Baritone and arranger Joe Simon was born on September 2, 1943, in Simmesport, Louisiana. He picked cotton in the fields as a young boy and began singing in his father’s Baptist church. In 1953, the Simon family relocated to Richmond, California. As a teenager, he … Read MoreJoe Simon (1943- )
Iconic disco era singer Evelyn King was born on July 1, 1960, in New York, New York to Johnniea and Erik King. Her father sang with doo wop groups at the Apollo Theater and her mother managed an R&B group called Quality Red. King sang … Read MoreEvelyn “Champagne” King (1960- )
Composer, Lyricist, balladeer, R&B baritone Luther Thomas Ingram was born on November 30, 1937, in Jackson, Tennessee, to Richard Lee and Callie Ingram, both musicians at Walnut Grove Baptist Church located in Jackson. Luther’s early education began at the West Bemis Rosenwald School in 1943. … Read MoreLuther Ingram (1937-2007)
Bass guitarist, vocalist Jermaine LaJuane Jackson was born on December 11, 1954, in Gary, Indiana, to Joseph Walter Jackson, a steelworker and manager of the family’s band from Fountain Hill, Arkansas, and Kattie B. Screws Jackson, a homemaker from Clayton, Alabama. He is the fourth … Read MoreJermaine LaJuane Jackson (1954 – )
Rapper, singer, songwriter, and entrepreneur known by his stage name, Nelly, was born Cornell Iral Haynes Jr., on November 2, 1974, in Austin, Texas to Rhonda (Mack) and Cornell Haynes. Haynes’ father was in the U.S. Air Force, and shortly after his birth, the family … Read MoreCornell “Nelly” Iral Haynes Jr. (1974- )
Megan Jovon Ruth Pete is a female rap artist, singer and songwriter best known by her stage name “Megan Thee Stallion.” Pete was born in San Antonio, Texas on February 15, 1995, to her mother, Holly Aleece Thomas, a rapper who went by the name … Read MoreMegan “Thee Stallion” Jovon Ruth Pete (1995- )
Balladeer and Lyric Baritone Lenny Welch was born Leon Welch on May 15, 1938, in Asbury Park, New Jersey. He was reared by godparents Eva and Robert Richardson and attended Asbury Park High School but left in the 10th grade in 1956. In 1957, when … Read MoreLenny Welch (1938 – )
Legendary Composer, singer, lyricist Mary Wells was born Mary Esther Wells on May 13, 1943, in Detroit, Michigan to Arthur Wells and Geneva Campbell Wells. Her brothers were Thomas and Fletcher. When she was two years old, Wells was diagnosed with spinal meningitis and partial … Read MoreMary Wells (1943-1992)
Denise Katrina Matthews—singer, songwriter, actress, model, and dancer—was born on January 4, 1959 to a Polish-German Jewish mother, Helga Senyk, and an African American father, Levia James Matthews, in Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada. She also had two sisters Patricia and Renay Matthews. Her parents divorced … Read MoreDenise Katrina “Vanity” Matthews (1959-2016)
Donny Hathaway—singer, pianist, producer, composer, and one of R&B’s strongest talents—was born Donny Edward Pitts on October 1, 1945, in Chicago, Illinois. Hathaway was raised in the Carr Square Housing Projects of St. Louis, Missouri, by his grandmother, Martha Pitts. At the age of three, Hathaway began singing … Read MoreDonny Hathaway (1945-1979)
