Jorge Humberto González Ríos is a Chilean singer-songwriter, best known for being the leader, vocalist, writer and bassist of the band Los Prisioneros, considered by many to be the most popular rock band in the country.
Roy Kelton Orbison was an American singer, songwriter, and musician known for his impassioned singing style, complex song structures, and dark, emotional ballads. His music was described by critics as operatic, earning him the nicknames 'the Caruso of Rock' and 'the Big O'. Many of Orbison's songs conveyed vulnerability at a time when most male rock-and-roll performers chose to project defiant masculinity. He performed while standing motionless and wearing black clothes to match his dyed black hair and dark sunglasses, which he wore to counter his shyness and stage fright.
Charles Hardin Holley, known professionally as Buddy Holly, was an American singer-songwriter who was a central and pioneering figure of mid-1950s rock and roll. He was born in Lubbock, Texas, to a musical family during the Great Depression, and learned to play guitar and sing alongside his siblings. His style was influenced by gospel music, country music, and rhythm and blues acts, which he performed in Lubbock with his friends from high school.
Raul Santos Seixas was a Brazilian rock composer, singer, songwriter and producer. He is sometimes called the 'Father of Brazilian Rock' and 'Maluco Beleza', the last one roughly translated as 'Groovy Nutcase'. He was born in Salvador (Bahia), Brazil, and died of pancreatitis in São Paulo. Every year on Seixas' birthday, legions of fans, including thousands of impersonators, throw a parade in his honor in downtown São Paulo.
Vincent Eugene Craddock, known as Gene Vincent, was an American musician who pioneered the styles of rock and roll and rockabilly. His 1956 top ten hit with his Blue Caps, 'Be-Bop-a-Lula', is considered a significant early example of rockabilly. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and the Rockabilly Hall of Fame. He is sometimes referred to by his somewhat unusual nickname/moniker The Screaming End.
Lonnie McIntosh, known as Lonnie Mack, was an American singer-guitarist. He performed and recorded in a broad range of popular genres, including roots-rock, blues, R&B, country, gospel, bluegrass, and soul. He is most widely recognized, however, as an influential pioneer of blues-rock music and rock guitar melodic soloing.
Neil Percival Young is a Canadian-American singer-songwriter, musician, and activist. After embarking on a music career in Winnipeg in the 1960s, Young moved to Los Angeles, joining Buffalo Springfield with Stephen Stills, Richie Furay and others. Since the beginning of his solo career with his backing band Crazy Horse, Young has released many critically acclaimed and important albums, such as After the Gold Rush, Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere, and Harvest.
Waylon Arnold Jennings was an American singer, songwriter, and musician. He is best known as one of the founding pioneers of the Outlaw Movement in country music.
David Albert Alvin is an American singer-songwriter, guitarist, music producer and poet. He is a former and founding member of the roots rock band the Blasters. Alvin has recorded and performed as a solo artist since the late 1980s and has been involved in various side projects and collaborations. He has had brief stints as a member of the bands X and the Knitters.
Elliot Easton is an American musician, guitarist, singer and songwriter. He played lead guitar and sang backing vocals for The Cars. His guitar solos are an integral part of the band's music. He studied music at the Berklee College of Music. He is a left-handed guitarist. After the collapse of the Cars in 1988, Easton played in bands such as the New Cars and the roots rock group Creedence Clearwater Revisited. In 2018, Easton was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of the Cars.
John R. Cash was an American singer, songwriter, musician, and actor. Much of Cash's music contained themes of sorrow, moral tribulation, and redemption, especially in the later stages of his career. He was known for his deep, calm bass-baritone voice, the distinctive sound of his Tennessee Three backing band characterized by train-like chugging guitar rhythms, a rebelliousness coupled with an increasingly somber and humble demeanor, free prison concerts, and a trademark all-black stage wardrobe which earned him the nickname 'The Man in Black'.
Eric Hilliard Nelson, known professionally as Ricky Nelson until his 21st birthday when he officially dropped the 'y' and simply became Rick Nelson, was an American rock 'n' roll star, pop pioneer, musician, singer-songwriter and actor. From age eight he starred alongside his family in the radio and television series The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet. In 1957, he began a long and successful career as a popular recording artist. As one of the top 'teen idols' of the 1950s, his fame led to a motion picture role co-starring alongside John Wayne, Dean Martin and Angie Dickinson in Howard Hawks's western feature film Rio Bravo (1959). He placed 53 songs on the Billboard Hot 100, and its predecessors, between 1957 and 1973, including 'Poor Little Fool' in 1958, which was the first number one song on Billboard magazine's then-newly created Hot 100 chart. He recorded 19 additional top ten hits and was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame on January 21, 1987. In 1996 Nelson was ranked No. 49 on TV Guide's 50 Greatest TV Stars of All Time.
Elvis Aaron Presley, also known simply as Elvis, was an American singer and actor. Dubbed the 'King of Rock and Roll', he is regarded as one of the most significant cultural icons of the 20th century. His energized interpretations of songs and sexually provocative performance style, combined with a singularly potent mix of influences across color lines during a transformative era in race relations, led him to both great success and initial controversy.
Brian Robert Setzer is an American guitarist, singer, and songwriter. He found widespread success in the early 1980s with the 1950s-style rockabilly group Stray Cats, and revitalized his career in the early 1990s with his swing revival band, the Brian Setzer Orchestra. In 1987, he made a cameo appearance as Eddie Cochran in the film La Bamba.
Wanda Lavonne Jackson is a retired American singer, songwriter, pianist and guitarist who had success in the mid-1950s and 1960s as one of the first popular female rockabilly singers, and a pioneering rock-and-roll artist. She is known to many as the 'Queen of Rockabilly' or the 'First Lady of Rockabilly'.
Carl Lee Perkins was an American singer-songwriter who recorded most notably at the Sun Studio, in Memphis, beginning in 1954. Amongst his best-known songs are 'Blue Suede Shoes', 'Matchbox' and 'Everybody's Trying to Be My Baby'.