05/21/1917 - 01/06/1993
John Birks "Dizzy" Gillespie October 21, 1917 – January 6, 1993 was an American jazz trumpet player, bandleader, singer, and composer dubbed "the sound of surprise
Larry Adler (Lawrence Cecil Adler)
02/14/1914 - 08/07/2001
Lawrence "Larry" Cecil Adler was an American musician, widely acknowledged as one of the world's most skilled harmonica players. During the later stage of his career he was known for his collaborations with p...
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Tom Fogerty (Thomas Richard Fogerty)
11/09/1941 - 08/06/1990
Thomas Richard "Tom" Fogerty (November 9, 1941 – September 6, 1990) was a musician best known as the guitarist in Creedence Clearwater Revival and the elder brother of John Fogerty, the lead singer and guitar player in that band.
06/14/1936 - 07/01/2005
Renaldo "Obie" Benson (June 14, 1936 – July 1, 2005) was an American soul and R&B singer and songwriter. He was best known as the bass of Motown group the Four Tops, which he joined in 1953 and continued to perform with for ove...
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07/06/1925 - 02/09/1981
Bill Haley (July 6, 1925 – February 9, 1981) was one of the first American rock and roll musicians. He is credited by many with first popularizing this form of music in the early 1950s with his group Bill Haley & His Comets and their hit...
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Peter Tosh (Winston Hubert McIntosh)
10/19/1944 - 09/11/1987
Peter Tosh, born Winston Hubert McIntosh (19 October 1944 – 11 September 1987), was a Jamaican reggae musician who was a major member of the musical band The Wailers (1963-1974), and who afterward had a successful solo career as well as...
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01/23/1910 - 05/16/1953
Jean "Django" Reinhardt (23 January 1910 – 16 May 1953) was a pioneering virtuoso jazz guitarist and composer
Buddy Rich (Bernard Rich )
09/30/1917 - 04/02/1987
Bernard "Buddy" Rich (September 30, 1917 – April 2, 1987) was an American jazz drummer and bandleader. Rich was billed as "the world's greatest drummer" and was known for his virtuosic technique, power, groove, and sp...
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Buddy Holly (Charles Hardin Holley)
09/07/1936 - 02/03/1959
Charles Hardin Holley (September 7, 1936 – February 3, 1959) known professionally as Buddy Holly, was an American singer-songwriter and a pioneer of rock and roll. Although his success lasted only a year and a half before his death in a...
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03/17/1919 - 02/15/1965
Nathaniel Adams Coles (March 17, 1919 – February 15, 1965), known professionally as Nat King Cole, was an American musician who first came to prominence as a leading jazz pianist. Although an accomplished pianist, he owes most of his popular...
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09/20/1927 - 02/06/2010
Sir John Phillip William Dankworth (20 September 1927 – 6 February 2010), known in his early career as Johnny Dankworth, was an English jazz composer, saxophonist and clarinetist. He was the husband of jazz singer Dame Cleo Laine, who surviv...
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09/28/1928 - 06/03/2009
Koko Taylor sometimes spelled KoKo Taylor (September 28, 1928 – June 3, 2009) was an American blues musician, popularly known as the "Queen of the Blues." She was known primarily for her rough, powerful vocals and traditional blues...
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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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07/07/1911 - 02/01/2007
Gian Carlo Menotti (July 7, 1911 – February 1, 2007) was an Italian-American composer and librettist.