10/09/1940 - 12/08/1980
John Winston Ono Lennon was an English musician and singer-songwriter who rose to worldwide fame as one of the founding members of The Beatles, one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular mu...
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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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Red Garland (William Garland)
05/13/1923 - 04/23/1984
William "Red" Garland (May 13, 1923 – April 23, 1984) was an American hard bop jazz pianist whose block chord style, in part originated by Milt Buckner, influenced many forthcoming pianists in the...
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01/16/1979 - 08/25/2001
Brooklyn-born and Detroit-raised R&B singer Aaliyah hit the big time in her early teens with a spate of hit records before she embarked at the ripe old age of twenty on a film acting career. A losing appearance on "Star Search" at ag...
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03/31/1913 - 09/23/2006
Etta Baker (March 31, 1913 – September 23, 2006) was a Piedmont blues guitarist and singer. Etta’s music ranges over a century of music styles and influences from 19th century parlor music to post-WW II electric blues.
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
08/06/1930 - 08/14/2010
Anna Marie Wooldridge (August 6, 1930 – August 14, 2010),better known by her stage name Abbey Lincoln, was a jazz vocalist, songwriter, and actress.
Bud Freeman (Lawrence Freeman)
04/13/1906 - 03/15/1991
Lawrence "Bud" Freeman (April 13, 1906 - March 15, 1991) was a U.S. jazz musician, bandleader, and composer, known mainly for playing the tenor saxophone, but also able at the clarinet. He was one of the most influential and important ja...
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08/20/1942 - 08/10/2008
Isaac Lee Hayes, Jr. (August 20, 1942 – August 10, 2008) was an American songwriter, musician, singer, and occasionally an actor. Hayes was one of the creative geniuses behind the southern soul music label Stax Records, where he...
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02/27/1923 - 04/25/1990
Dexter Gordon (February 27, 1923 – April 25, 1990) was an American jazz tenor saxophonist and an Academy Award-nominated actor (Round Midnight, Warner Bros, 1986). He is regarded as one of the first and most importan...
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04/28/1924 - 02/07/2009
Blossom Dearie (April 28, 1924 – February 7, 2009) was an American jazz singer and pianist, often performing in the bebop genre and remembered for her girlish voice
Jelly Morton (Ferdinand Joseph LaMothe)
09/20/1885 - 07/10/1941
Ferdinand Joseph LaMothe (September 20, 1885 – July 10, 1941), known professionally as Jelly Roll Morton, was an American ragtime and early jazz pianist, bandleader and composer.
Jerry Goldsmith (Jerrald King Goldsmith)
02/10/1929 - 07/21/2004
Jerrald King "Jerry" Goldsmith (February 10, 1929 – July 21, 2004) was an American composer and conductor most known for his work in film and television scoring.
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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