James Brown – “The Godfather of Soul” was born on May 3, 1933 in South Carolina. Before James Brown was a singer-songwriter, musician, record producer and a major pioneer of funk music he was a gospel singer in Georgia where he would later join an R&B group, the Gospel Starlighters in the late 1950s. However it wasn’t until the 1960 that he would get his success with hit singles such as “Papa’s Got A Brand New Bag” and “I Got You (I Feel Good)”. Throughout his entire career, James had 17 songs that reached number one on the Billboard R&B charts while also holding the record for the most singles listed on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. He has also received many awards and honors such as the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and the Songwriters Hall of Fame. James Brown continued to perform and record until he passed away in 2006 from pneumonia.
Ray Charles – Born in Georgia on in 1930 on September 23, Ray Charles helped pioneer the ‘soul music’ genre during the early 1950s by combining the influences he grew up with of blues, rhythm and blues and gospel. Over his 70 year music career Charles has been inducted into the Georgia Music Hall of Fame, was given a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, Rhythm and Blues Music Hall of Fame and many more. Two years before his passing, Rolling Stone ranked Charles number 10 on their “100 Greatest Artists of All Time”. Ray Charles changed the way music is played today while inspiring many of today’s greats including Billy Joel who stated “This may sound like sacrilege, but I think Ray Charles was more important than Elvis Presley”.
Jimi Hendrix – Being described as “arguably the greatest instrumentalist in the history of rock music”, taking over the music scene in the mid 1960s. Hendrix was born in Seattle, Washington in 1942 on November 27th. At the age of 15 he started to play guitar and in 1961 he moved to Clarksville, Tennessee beginning to play shows that would earn him a place in the Isley Brothers’ band which would lead him into playing with Little Richard into mid-1965. After moving to England in 1966, he would later be discovered by The Animals, Chas Chandler, becoming his first manager. Within’ three month, Hendrix earned three UK top ten hits with “Hey Joe”, “Purple Haze” and “The Wind Cries Mary” but would later achieve fame in the U.S. after his performance at the Monterey Pop Festival in 1967. Although Jimi passed away at a young age of 27 in 1970, he has been named the Rock Guitarist of the Year in 1970, was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame and the UK Music Hall of Fame. His career may have ended early but Jimi Hendrix changed the way an guitar is player with his rock and roll and blues style.
Nina Simone – Not only was she a singer, songwriter and pianist but she was also an activist in the Civil Rights Movement. Simone played a large range of styles that included; classical, jazz, blues, folk, R&B, gospel and pop. Born as the sixth child in North Carolina on February 21 of 1933, Nina was inspired to be a concert pianist and with some help from some local fans of her hometown, she was able to enroll in the Julliard School of Music in New York. Throughout her career of 1958 and 1978, Simone recorded more than 40 album while having a hit song in the US in 1958 from her debut album ‘Little Girl Blue’ with “I Loves You, Porgy”. Her legacy continues to have a power to musicians today, there are many of them that cited her as an important person in their own upbringing in their careers that include; Madonna, Alicia Keys, David Bowie and Elton John who even named one of his pianos after her. Not only has Nina Simone inspired many of today’s great musicians we hear today but she was also inducted into the North Carolina Music Hall of Fame and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
Tina Turner – Becoming one of the world’s best-selling recording artists of all time and ‘The Queen of Rock n’ Roll, Tina Turner has been image for women in rock music since the late 1950s. Tina Turner was born as Anna Mae Bullock in Nutbush, Tennessee on November 26 in 1939. She first started her career in the late 1950s as a featured singer with Ike Turner’s Kings of Rhythm while recording under the name of “Little Ann”. The first time using the name Tina Turner was in 1960 when she was a member of Ike & Tina Turner Revue with hits that include “A Fool in Love”, “River Deep – Mountain High” and “Proud Mary”. It wasn’t until the 1980s when Turner released her fifth solo album ‘Private Dancer’ which included the song “What’s Love Got to Do with It’ that became Turner’s biggest hit, won four Grammy Awards and Record of the Year. With the success of her solo career, she continued success throughout the 1990s with multi-platinum albums and hit singles. Since the beginning of her career, Tina has won 12 Grammy awards, has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, the St. Louis Walk of Fame and was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.
Miles Davis – Born in Alton, Illinois on May 26 of 1926, Davis left Julliard School of New York City to make his professional debut as a member of saxophonist Charlie Parker’s quintet for four years from 1944 to 1948. After leaving, he recorded the Birth of the Cool sessions for Capitol Records which helped the development of ‘cool jazz’. Throughout his five-decade career, Miles Davis was the most influential and acclaimed figures in the history of jazz and the developments of today’s jazz. Davis has also been inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame which recognized him as “one of the key figures in the history of jazz”. He has also been described from Rolling Stone as “the most revered jazz trumpeter of all time, not to mention one of the most important musicians of the 20th century”.