Louie Bluie (Howard Donald Armstrong)
03/04/1909 - 07/30/2003
Howard "Louie Bluie" Armstrong was an African American string band and cantry blues musician who played fiddle, mandolin and guitar and also sang. He was also a notable visual artist and raconteur.
05/07/1931 - 10/17/2007
Teresa Brewer (7 May 1931 – 17 October 2007) was an American pop singer whose style incorporated elements of country, jazz, R&B, musicals and novelty songs.
01/23/1910 - 05/16/1953
Jean "Django" Reinhardt (23 January 1910 – 16 May 1953) was a pioneering virtuoso jazz guitarist and composer
09/23/1926 - 07/17/1967
John William Coltrane (sometimes abbreviated "Trane"; September 23, 1926 – July 17, 1967) was an American jazz saxophonist and composer. He was prolific, organizing at least fifty recording sessions as a leader during his reco...
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01/03/1810 - 05/17/1849
Frédéric François Chopin (22 February or 1 March 1810 – 17 October 1849) was a Polish composer, virtuoso pianist, and music teacher of French–Polish parentage. He w...
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06/03/1941 - 12/26/1999
Curtis Lee Mayfield was an American soul, R&B, and funk singer, songwriter, and record producer best known for his anthemic music with The Impressions and for composing the soundtrack to the blaxploitation ...
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06/29/1943 - 04/10/2003
Eva Narcissus Boyd (June 29, 1943 – April 10, 2003), known by the stage name of Little Eva (after a character from Uncle Tom's Cabin), was an American pop singer.
03/01/1904 - 12/15/1944
Alton Glenn Miller (March 1, 1904 – missing in action December 15, 1944) was an American jazz musician (trombone), arranger, composer, and bandleader in the swing era. He was one of the best-selling recording artists from 1939 to 1943, leadi...
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Kate Smith (Kathryn Elizabeth Smith)
05/01/1907 - 06/17/1986
Kathryn Elizabeth "Kate" Smith (May 1, 1907 – June 17, 1986) was an American singer, best known for her rendition of Irving Berlin's "God Bless America". Smith had a radio, television, and recording career spanning fi...
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Spike Jones (Lindley Armstrong Jones)
12/14/1911 - 05/01/1965
Lindley Armstrong "Spike" Jones (December 14, 1911 – May 1, 1965) was a popular musician and bandleader specializing in performing satirical arrangements of popular songs.
Art Blakey (Arthur Blakey)
10/11/1919 - 10/16/1990
Arthur "Art" Blakey (October 11, 1919 – October 16, 1990), known later as Abdullah Ibn Buhaina, was an American jazz drummer and bandleader.
01/05/1917 - 09/10/2007
Jane Wyman (born Sarah Jane Mayfield; January 5, 1917 – September 10, 2007) was an American singer, dancer, and character actress of film and television.
04/04/1913 - 04/04/1983
McKinley Morganfield, known as Muddy Waters, was an American blues musician, generally considered the Father of modern Chicago blues. A major inspiration for the British blues explosion in the 1960s, Muddy was ranked #17...
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01/20/1888 - 12/06/1949
Huddie William Ledbetter (January 20, 1888 – December 6, 1949) was an American folk-blues singer, songwriter, and guitarist whose ability to perform a vast repertoire of songs, in conjunction with his notoriously violent life, made him a leg...
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05/11/1888 - 09/22/1989
Irving Berlin (May 11, 1888 – September 22, 1989) was an American composer and lyricist, widely considered one of the greatest American songwriters in history.