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Growing up in Tupelo, Mississippi, he was surrounded by gospel music and exposed to jazz and blues. He was only 13 when his family was uprooted from his Mississippi hometown to move to the western Tennessee city of Memphis. After his discovery Sam Phillips and his recording of “Blue Moon of Kentucky,” he was destined to be the “King” of Rock-n-roll.

“King of the Blues,” was born in 1925 in Indianola, Mississippi. He has had one of the most enduring music careers in existence. He is respected as a blues diplomat and deserves most of the credit for the blues genre entering the mainstream.

This Alabama native is recognized as “The Father of the Blues.” Although this declaration was self-proclaimed, his life-long support of the musical genre established the blues as a part of musical history.

Born in Florence, Alabama in 1925, he began his career as a radio announcer after dropping out of high school in 1941.  He opened his own recording studio and was responsible for signing many artists including Howlin’ Wolf, Bobby “Blue” Bland, Little Milton, James Cotton, Ike Turner, B.B. King and Elvis Presley.

This style extended rock and roll to include heavy metal, grunge, punk and other sub-styles. Artists maintained this style as a reaction against pop, rap and hip-hop.

The instruments responsible for keeping the beat in Dixieland jazz ensembles which includes drums, bass, (or tuba) and piano (guitar or banjo).

The group, Otis, Melvin, Paul and Eddie (later adding David Ruffin) spent forty years creating hits through the song-writing assistance of the Motown collection of writers. Smokey Robinson turned out some of the great hits like, “Just My Imagination” and “My Girl.”  Unlike many other Motown groups, they are still together and touring to this day, doing over 200 shows a year internationally.  

Considered the greatest jazz musician by many, he defined what it is to play jazz. Born on August 4, 1901 and referred to as “Satchmo” or “Satchelmouth” (because of the size of his mouth and smiling teeth,) his influence of technical ability, happiness and spontaneity, and an inventive, musical mind still dominate jazz music even to this day.

A country music group that began its public performance and recording careers in 1927, was well versed in tight mountain harmonies and gospel music. They made the trek to Bristol, Tennessee to audition for a record contract and received $50.00 for each song that was recorded.

British-invasion rock-n-roll group from Liverpool, England held in very high regard for both their artistic achievements and their huge commercial success, and have amassed an enormous worldwide fan base that continues to exist to this day. Comprising John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr, the group shattered many sales records and charted more than fifty top 40 hit singles.