PEOPLE KNOWN FOR: instrumentalists
The true story of the music legend who inspired the film Deliver Me from Nowhere.
Bruce Springsteen is an American singer, songwriter, and bandleader who became the archetypal rock performer of the 1970s and ’80s. With his poetic lyrics describing the lives of everyday Americans, his...
American musician
Louis Armstrong was the leading trumpeter of the 20th century and one of the most influential artists in jazz history. He was the genre’s first superstar, known worldwide as “Satchmo.” Armstrong helped...
British-American guitarist
Slash is a British-American guitarist whose emotional playing, whether in melodic solos or bluesy yet heavy riffs, makes him one of the greatest rock guitarists. He has most famously played for the band...
American musician
Miles Davis was an American jazz musician and one of the major influences on the art from the late 1940s to the end of the 20th century. A titan of modern jazz music, Davis was an outstanding trumpeter...
American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and actress
Dolly Parton was an American country music singer-songwriter, guitarist, and actress who pioneered the interface between country and pop music styles and became one of the most iconic entertainment figures...
American musician
Benny Goodman was an American jazz musician, bandleader, and 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 was an 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...
American musician
Jerry Garcia was the singer, songwriter, and lead guitarist of the Grateful Dead, a San Francisco-based group that emerged from the Haight-Ashbury psychedelic-drug-and-music scene in the mid-1960s. He...
German composer and musician
Carl Maria von Weber was a 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
John Coltrane was an American jazz saxophonist, bandleader, and composer whose innovative improvisational styles made him an iconic figure of 20th-century jazz. Coltrane’s first musical influence was his...
Italian composer
Domenico Scarlatti was an Italian composer noted particularly for his 555 keyboard sonatas, which substantially expanded the technical and musical possibilities of the harpsichord. Domenico, the son of...
British musician
Paul McCartney is a British vocalist, songwriter, composer, bass player, poet, and painter whose work with the Beatles in the 1960s helped lift popular music from its origins in the entertainment business...
American entertainer
Sammy Davis, Jr. was an American singer, dancer, actor, and entertainer who broke down barriers for African American performers in the 20th century. Considered a consummate showman, he earned the nickname...
American musician
Duke Ellington was an 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...
Indian musician and composer
Amjad Ali Khan is an Indian sarod player and music composer, celebrated for his contributions to Hindustani classical music and for bringing the sarod to global audiences. Across a career that has lasted...
British musician
Elton John is a British singer, composer, and pianist who became one of the most popular entertainers of the late 20th century with such indelible hit songs as “Rocket Man,” “Crocodile Rock,” and “Candle...
Canadian musician, singer, and songwriter
Neil Young is a 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...
Dutch-born American guitarist
Eddie Van Halen was a Dutch-born American guitarist and cofounder of the heavy metal band Van Halen, for which he served as the primary songwriter. He was known for his virtuosic electric guitar playing...
Italian composer
Luigi Boccherini was an 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...
American author and musician
James McBride is an American author and musician known for his acclaimed works of historical fiction and autobiography, including the best-selling memoir The Color of Water (1996) and the National Book...
American musician
Charlie Parker was an American alto saxophonist, composer, and bandleader. He was a lyric artist generally considered the greatest jazz saxophonist. Parker was the principal stimulus of the modern jazz...
American musician and recording executive
Herb Alpert is an American trumpeter and music industry executive known for leading the band Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass and for cofounding A&M Records. Hit albums by Alpert, one of the best-selling...
Cuban-born American musician and actor
Desi Arnaz was a Cuban-born American musician, actor, and business executive who was best known for the classic television series I Love Lucy (1951–57), in which he starred with his real-life wife, Lucille...
American musician and composer
Jaco Pastorius was an American jazz bassist, composer, and bandleader, considered one of the most innovative and influential electric bass players in the history of jazz. His technical virtuosity, distinctive...
American musician
Willie Nelson is an American songwriter and guitarist who became one of the most popular and enduring country music singers of the late 20th and early 21st centuries. Nelson learned to play guitar from...
American musician
Count Basie was an 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...
American musician
Frank Zappa was an American composer, guitarist, and satirist of the 1960s, ’70s, and ’80s. One of the great polymaths of the rock era who, arguably, possessed a broader range of skills and interests than...
American actor and musician
Will Smith is an American actor and musician whose charisma and quick wit helped him transition from rap music to a successful career in acting. Smith’s notable films include the blockbusters Bad Boys...
South African musician and composer
Abdullah Ibrahim was a South African musician and composer who combined traditional South African music, American and European jazz, and classical music. He performed under the name Dollar Brand before...
Indian musician and composer
Ravi Shankar was an Indian musician, sitar virtuoso, and composer, who was influential in stimulating Western appreciation of classical Indian music. He composed several ragas and provided the musical...
British musician
Ginger Baker was an English drummer and percussionist known for his flamboyant playing style that incorporated intricate polyrhythms influenced by jazz, rock, and West African music. Baker was widely considered...
Russian musician
Sergey Rachmaninoff was a 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...
Cameroonian musician
Manu Dibango was a 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
R. Kelly is an American singer, songwriter, producer, and multi-instrumentalist who was one of the best-selling rhythm-and-blues (R&B) artists of the 1990s and early 21st century, known for his gospel-tinged...
American singer and songwriter
Woody Guthrie was an 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...
American musician
Dave Grohl is an American musician best known as the founder and lead singer of the alternative rock band Foo Fighters and the former drummer of the influential 1990s grunge rock band Nirvana. Grohl is...
American musician
Eubie Blake was an American pianist and composer of ragtime music, popular and vaudeville tunes, and scores for musical theater—most notably Shuffle Along (1921), his groundbreaking collaboration with...
American singer, songwriter, musician, and producer
Prince was an American singer, guitarist, songwriter, producer, dancer, and performer on keyboards, drums, and bass who was among the most talented musicians of his generation. Like Stevie Wonder, he was...
American musician
Travis Barker is a high-energy drummer best known as a member of the pop-punk band blink-182 and considered “one of the most famous drummers of the new millennium” by Rolling Stone magazine. Barker also...
American musician
Louis Prima was an American jazz musician, songwriter, and bandleader best known for his exuberant onstage personality, raspy voice, and composition of the swing music classics “Sing, Sing, Sing” and “Jump,...
American musician
Link Wray was an American guitarist and songwriter who is often credited with introducing the power chord (a simplified chord, commonly played on the electric guitar, based on the root and fifth notes...
American musician
Dave Brubeck was a 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...
American musician
George Strait is an 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 musician
Gene Krupa was an 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....
American musician
Jerry Lee Lewis was an American singer and pianist whose virtuosity, ecstatic performances, and colorful personality made him a legendary rock music pioneer. Indeed, one of the most notorious musicians...
American musician
Muddy Waters was a dynamic American blues guitarist and singer who played a major role in creating the post-World War II electric blues that typified the Chicago blues style. His music profoundly influenced...
French composer and conductor
Pierre Boulez was the 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 composer and musician
Glenn Miller was an 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...
German composer and producer
Hans Zimmer is a German composer and producer known for scoring numerous award-winning films and soundtracks, including The Lion King (1994) and Dune: Part One (2021). He is widely regarded as one of Hollywood’s...
American musician
Jimi Hendrix was an 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...