Robert Rihmeek Williams, also known as Meek Mill, is a rapper, songwriter, and activist. Williams was born on May 6, 1987 to Kathy Williams and an unnamed father in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Williams’s father died when he was five years old in a robbery attempt. Growing … Read MoreMeek Mill/ Robert Rihmeek Williams (1987- )
Composer, librettist, and pianist Michael D. Raphael was born January 12, 1952, in Norfolk, Virginia, to Latham Hill, Sr., a factory worker, and Lillian Walton Hill, a trained social worker. His name at birth was Michael Hill. He grew up in the mostly Black town … Read MoreMichael Raphael (1952-2015)
Lyric Contralto and songwriter Mickey Guyton was born in Arlington, Texas, on June 17, 1983, to Michael Eugene Guyton and Phyllis Ann Roddy. However, her name at birth was Candace Mycale Guyton, and she was the second child of four children. As a youth, she … Read MoreMickey Guyton (1983- )
Composer, baritone, pianist, lyricist, and actor John Legend was born John Roger Stephens on December 28, 1978, in Springfield, Ohio, to Ronald Lamar Stephens, a percussionist, and handcrafter and Phyllis Elaine Lloyd, a seamstress and Choir Director. He was surrounded by music at home and … Read MoreJohn Legend/John Roger Stephens (1978- )
Rosemary Sauvageau Nestingen is a musical composer, a pianist, and the first African American woman to be crowned Miss North Dakota. Sauvageau was born on January 31, 1988, in Fargo, North Dakota. Sauvageau was a musical child prodigy, as she began playing the piano at … Read MoreRosemary Sauvageau Nestingen (1988- )
As a child, concert violinist and professor Elwyn A. Adams was a musical prodigy of some notoriety in the African American community of Cleveland, Ohio, where he was born on August 3, 1933. At age five he gave his first violin recital at East Mt. … Read MoreElwyn Albert Adams (1933-1995)
World-class symphony conductor Rafael Payare was born February 23, 1980 in the northern port city of Puerto la Cruz, Venezuela, the son of cartographer Juan R. Payare and elementary school teacher Trina Torres de Payare. In 1994, at age 13, Payare began studying French horn … Read MoreRafael Payare (1980- )
American singer, songwriter, and producer, Charles Kent Wilson, best known as Charlie Wilson, was born on January 29, 1953 to Reverend Oscar and Lucy Wilson in Tulsa, Oklahoma. His father was a Church of God in Christ minister. His mother was a pianist and minister … Read MoreCharlie Wilson (1953- )
Actor, rapper, singer, songwriter, and record producer Terrence Deshon Howard is best known for his role as Lucius Lyons, music mogul, in the TV series Empire for which he won the BET Best Actor Award in 2015. While he began his career appearing on several … Read MoreTerrence Howard (1969- )
Mathematician Floyd Leroy Williams was born on September 20, 1939 in Kansas City, Missouri. He attended his local schools, and in his senior year of high school, he was offered a scholarship to Lincoln University of Missouri to study music. Williams studied Classical Piano and … Read MoreFloyd Leroy Williams (1939- )
