Johnnie Harrison Taylor was an R&B and gospel singer prominent in the 1960s and 1970s. His career crossed genres and generations spanning around four decades and resulting in three Grammy nominations. He has released dozens of albums and was inducted in to the Arkansas Black Hall of Fame in 1999. Taylor was born … Read MoreJohnnie Harrison Taylor (1934-2000)
India Arie is a four-time Grammy award-winning singer, songwriter, actress, and record producer. She has sold over 10 million records worldwide. Arie was born in Denver, Colorado on October 3, 1975 to parents Joyce and Ralph Simpson. When she was 13, her parents divorced and Arie moved with her … Read MoreIndia Arie/India Arie Simpson (1975- )
Donna Summer, a five-time Grammy winner, was born LaDonna Adrian Gaines on December 31, 1948, in Boston, Massachusetts, to Andrew and Mary Gaines. Her father, a butcher, and her mother, a schoolteacher, were parents to seven children. Her experience singing in a church choir was enough to convince … Read MoreDonna Summer (1948-2012)
Betty Wright was an award-winning soul singer and songwriter who was highly popular throughout the 1970s and 1980s. She was the first black woman to earn a gold album on her own record label. She released her first album at 14, My First Time Around, and had her first … Read MoreBetty Wright (1953-2020)
A tenor with a four-octave vocal range, Jackie Wilson was one of the most talented and dynamic R&B singers of the 1950s and 1960s. Nicknamed “Mr. Excitement,” Wilson was a charismatic, masterful performer who consistently released hits. Jackie Leroy Wilson was born on June 9, 1934 in Detroit, Michigan, the … Read MoreJackie Wilson (1934-1984)
Parliament/Funkadelic (or P-Funk) is an American Funk music collective founded by George Clinton and largely credited with being the “architects” of the Funk genre. Parliament/Funkadelic recorded over 40 hit singles, as well as three platinum albums. Inspired by Motown, Clinton gradually built up an ensemble of over 50 … Read MoreGeorge Clinton and Parliament/Funkadelic (1964-1981)
In 1966, James Carr recorded the soul ballad “The Dark End of the Street,” a song that became a Top 10 rhythm-and-blues hit. Rather than having one of the more prolific careers in soul music history, James Carr’s impact was short-lived but still significant. Born in Clarksdale, Mississippi to a minister … Read MoreJames E. Carr (1942-2001)
Antoine “Fats” Domino, an early rock and roll musician, was born in New Orleans, Louisiana on February 26, 1928, to Antoine Domino, a former plantation worker, and Donatile Gros, a Creole of light complexion. Fats, as he was soon called because of his weight, was raised in a large … Read MoreAntoine “Fats” Domino (1928-2017)
Known as the Queen of R&B, Ruth Brown was a rhythm and blues singer and actress who crusaded for musicians’ rights. Brown was born Portsmouth, Virginia, on January 12, 1928. After a string of unfortunate events, Brown ended up in Washington, D.C. There, important people … Read MoreRuth Brown (1928-2006)
Willie Mae “Big Mama” Thornton was a blues singer and songwriter whose recordings of “Hound Dog” and “Ball ‘n’ Chain” later were transformed into huge hits by Elvis Presley and Janis Joplin. Willie Mae Thornton was born on December 11, 1926 outside of Montgomery in … Read MoreWillie Mae “Big Mama” Thornton (1926-1984)
