band. Some of his recordings were hits such as "Potato Head Blues" and "Cornet Chop Suey." He even started singing in a form called "scat singing." His music transformed jazz music forever. In 1929, he performed on Broadway with the music of Fats Waller. He also began making movie appearances and touring in Europe.

In 1936, Armstrong wrote an autobiography entitled, "Swing That Music." That same year, he became the first African-American to get featured billing in the major Hollywood Movie, "Pennies from Heaven" with Bing Crosby. In 1937, he became the first African-American to host a nationally sponsored radio show. He became the biggest American artist during the era known as the "Swing Era."

Armstrong continued to record into the 1950s with popular hits such as "A Kiss to Build a Dream, "Blueberry Hill" and his transformation of Kurt Weill's "Mack the Knife." His popularity swelled again and he was a major attraction in Europe, Africa and Asia. He was known as "Ambassador Satch." In 1957, Edward R. Murrow aired a documentary called "Satchmo the Great" covering his worldwide tours. That same year, he broke his silence about racism in America when he criticized the government after watching the integration crisis in Little Rock on television. He continued to perform and speak out for civil rights well into the 1960's and 1970's. In 1967, he recorded "What a Wonderful World" which became a number one hit worldwide.

Today, Louis Armstrong is known as one of the greatest cornet and trumpet players ever. His music transformed jazz and blues. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inducted Armstrong in 1990 because of his strong influence in the development of the music genre. Armstrong's musical legacy made him a great American.

John Coltrane was born in Hamlet, North Carolina. In 1943, his family moved to Philadelphia and he enlisted in the Navy in 1945. He played in a Navy jazz band and stayed in the Navy for just one year. After his service, he returned to Philadelphia and began studying jazz under the tutelage of Dennis Sandole. He was inspired by the music of Charlie Parker.

During the late 1940's and early 1950's, Coltrane played with several bands, including a band led by Dizzy Gillespie. His big break came when he was hired by Miles Davis in 1955. In 1957, after being fired by Miles Davis, Coltrane released his first record as a bandleader, titled "Coltrane." He also developed a technique of playing several notes at once on the tenor saxophone.

In 1960. he formed a band called the "John Coltrane Quartet." The band recorded two legendary albums including "Giant Steps" and "My Favorite Things." His most acclaimed album came in 1965 with the release of "A Love Supreme," which earned him two Grammy Awards.

Although his life was cut short by liver cancer in 1967, John Coltrane left an indelible mark on American jazz music. His style was new and controversial, but it would forever shape jazz music. His music made him a great American.

Miles Davis was born in Alton, Illinois in 1926. A year after his birth, his family moved to East St. Louis, Illinois. His father was a dental surgeon and the family was very prosperous compared with most African-American families of the time. His mother was a music teacher and instilled into young Miles a love of music. When he was twelve, he began taking trumpet lessons. During his high school years, he played in local bars and gigs outside of town.

Soon after Davis graduated from high school, he was allowed to sit in with Billy Eckstine's big band in St. Louis. The band featured Dizzy Gillespie on trumpet and Charlie Parker on saxophone. He became mesmerized by the moment and he learned the bebop style of these early jazz greats. In 1944, he left the Midwest to attend the Institute of Musical Art (today known as Juilliard) in New York to study music. However, he dropped out of school to play in clubs with Charlie Parker as a full-time musician.

Davis began playing in various bands with Charlie Parker, Benny Carter and Billy Eckstine. In 1948, however, Davis created his own nine-piece band with an unusual horn section. His band angered many in the black jazz community because he had white members. The band caught the eye of Capitol Records and in 1949, the band recorded several tracks that would not be released until 1956. The album title was "The Birth of Cool," and it was the beginning of a new style to be known as "cool jazz."

Davis toured in Paris during the 1950's and fell in love with their culture and people's tolerance of blacks. In 1955, Davis, returned to New York and formed what he called his "first great quintet." John Coltrane was on the tenor saxophone in this group. They began recording albums and playing throughout the country. In 1959, Miles Davis' new sextet recorded his greatest album, "Kind of Blue."

Throughout the 1960's, Miles Davis recorded numerous albums and played throughout the world. He became a major influence on artists such as Jimi Hendrix and Sly & the Family Stone. His jazz music became "fused" with Rock and Roll. Shortly after the Woodstock Festival, he released his album "Bitches Brew," which would become his first gold record. He became the first jazz artist featured on the cover of Rolling Stone Magazine. Davis continued to experiment with different types of jazz for the next two decades.

Miles Davis is one of the most influential music artists of the 20th Century. He won eight Grammy Awards as well as a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 1990. In 1991, he was awarded the Knight of the Legion of Honor in France. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2006. In 2009, the US House of Representatives honored the 50th anniversary of his "Kind of Blue" album. His work and innovation in music made Miles Davis a great American.

He was born Ellas Otha Bates in McComb, Mississippi. He was adopted and raised by his mother's cousin, and changed his name to Ellas McDaniel. In 1934, he moved to the South Side area of Chicago, Illinois. He was very active in his local church and he studied the violin. His musical ability were impressive and he was invited to join his church's orchestra.

McDaniel experienced a life-changing event when he attended a John Lee Hooker concert. Inspired by Hooker's music, he abandoned playing the violin and pursued the guitar. He dropped out of school and began working odd jobs and playing the guitar on street corners. Eventually, he formed a band and performed in local clubs. In 1955, he recorded his first single with Chess Studio called "Bo Diddley" and it became an instant sensation. It became the number one R&B hit in America. He was invited to perform on "The Ed Sullivan Show." He upset the host by playing the song "Bo Diddley" instead of the prearranged "Sixteen Tons" cover by Tennessee Ernie Ford. Sullivan said that he would not last six months.

He decided to adopt the more flashy stage name of "Bo Diddley." His music career soared with hits in the 1950's such as "Who Do You Love," "Mona," and "Pretty Things." In the 1960's, his popularity continued with songs like "You Can't Judge a Book by the Cover." He began writing music for other artists which became national hits. He began touring with the Everly Brothers and Little Richard.

Bo Diddley revolutionized music with his "Bo Diddley Beat" style of music. His music influenced a wide variety of artists such as Elvis Presley, the Yardbirds, the Animals, The Stooges, Buddy Holly, the Velvet Underground, the Who, the Beatles, Jimi Hendrix and the Rolling Stones. In 1987, Diddley was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. In 1998, he was awarded a Lifetime Achievement Award by the National Academy of Recording Artists. His beat became a part of America as he played a key role in the transition from Blues to Rock music. His contributions to music made him a great American.

Edward Kennedy Ellington was born in Washington, DC. Both of his parents were pianist. His father was a part-time White House butler. He began piano lessons at the age of seven and wrote his first composition, "Soda Fountain Rag" at the age of 15. He was offered a scholarship to the Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, New York, but he decided to drop out of high school at the age of 17 to pursue a career in music.

Ellington played at various locations, society balls and parties in the early 1920's. In 1923, his band, "The Washingtonians," played in the prestigious Exclusive Club in Harlem. As a results, they moved to New York City and started playing at the Hollywood Club (later called the Kennedy Club). Soon, Ellington became the band leader and his career took off. In 1924, he cut eight different records with several companies. Gradually, his group grew in number and they began to refine their music.

Ellington called his style, "Jungle Style," known for his sly arrangements highlighted by a muted growling sound of a trumpet. In 1926, he recorded his first signature song, "East St. Louis Toodle-oo." Because of this song and the success of other songs, he moved uptown to The Cotton Club. From there, Ellington amassed a national audience through radio broadcasts. While playing at The Cotton Club, he moved to downtown to play in the Broadway musical "Show Girl," featuring the music of George Gershwin. His band event travelled to California to appear in several movies.

In 1931, Ellington left The Cotton Club to go on tour. This tour, it seems, would last for 43 years. In that time, he recorded numerous and timeless songs which made the Top Five hit list every year in the 1930's. During World War II, Ellington had a series of recitals at Carnegie Hall. He was featured in movies, wrote movie scores, played in concerts, toured in nearly every major city and never slowed down. He is the winner of several Grammy Awards was well as other prestigious music awards. He won the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 1966. In 1969, he won the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President Richard Nixon and the French Legion of Honor in 1973.

Duke Ellington became one of the greatest musical talents in American history. His style, devotion to hard work and innovation made a lasting mark on American music. In 2009, he was the first African-American to be featured on a circulated coin in the United States. His music and his life made him a great American.

Ella Fitzgerald was born in Newport News, Virginia. After her parent's divorce, Ella's mother moved her to Yonkers, New York. Ella's mother was killed in a car accident and she was sent back to Virginia where she got in trouble with the law and was sent to reform school. She broke out of school and made her way back to New York City during the heart of the Great Depression.

In 1934, Ella's name was pulled in a weekly drawing to perform at Amateur Night at the Apollo. She had planned on dancing, but when she heard that some of the best dancers in New York were going to close the show, she panicked and decided at the last minute to sing. In front of a rowdy crowd, she sang Hoagy Carnichael's "Judy." She quieted the audience and they were astounded by her performance. For the next year, she won every talent show she could find before joining a band lead by Chick Webb.

In mid-1936, she began singing swing and recorded her first song, "Love and Kisses." In 1938, at the age of 21, she recorded "A-tisket, A-tasket," that became a number one song for 17 weeks. Her national fame had begun.

In 1939, Ella started her own band and began touring the nation. She toured with greats such as Dizzy Gillespie and Louis Armstrong. Soon, Ella became an international star, recording covers of other musicians' albums. She also began appearing on television variety shows and was a frequent guest on "The Bing Crosby Show," "The Dinah Shore Show," and "The Ed Sullivan Show." During her time as a performer, she and her bands were subjected to racism and discrimination. Many famous performers came to her defense, including Marilyn Monroe, who helped her land a job at a very famous nightclub in the 1950's.

Off stage, Ella was greatly involved in the issue of child welfare. She made numerous donations to organizations for disadvantaged children. In 1979, she won the Kennedy Center Honors for her work in the arts. In 1987, she was awarded the National Medal of the Arts by President Reagan. In 1992, she was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President George H.W. Bush.

Ella Fitzgerald would be known as the First Lady of Song and her music helped shape American arts to this day. She recorded over 200 records in her career and was featured at Carnegie Hall 26 times. Her contribution to American music is unsurpassed and her passion for music made her a great American.

Aretha Franklin was born in Memphis, Tennessee in 1942. Her father was a preacher from Mississippi. At a young age, the family moved to Buffalo, New York before finally settling in Detroit, Michigan. Her father started Bethel Baptist Church and gained national renown as a preacher. Young Aretha was considered a child prodigy at music. She learned to play the piano and began recording her music in her church at the age of fourteen. She began touring the country and became friends with gospel greats Sam Cooke and Mahalia Jackson.

In 1960, with her father's blessing, Franklin traveled to New York where she signed with Columbia Records. She released her first album that year entitled, "The Great Aretha Franklin." She released several more albums with Columbia and her popularity grew. She performed on television shows such as "Shindig" and "Hollywood A Go-Go." Franklin was convinced that she could have more success singing in a different style. Her husband and manager Ted White convinced her to switch to Atlantic Records in 1967 and pursue a modern pop-soul direction. The move changed her career forever.

Immediately after signing with the new label, Franklin was paired up with the Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section out of Alabama. The result was the song "I Never Loved a Man," which became her first top 40 hit single. The following year, she recorded the song "Respect" and it would become her first number one single. In 1968, she received her first of eight consecutive Grammy Awards in the category of Best Female R&B Vocal Performance. She also became only the second African-American celebrity, after Martin Luther King, Jr., to make the cover of Time Magazine.

Franklin's music became a major inspiration for those involved in civil rights, feminism and black liberation. She became a symbol of black equality and a voice of the Civil Rights Movement. Franklin was given several titles, including "Soul Sister #1," "Lady Soul," and "Queen of Soul." She changed her look to a more "Afro-centric" hair style. She began to widen her audience by doing covers of the Beatles, Simon and Garfunkel and the Rolling Stones.

In the 1980's, Franklin continued her popularity in music as well as film. In 1980, she had a memorable role in the movie "The Blues Brothers." She recorded several more albums with producers Narada Michael Walden and Luther Vandross. She began filming music videos on MTV and became a pop superstar with a new generation.

She performed duets, Christmas specials and gospels. In 2008, she sang "My Country 'Tis of Thee" and the inauguration of President Barack Obama. She has won a total of 18 Grammy awards, had 17 Top 10 US hits, made numerous movie and television appearances, and received four honorary doctorates. She was award the National Medal of Arts by President Bill Clinton, the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President George W. Bush, named the ninth greatest artist of all time by Rolling Stone Magazine, and was the first female inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. She passed away in 2018, but her music lives on. She was truly a great American.

Ronald Hayes was born in Curryville, Georgia in 1887. His mother was a former slave. When his father died at the age of 11, Hayes moved to Chattanooga, Tennessee. He became entranced by Negro spiritual in church and loved music. At the age of 12, he heard a recording of the great Italian tenor Enrico Caruso and set his sights on classical music.

In 1905, Hayes started studying music at Fisk University in Nashville even though he had only completed the sixth grade. By 1911, he started performing with the university’s jubilee singers. He later moved to Boston and took music lessons there. By 1915, Hayes started performing in New York City. He would tour black churches in the south to earn money to pay for concert hall rental in New York. By 1917, his fame increased, performing at Carnegie Hall as well as music festivals throughout the country.

In 1920, he began lessons with Sir George Henschel and began touring Europe. He was even summoned to perform before King George V of England. By 1923, he returned to the United States and performed in Boston. The NAACP awarded him the Spingarn Medal in 1924. He became a regular with the Boston Symphony Orchestra Concert Company as well as a voice teacher. He began publishing musical scores of black spirituals.

Hayes continued to perform sparingly between 1940 and 1970. He was awarded honorary degrees from various colleges throughout the country. He performed his last concert in 1972. He is considered the first world-renowned African-American concert artist and possibly the greatest tenor in American history. His voice and accomplishments to the art of music made him a Great American.

Sometimes, she was simply known as Odetta. She was born in Birmingham, Alabama in 1930. After the death of her father at the age of seven, she and her mother moved to Los Angeles and Odetta began operatic training at the age of 13. After high school, she attended Los Angeles City College and was employed as a domestic worker. She graduated with a degree in music in 1950.

After college, she became a part of a traveling chorus for a production of Finian's Rainbow. Her life changed when the production arrived in San Francisco and she began listening to folk music in a Bohemian coffee shop. She was so moved, that she began learning guitar and left the theater company to take up singing jobs in San Francisco. In 1953, she moved to New York City and began singing at the Blue Angel Nightclub.

In 1956, she recorded her first solo album called "Odetta Sings Ballads and Blues." It became an instant hit. Bob Dylan later stated that the album inspired him to sing folk music. Odetta was featured in Time Magazine as one of the best folk singers in America. She recorded two more albums and in 1960, she was invited to deliver a concert at Carnegie Hall. Her rendition of the song "Take This Hammer" was picked as one of the top 100 songs in American history by Time Magazine.

In the 1960s, Odetta lent her voice to the cause of civil rights in America. She performed at rallies, demonstrations and other civil rights events. In 1963, she sang at the steps of the Lincoln Memorial after being introduced by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Odetta's became known as the Voice of the Civil Rights Movement. She influenced singers such as Bob Dylan, Joan Baez and Janis Joplin. She was awarded the National Medal of Arts in 1999 by President Bill Clinton. She was honored by the Kennedy Center and the Library of Congress for her work. She performed almost to the day of her death in 2008. One of her dreams was to perform at the inauguration of President Barack Obama, but she passed away just weeks before he took office. Her work and her voice made her a great American.

She was born Lena Douglas in Kansas City, Kansas in 1885. He father was an African Methodist Episcopalian minister. Her father was closely involved with Western University of Quindaro in Kansas, the first all-black school west of the Mississippi River. While she was a child, she spent much of her time on campus and took an interest in music.

Holt was married three times before she eventually enrolled in Western University. While she was there, she married her fourth husband, George Holt, a wealthy hotel owner and she changed her first name to “Nora.” Holt graduated valedictorian from Western with a degree in music in 1917. She then moved to Chicago where she enrolled in the Chicago Musical College. While working on her master’s, she contributed to the “Chicago Defender”, a black daily newspaper as a music critic. By 1918, she became the first African-American to earn a master’s degree in music.

After college, she co-founded the National Association of Negro Musicians. She then travelled to Europe and Asia, singing at nightclubs and private parties for the next 12 years. She composed over 200 works of orchestral music while living abroad. When she finally returned to the United States, she became a wild socialite and was considered a wealthy woman due to the inheritance from her late fourth husband. Holt did marry a fifth time, but the marriage did not last.

Eventually, she moved to Harlem and became an important part of the Harlem Renaissance. She became very close friends with Carl Van Vechten, a novelist and patron of the arts in Harlem. After time there, she moved to California and studied music at the University of Southern California. She began teaching in the Los Angeles area for the next several years. In the 1950’s, she began hosting a radio concert series called “Nora Holt’s Concert Showcase.” The show aired until 1964.

Throughout her life, Nora Holt made great contributions to music in America. Her writings, compositions, and critics of music helped others follow in her path. Nora Holt’s work in music made her a great American.

He was born Francis Hall Johnson on March 12, 1888 in Athens, Georgia. Johnson was the son of an African Methodist Episcopal Church minister. While he was a boy, Johnson was deeply moved by the spiritual music of his grandmother, a former slave. He began singing in church choirs at an early age. One day, he heard a violin recital by Joseph Henry Douglass, the grandson of Frederick Douglass. He was so moved by the experience that he taught himself to play the violin.

Johnson received a B.A. Degree from the University of Pennsylvania in 1910 and then was accepted into the Juilliard School to study music. He was also accepted into the University of Southern California to study music as well. In 1914, he settled in Harlem and began working as a musician by playing the violin and viola. He became a member of the coveted Negro String Quartet. He performed in the first black musical on Broadway, "Shuffle Along," with the famous Josephine Baker in the chorus.

In 1925, he formed the eight-member Hall Johnson Negro Choir. This group presented concerts and radio broadcasts in New York City as well as cutting records by 1928. His choir emphasized negro spirituals. He helped compose music for "The Green Pastures" and "Run Little Chillun" on Broadway. His music eventually made it into motion pictures such as "Lost Horizon" and "Cabin in the Sky."

His choir was renamed the Hall Johnson Choir and became internationally famous. He attracted singers and performers such as Marian Anderson to sing with his group. In 1951, his choir was selected by the State Department to represent the United States at the International Festival of Fine Arts in Berlin. During this time, Johnson began publishing articles about the history of spirituals. Johnson became fluent in both German and French and toured extensively throughout Europe.

Johnson toured, taught and lectured throughout the 1950s and 1960s. On April 30, 1970, Johnson died in an apartment fire in New York City at the age of 82. Marian Anderson eulogized him in the New York Times and he was inducted into the Black Filmmakers Hall of Fame. His vast collection of music and historical perspectives on black spirituals have made him a truly great American.

Robert Leroy Johnson was born in Hazelhurst, Mississippi. Most of his youth was spent in the northern Delta region. At the age of three, his family moved to Memphis. There, he began to play the harmonica and listening to blues musicians.

Popular folklore has it that he once stood at Mississippi crossroads and sold his soul to the devil. In exchange, he received the gift of playing the guitar. In reality, he became the student of a local blues man by the name of Ike Zimmerman and learned to play the guitar. From Zimmerman, he learned a new technique of guitar blues never heard before.

During the depression, he began earning a living as an entertainer with this new type of blues music. His music grew, and his performances moved out of the Delta into big cities such as St. Louis, Detroit and Chicago. The entire recorded output of his career was made in just three days in November of 1936 and two days in June of 1937. He recorded just 29 songs in his brief career before he was poisoned to death by a jealous husband of a woman he began seeing.

Today, Johnson is honored by the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame as one of the key musicians of the 20th Century. His music inspired the birth of the Rock & Roll genre, and his lyrics inspired such greats as the Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin, Eric Clapton and countless blues singers in American history. Despite the fact that his life was cut short at the age of 27, his contributions to music changed the world. Johnson is today remembered as a great American of the Blues.

Joplin was born near Linden, Texas. At the age of seven, his family moved to Texarkana, Texas. At a very early age, Joplin had a talent for playing music, especially banjo and piano. He took music lessons at the age of eleven and as a teenager, he worked as a dance musician. His lessons were conducted by the prominent German music professor Julius Weiss.

Joplin decided to become a travelling musician and he moved around the South and Midwest. It was hard for him to find work due to the color of his skin, so the only place available, besides churches, were brothels. In 1893, he arrived at the Chicago World's Fair and performed with a band playing cornet. This particular World's Fair is credited with spreading the popularity of ragtime music across the country.

He arrived in Sedalia, Missouri in 1894 and began writing, teaching and performing music. He enrolled in a music college in Sedalia where he studied advanced music theory. In 1898, he published "Original Rags" piano score, but was forced to share credit with Charles N. Daniels. Daniels was given credit as the composer as well as the copyright. Joplin obtained a lawyer for his next composition "The Maple Leaf Rag" and it became his most famous work. He received a one-cent royalty on each sale which gave him a steady income for the rest of his life. By 1909, nearly a half-million copies had been sold. He composed another work call "The Ragtime Dance" while in Sedalia.

In 1901, Joplin moved to St. Louis. While in St. Louis, be continued to publish and teach music. Alfred Ernst, conductor of the St. Louis Choral Symphony Society, called Joplin a genius as a composer of ragtime. He composed an opera in 1903 called "A Guest of Honor" about the dinner between President Theodore Roosevelt and black leader Booker T. Washington.

Scott Joplin revolutionized American music through the new ragtime genre. His numerous publications and his influence as a music teacher still echo to this day. His work and his contribution to music made Scott Joplin a great American.

Ellis Marsalis, Jr. was born in New Orleans, Louisiana in 1934 to Florence and Ellis, Sr. His father was a successful businessman and civil rights activist. At the age of eleven, he began a formal education in music at Xavier University Junior School of Music. He began as a tenor saxophonist, but switched to piano during high school. After high school, he attended Dillard University in New Orleans as a clarinet major. He graduated with a degree in Music Education in 1955. After college, he helped his father run the family motel business.

In 1956, Marsalis joined the Marines and was stationed in California. His skill as a musician allowed him entry into the "Corps Four," a marine jazz quartet that performed on radio and television shows. HIs music was used by the Marine Corps to help in recruiting efforts on commercials.

After serving in the Marines, he moved to the small town of Breaux Bridge, Louisiana and began teaching choir and band at the local high school. Two years later, he returned to New Orleans and began playing in various clubs in the city. In 1967, he was named an adjunct professor of African American Music at Xavier University. He attended Loyola University of New Orleans and received a Master's Degree in Music. He became a teacher at the New Orleans Center for Creative Arts, a music magnet school.

In 1986, Marsalis became a professor at Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond, Virginia. After three years as the coordinator of Jazz Studios, he returned to New Orleans to become the first occupant and Director of the Chair of Jazz Studies at the University of New Orleans. He developed a Jazz Orchestra that toured the United States and Brazil.

Marsalis has received five honorary Doctorate degrees, including one from the Juilliard School in New York City. He has appeared on numerous television shows such as Mr. Roger's Neighborhood, the Charlie Rose Show, The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson, Good Morning America and the Today Show. He has released numerous albums over the last three decades. Four of Marsalis' six children are nationally accomplished jazz musicians. His entire family received NEA Jazz Masters Award, the highest award in Jazz. They were the first ever group to receive this honor.

Now retired, Marsalis continues to play at the Snug Harbor Jazz Bistro on Friday nights. He still records albums both solo and with his sons. His impact on jazz is immeasurable. He became a major influence in such great musicians as Terence Blanchard, Nicholas Payton, Harry Connick, Jr., and his sons Branford, Delfeayo, Jason and Wynton. He passed away in 2020 from complications during the COVID-19 Outbreak. His life and music made him a great American.

Thelonious Monk was born in Rocky Mount, North Carolina. In 1922, his family moved to New York City and at the age of five, Thelonious began playing piano. He had no formal training in piano, but he became a natural at playing it. He attended Stuyvesant High School but did not graduate. Instead, he toured with a church group playing organ. It was at this time that he started to find work playing jazz.

In the early 1940's, Thelonious began playing in the house band of Minton's Playhouse. He started to develop his own style. Some found his style to be crazy and the work of an inferior pianist. In addition, his name, appearance, funny hats and personality led some to consider him very strange. However, greats like Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie could sense his greatness. Alfred Lion of Blue Note Records saw something great in Thelonious and began to record him in the late 1940's and early 1950's.

In 1955, Thelonious signed with Riverside Records and began to record classic albums such as "Brilliant Corners." His big break came in 1956 when his unique style, thought strange a few years earlier, became a sudden sensation. His recording career boomed and by 1962, he had signed with Columbia Records. In 1964, Thelonious made the cover of Time Magazine. He was considered one of America's jazz greats until his retirement in the mid-1970's.

He is considered today as one of the America's greatest jazz artists. Time Magazine credited him with helping bring jazz music out of the Swing era. His musical genius harkened in the age of Bop, changed the musical landscape of the nation, and solidified a place in history for himself as a great American.

Charlie Parker was born in Kansas City, Kansas in 1920 and raised in Kansas City, Missouri. His father was a stage entertainer and his mother was a maid. He was fascinated by the rich music of Kansas City such as gospel, jazz and blues. He began taking music lessons in public schools. By the time he was in high school, Parker began playing the alto saxophone. He started playing in local clubs and loved it so much that he dropped out of school to pursue a full-time music career.

Parker played in various Kansas City clubs from 1935 to 1937. He earned the nickname "Yardbird" which was shortened to just "Bird" in his early days as a musician. He then became involved in the Buster "Professor" Smith's Band as well as the Jay McShann's band. Now, Parker began to tour in Chicago and New York. By 1939, Parker had decided to stay in New York. He washed dishes just to get by in the rough times. He began playing with great musicians such as Dizzy Gillespie, Thelonious Monk and Miles Davis. Parker was involved in a car accident as a teenager and developed a morphine addiction while in the hospital. His addiction move into heroin and he suffered from it for the rest of his life.

He developed a new type of jazz known as "bebop." It was rejected by many of the established jazz greats, but the sound picked up a following by the younger generation. Unfortunately, there were no recordings of the new sound in the early 1940s because of the Musicians' Union ban on all commercial recordings. It was not until 1945 that Parker was able to record his new sound. It became an instant hit.

Parker played in night clubs throughout the United States and Europe during the late 40s and early 50s. His last performance was at a nightclub in New York called The Birdland in Charlie Parker's honor. Unfortunately, drug addiction took its toll and died in the suite of his friend and patron, Baroness Pannonica de Koenigswarter in New York City in 1955. He is buried in Kansas City, Missouri. Today, he is considered one of the greatest jazz musicians of all time. His music and innovations to the jazz genre have made Charlie Parker a great American.

Mary Violet Leontyne Price was born in 1927 in Laurel, Mississippi. Her father was a carpenter and her mother was a local midwife. At a very young age, Price showed an interest in music. A the age of she began formal training by a local teacher. When she was six, the family was able to buy her an upright piano. In addition, she began singing in the local church choir. When Price was 14 years old, she went on a school trip to Jackson, Mississippi to hear Marian Anderson sing, an experience that changed her life forever.

Price enrolled in the all-black Wilberforce College in Ohio to study music. She was encouraged to move her studies from playing music to singing. Upon graduation, a local family in Mississippi and the famous bass singer Paul Robeson put on a benefit concert on her behalf to raise money for her to attend the Juilliard School in New York City. She also won a scholarship to conduct her students at the prestigious institution. She was the student of famous vocal instructor Florence Page Kimball. Under Kimball’s guidance, Price became a standout at Juilliard. Her singing in school operas caught the eye of composer Virgil Thomson.

With Thomson’s help, Price made her Broadway debut in 1952 as St. Cecilia in “Four Saints in Three Acts.” She was then cast as Bess in George Gershwin’s “Porgy and Bess” and toured to rave reviews for the next two years. During the tour, she married co-star William Warfield. In 1955, she starred in the NBC Opera Theatre’s television production of “Tosca.” This led to a series of television operas for Price. In 1957, she debuted at the San Francisco Opera House and began gaining international attention. She travelled to England and Italy to perform as well as continuing performances in New York City. In 1961, she became a prima donna at the Metropolitan Opera House in New York. There, she was the principal soprano, most notably as Cleopatra in the opera “Antony and Cleopatra.” She became the first African-American singer to gain international laurels in the opera.

In 1985, she retired after her farewell performance in “Aida.” The performance was telecast and hailed as one of the most successful performances in the Met’s history. In 1964, she was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Lyndon B. Johnson. In the year of her retirement, she was awarded the National Medal of the Arts. Throughout her career, she won 19 Grammy Awards, a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award, and several honorary degrees. She has been hailed by many critics to be the greatest operatic soprano in American history. Her contribution to the art has made Leontyne Price a Great American.

Charley Pride was born in Sledge, Mississippi in 1938, the son of poor sharecroppers. He learned to play the guitar as a young boy, but his biggest love was baseball. In 1952, he became a pitcher for the Memphis Red Sox of the Negro American League. The following year, he signed a minor league contract with the New York Yankees. He continued to try out for major league baseball clubs with no success. In the off-season, he worked in construction in Montana and contemplated a career in music. Pride also had to served two years in the Army.

In 1963, Pride sang "Lovesick Blues" for Red Foley and Red Sovine backstage at a concert. They were impressed and encouraged him to go to Nashville. He signed a record deal with RCA in 1965. In 1966, his song "Just Between You and Me" was nominated for a Grammy. His country career took off. He had five #1 hits in the late 1960s and early 1970s, becoming the highest-selling artist for RCA since Elvis Presley. Pride had hits in the top 10 every year until 1984.

Pride became the second black country singer to perform at the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville. In his career, he was the CMA Male Vocalist of the Year twice and Entertainer of the Year once. He won three AMA awards and two Grammys. In 1994, the Academy of Country Music awarded Pride with their Pioneer Award. In 2000, he was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame. His 57 career albums make him one of the most prolific country western singers of all time. Pride is also part owner of the Texas Rangers Baseball Club. He passed away in 2020 from complications from COVID-19. His pioneering work in country music as an African-American artist broke barriers that made him a great American.

Paul Robeson was born in Princeton, New Jersey in 1898. His father was a Quaker minister and former slave. His mother died in a fire when he was six and his father lost his job and had to work low paying odd jobs. They were forced to move to Westfield, New Jersey where his father took a ministerial position at a local church.

Robeson excelled in academics as well as athletics. In 1915, he won a scholarship to Rutgers University. He became a member of the football, baseball, basketball and track teams. He experienced violence and racism from his teammates, yet he went on to win All-American honors in football and receive 15 varsity letters. It wasn't until 1998, after his death, that Robeson was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame. In addition to athletics, he joined the debate team and the Glee Club. He also sang in an off-campus club. In 1919, he was accepted Phi Beta Kappa and graduated with honors.

In 1919, he entered New York University Law School for a short time, but decided to transfer to Columbia University Law School in 1920. While in school he performed in plays and singing engagements. After law school, he briefly took a position at a law firm. When his white secretary refused to take dictation for a black man, he left the law firm to take a position in acting.

Robeson became a successful actor. He played the lead in Eugene O'Neill's, "All God's Chillun Got Wings" and "The Emperor Jones." His part in Shakespeare's "Othello" was the longest-running Shakespeare play in Broadway history. He played the part of "Joe" in the musical "Showboat." He traveled and performed in plays and concerts in Berlin, Paris, London, Moscow, Nairobi, Vienna, Prague, Amsterdam and Prague. He returned to the United States to star in motion pictures, a first for an African-American.

In 1934, Robeson enrolled in the School of Oriental and African Studies in London to study the phonetics of African languages. Soon, he learned 15 different languages. In 1935, he starred in the movie "Sanders of the River" in which he used the languages that he had learned for the acting part to bring realism to movie. With his new interest in Africa, he became an advocate for political independence for African colonies.

In the 1940's, Robeson spoke out against racism in America. He became an outspoken critic of the military's racism to the point where he openly questioned why any African-American should fight for a "racist" military. He worked for a peaceful coexistence between the United States and the Soviet Union during the Cold War. He was accused of being a communist by the House Un-American Activities Committee and had his passport revoked for the next eight years.

Robeson was a truly remarkable man of many talents. He continued to perform concerts, write, and give speeches up until his death. He became one of the greatest performance artists in American history and has recently been recognized for his athletic accomplishments, writings and civil rights activism. His story is one of a great American.

Rosetta Nubin was born in Cotton Plant, Arkansas in 1915. Both of her parents were musicians, but her mother was a preacher in a church that encouraged musical expression. Rosetta began playing guitar and singing at the age of four and was considered a musical prodigy. In the mid-1920s, Rosetta and her mother moved to Chicago and her musical career blossomed within a church circuit. When she was 19, she married Rev. Thomas Tharpe, but left him with her mother at the age 23. Despite marrying again, she kept her stage name “Sister Rosetta Tharpe” for the rest of her life.

After leaving her husband and moving to New York City, Rosetta signed with Decca Records and recorded her first songs. Her gospel music became an instant hit and she became one the first commercially successful gospel singers in America. Her music was shocking at the time becasue it mixed gospel lyrics with secular music. She began performing with Cab Calloway at Harlem’s Cotton Club. in late 1938, she performed at Carnegie Hall. Her musical style was revolutionary in that she sang gospels at nightclubs.

Despite falling out of favor with traditional gospel singers and church-goers. During World War II, she recorded “Strange Things Happening Every Day” and became one of only two gospel singers to be recorded for the troops overseas. The song became the first gospel song to hit the top ten in Billboard’s R&B charts. Some even credit the song to be the first-ever rock and roll song ever recorded.

After World War II, Tharpe paired up with Marie Knight and recorded the hit “Up Above My Head.” They toured the country with great success. However, their popularity took a downturn in the early 1950s as Rosetta preferred to sing gospel while Knight turned to more popular tunes. In the 1957, Rosetta toured England with great success. In the early 1960s, there was a resurgence in the blues and her popularity soared once again. She toured Europe and the United States.

In 1970, she suffered a stroke and had her leg amputated. The night before she was to record her first album after the stroke, Rosetta passed away due to another stroke. Her contribution to American music is without compare. Her mixture of gospel, blues, swing and traditional folk helped in the development of Rock and Roll. Johnny Cash and Little Richard both said that she was their favorite singer. Elvis Presley, Tina Turner and Chuck Berry both sited her influence on their music. Her contributions to the fabric of American music made Sister Rosetta Tharpe a Great America.

Thomas Wright "Fats" Waller was born in New York City in 1904. He began playing piano at the age of six and by the age of ten was playing the organ at his father's church. By the age of 14, Waller was playing at the Lincoln Theater in Harlem and within a year, he composed his first rag. In October of 1922, he recorded his first two records. Despite the objections of his father, he continued to work in this style of music as the protege of the famous stride-style of jazz piano pioneer James P. Johnson.

Waller's fame increased and his popularity rose in the United States and Europe. He signed a record deal with Victor Records. He wrote such classics as "Ain't Misbehavin’," "Squeeze Me," and "Honeysuckle Rose." His fame was so great that one night in 1926, he was kidnapped at gunpoint by a Al Capone's henchmen. Fortunately for Waller, he was taken as a guest to Al Capone's 27th birthday party. The party raged for three days straight and Capone and Waller ate and drank together. He made thousands of dollars in tips at the party.

Waller toured all over the country and Europe. He was even featured in one of the first-ever broadcasts of the BBC (British Broadcasting Company). However, his lifestyle and workload took its tole on Waller and he died of pneumonia near Kansas City Missouri in 1943. Today, Waller considered one of the greatest musicians of the 20th Century. He was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1984. His musical work during his short life made "Fats" Waller a great American.

Marie Smith was born sometime in 1849 in Natchez Mississippi. Soon after her birth, her family moved to Cincinnati. When a local wealthy family there discovered her talent for singing, they privately funded voice lessons for her. Her talent was so profound that she was sent to study in both San Francisco and Chicago. While in Chicago, she studied the Italian method of singing. There, she met Sampson Williams, also a voice student and later they married.

She began performing in 1876. After several performances, she was noticed by renowned abolitionist and civil rights leader Frederick Douglass. He was so taken with her abilities that he arranged for her to become the first African-American to perform at the White House. On November 14, 1878, Williams and her husband performed for President Rutherford B. Hayes and his wife in the Green Room of the White House. There, she performed “Staccato Polka” by Mulder, “Ave Maria” by Schubert, and “The Last Rose of Summer” by Verdi. Her husband also performed.

Because of her performance at the White House, Williams was asked to sing at Philadelphia’s Academy of Music and New York’s Steinway Hall. In 1882, she and her husband performed throughout Europe. There, she was considered one of the world’s greatest coloratura sopranos. In 1883, she performed at St. James’ Hall for Queen Victoria of England. She took the stage name “Selika” after a character in Giacomo Meyerbeer’s opera “L’Africaine.” Her rendition of Mulder’s “Staccato Polka” was so widely praised that she was often called the “Queen of Staccato.”

Williams and her husband returned to the United States and toured throughout the country. Despite being the leading Prima Donna of her time, she was not allowed to perform in many venues due to the color of her skin. The couple left once again to tour Europe, but returned in 1893 to perform at the Columbian Exposition in Chicago. In 1896, she was invited to perform at Carnegie Hall.

When her husband died in 1911, she retired from singing and took a teaching job at a music school in New York City. She also gave private lessons. She died in 1937. Williams was one of the greatest singers in American history. Her mastery of singing helped her to break a color barrier at the White House. Her fame was known throughout the world. Her story is one of a great American.