Barbara Acklin -  American soul singer and songwriter, who was most successful in the 1960s and 1970s. General Crook - American soul musician. Crook was raised in Greenville, Mississippi, and moved to Chicago, Illinois, when he was 17. In 1969 he signed with Capitol Records, recording with an early version of Earth, Wind and Fire. […]

Oliver Sain - American saxophonist, songwriter, bandleader, drummer and record producer, who was an important figure in the development of rhythm and blues music, notably in St Louis, Missouri.

Lawrence Payton - American tenor, songwriter, vocal arranger, musician, and record producer for the popular Motown quartet, the Four Tops. Larry Carlton - American guitarist who built his career as a studio musician in the 1970s and 1980s for acts such as Steely Dan and Joni Mitchell. Bobby Eli - American musician, arranger, composer and […]

Junior Parker - American Memphis blues singer and musician. He is best remembered for his voice which has been described as "honeyed" and "velvet-smooth". One music journalist noted, "For years Junior Parker deserted downhome harmonica blues for uptown blues-soul music".

Bobby Womack - American singer, songwriter, musician, and record producer. Miriam Makeba - South African singer, songwriter, actress, and civil rights activist.

Kae Williams, Jr - American soul funk singer, songwriter and producer. Hamilton Bohannon - American percussionist, band leader, songwriter, arranger, and record producer, who was one of the leading figures in 1970s disco music. Leon Sylvers III - American singer, songwriter, disc-jockey, record producer and multi-instrumentalist.  

Gábor Szabó - Hungarian American guitarist whose style incorporated jazz, pop, rock, and Hungarian music.

Jeffrey Osborne - American Grammy-nominated singer-songwriter, musician, and lyricist. He is the former drummer and lead singer of the American R&B/soul group L.T.D., with whom he began his musical career in 1970. Lloyd Price - American R&B and swing singer-songwriter, record executive and bandleader, known as "Mr. Personality", after his 1959 million-selling hit, "Personality". Ornette […]

Bunny DeBarge - American soul singer–songwriter and the lone female sibling of the Motown family group DeBarge.  

Cheryl Lynn - American singer. She is best known for her songs during the late 1970s through the mid-1980s, including the 1978 R&B/disco song "Got to Be Real". Lynn's singing career began with her church choir when she was a girl. Bobby McFerrin - American folk-jazz vocalist.

Quincy Jones - American record producer, musician, songwriter, composer, arranger, and film and television producer. His career spans 70 years in the entertainment industry with a record of 80 Grammy Award nominations, 28 Grammys, and a Grammy Legend Award in 1992. Sugarfoot - Musician, vocalist, and producer. Mark Murphy - American jazz singer based at […]

Jean Carne - American jazz and pop singer. In mid career, she added a final e to her name. Carn is a vocalist credited with a five octave vocal range. Rockwell - American musician, singer, and songwriter known as the son of Motown founder Berry Gordy. Rockwell is most well known for his hit 1984 […]

Tommy Flanagan - American jazz pianist and composer. He grew up in Detroit, initially influenced by such pianists as Art Tatum, Teddy Wilson, and Nat King Cole, and then by bebop musicians.

Patrick Adams - American music arranger and record producer. He has earned 32 gold and platinum records. Nat King Cole - American singer, jazz pianist, and actor. He recorded over 100 songs that became hits on the pop charts. His trio was the model for small jazz ensembles that followed. Cole also acted in films […]

Vanessa Williams - American singer, actress, and fashion designer. She initially gained recognition as the first African-American woman to receive the Miss America title when she was crowned Miss America 1984 in 1983. Wilson Pickett - American singer and songwriter. A major figure in the development of American soul music, Pickett recorded over 50 songs […]

Solomon Burke -  American preacher and singer who shaped the sound of rhythm and blues as one of the founding fathers of soul music in the 1960s. He has been called "a key transitional figure bridging R&B and soul", and was known for his "prodigious output". Russell Thompkins - American soul singer. Best known as […]

Stephanie Mills - American singer and songwriter. Mills rose to stardom as "Dorothy" in the original 7 Time Tony Award Winning Broadway run of the musical The Wiz from 1974 to 1979. The song "Home" from the show later became a Number 1 U.S. R&B hit for Mills and her signature song. George Benson - […]

Chaka Khan - American singer, songwriter and musician. Her career has spanned more than five decades, beginning in the 1970s as the lead vocalist of the funk band Rufus.

Billy Stewart - American rhythm and blues singer and pianist who was popular during the 1960s. Don Covay - American R&B, rock and roll, and soul singer-songwriter most active from the 1950s to the 1970s. His most successful recordings include "Mercy, Mercy", "See-Saw", and "It's Better to Have".

Aretha Franklin - American singer, songwriter and pianist. Referred to as the "Queen of Soul", she has twice been placed ninth in Rolling Stone's "100 Greatest Artists of All Time". With global sales of over 75 million records, Franklin is one of the world’s best-selling music artists.

Cheryl James - American rapper and songwriter. She is best known as a member of the American Grammy–award winning female rap trio Salt-N-Pepa, which also includes Pepa and Spinderella.

Michael Brecker - American jazz saxophonist and composer. He was awarded 15 Grammy Awards as both performer and composer. He was awarded an Honorary Doctorate from Berklee College of Music in 2004, and was inducted into the Down Beat Jazz Hall of Fame in 2007. Raymond Davis - Original bass singer and one of the […]

Tracey Chapman - American singer-songwriter. Chapman is best known for her hit singles "Fast Car", "Talkin' 'bout a Revolution", "Baby Can I Hold You", "Crossroads", and "Give Me One Reason". Chapman was signed to Elektra Records by Bob Krasnow in 1987.

Lowell Fulson - American blues guitarist and songwriter, in the West Coast blues tradition. He also recorded for contractual reasons as Lowell Fullsom and Lowell Fulsom. After T-Bone Walker, he was the most important figure in West Coast blues in the 1940s and 1950s. Herb Alpert - American trumpeter who led Herb Alpert & the […]

Gil Heron Scott - American soul and jazz poet, musician, and author, known primarily for his work as a spoken-word performer in the 1970s and 1980s.