Richard Pierce Havens was an American singer-songwriter and guitarist. His music encompassed elements of folk, soul, and rhythm and blues. He had an intense and rhythmic guitar style, and played soulful covers of pop and folk songs. He was the opening act at Woodstock.
Ruthie Cecelia Foster is an American singer-songwriter of blues and folk music. She mixes a wide palette of American song forms, from gospel and blues to jazz, folk and soul. She has often been compared to Bonnie Raitt and Aretha Franklin.
Terrence Orlando 'Terry' Callier was an American soul, folk and jazz guitarist and singer-songwriter.
Todd Harry Rundgren is an American multi-instrumentalist, singer, songwriter, and record producer who has performed a diverse range of styles as a solo artist and as a member of the band Utopia. He is known for his sophisticated and often unorthodox music, his occasionally lavish stage shows, and his later experiments with interactive entertainment. He also produced music videos and was an early adopter and promoter of various computer technologies, such as using the Internet as a means of music distribution in the late 1990s.
Tracy Chapman is an American singer-songwriter, known for her hits 'Fast Car' and 'Give Me One Reason', along with other singles 'Talkin' 'bout a Revolution', 'Baby Can I Hold You', and 'Crossroads'. She is a multi-platinum and four-time Grammy Award–winning artist.
Gerald Maxwell Rivera, known mononymously as Maxwell, is an American singer-songwriter, record producer, and multi-instrumentalist. Along with fellow musicians D'Angelo and Erykah Badu, Maxwell has been credited as an originator of the 'neo soul' movement that rose to prominence during the late 1990s. He released his debut studio album Maxwell's Urban Hang Suite in 1996 to widespread critical acclaim and commercial success. The album was certified 2x Platinum and it was the first of four consecutive Platinum-selling studio albums. Maxwell released Embrya in 1998, Now in 2001 and BLACKsummers'night in 2009. BLACKsummers'night was nominated for 6 Grammy Awards, including Song of the Year for 'Pretty Wings'. Maxwell released his fifth studio album blackSUMMERS'night in 2016. He has won 3 Grammy Awards out of 13 nominations, 6 Soul Train Music Awards and 2 NAACP Image Awards. Maxwell was presented with the Lifetime Achievement Award for 'his innovative contributions to the music industry as a singer, songwriter, and producer' by the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation and Congressional Black Caucus in 2019.
Eli 'Paperboy' Reed is an American singer and songwriter. After graduating from Brookline [Massachusetts] High School in 2002 he moved to Clarksdale, Mississippi and immersed himself in the juke joint culture of the Deep South. After spending a year in Clarksdale he enrolled at The University of Chicago to study sociology. While in Chicago he hosted a radio show called 'We Got More Soul' on the college station WHPK and played organ and piano in the South Side Chicago church of the famed Soul/Gospel singer Mitty Collier. After one year of study in Chicago he returned home to Boston to focus on music, recording his first album Sings Walkin' & Talkin' & Other Smash Hits!
Janis Lyn Joplin was an American singer-songwriter who sang rock, soul and blues music. One of the most successful and widely known rock stars of her era, she was noted for her powerful mezzo-soprano vocals and 'electric' stage presence.
Lauryn Noelle Hill is an American singer, songwriter, rapper, record producer and actress. She is often regarded as one of the greatest rappers of all time, as well as being one of the most influential singers of her generation. Hill is credited for breaking barriers for female rappers, popularizing melodic rapping and for bringing hip hop and neo soul to popular music. She is known for being a member of Fugees and her solo album The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill, which became one of the best-selling albums of all-time. Hill has won many awards, including eight Grammy Awards, the most for a female rapper.
Robert Dwayne Womack was an American singer, songwriter, musician, and record producer. Starting in the early 1950s as the lead singer of his family musical group the Valentinos and as Sam Cooke's backing guitarist, Womack's career spanned more than 60 years and multiple styles, including R&B, soul, rock and roll, doo-wop, and gospel.
Willy DeVille was an American singer and songwriter. During his thirty-five-year career, first with his band Mink DeVille (1974–1986) and later on his own, Deville created original songs rooted in traditional American musical styles. He worked with collaborators from across the spectrum of contemporary music, including Jack Nitzsche, Doc Pomus, Dr. John, Mark Knopfler, Allen Toussaint, and Eddie Bo. Latin rhythms, blues riffs, doo-wop, Cajun music, strains of French cabaret, and echoes of early-1960s uptown soul can be heard in DeVille's work.
Sandra Cristina Frederico de Sá is a Brazilian singer and songwriter.
David Robert Jones OAL, known professionally as David Bowie, was an English singer-songwriter and actor. A leading figure in the music industry, Bowie is regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century. He was acclaimed by critics and musicians, particularly for his innovative work during the 1970s. His career was marked by reinvention and visual presentation, with his music and stagecraft having a significant impact on popular music.
Curtis Lee Mayfield was an American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and record producer, and one of the most influential musicians behind soul and politically conscious African-American music. He first achieved success and recognition with the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame-inducted group The Impressions during the civil rights movement of the late 1950s and 1960s, and later worked as a solo artist.
Michael Samuel Kiwanuka is a British singer-songwriter and record producer who is signed with Polydor Records. His 2012 debut album, Home Again, went gold in the United Kingdom and his second album, Love & Hate, debuted in 2016 at number one. He has been nominated for numerous honours, including the Brit Awards, MTV Europe Music Awards, BBC Music Awards, and The Grammy Awards. In January 2012, he won the BBC's Sound of 2012, and in September 2020, he won the Mercury Prize.
Corinne Jacqueline Bailey Rae is a British singer and songwriter. She is best known for her 2006 single 'Put Your Records On'. Bailey Rae was named the number-one predicted breakthrough act of 2006 in an annual BBC poll of music critics, Sound of 2006. She released her debut album, Corinne Bailey Rae, in February 2006, and became the fourth female British act in history to have her first album debut at number one. In 2007, Bailey Rae was nominated for three Grammy Awards and three Brit Awards, and won two MOBO Awards. In 2008, she won a Grammy Award for Album of the Year.
Leonard Albert Kravitz is an American singer, songwriter, musician, record producer, and actor. His style incorporates elements of rock, blues, soul, R&B, funk, jazz, reggae, hard rock, psychedelic, pop, folk, and ballads.
Crystal Lynn Bowersox is an American singer, songwriter and actress who was the runner-up on the ninth season of American Idol. She was the first female finalist in three years.
Prince Rogers Nelson, known simply as Prince, or , was an American singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, record producer, actor, and director. Widely regarded as one of the greatest musicians of his generation, he often played most or all instruments on his recordings. He was known for his flamboyant and androgynous persona, eclectic work, and wide vocal range, which included a far-reaching falsetto and high-pitched screams.
John Richard Baldwin, better known by his stage name John Paul Jones, is an English musician and record producer who was the bassist and keyboardist for the rock band Led Zeppelin. Prior to forming the band with Jimmy Page in 1968, he was a session musician and arranger. After the death of drummer John Bonham in 1980, Led Zeppelin disbanded, and Jones developed a solo career. He has collaborated with musicians across a variety of genres, including Josh Homme and Dave Grohl with the supergroup Them Crooked Vultures.
Michael Eugene Archer, better known by his stage name D'Angelo, is an American singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and record producer. D'Angelo is associated with the neo soul movement, along with artists like Erykah Badu, Lauryn Hill, Maxwell, and collaborator Angie Stone.
Benjamin Chase Harper is an American singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. Harper plays an eclectic mix of blues, folk, soul, reggae, and rock music and is known for his guitar-playing skills, vocals, live performances, and activism. He has released twelve regular studio albums, mostly through Virgin Records and has toured internationally.
Amy Jade Winehouse was an English singer and songwriter known for her deep, expressive contralto vocals and her eclectic mix of musical genres, including soul, rhythm and blues and jazz.
Mary Christine Brockert, known professionally as Teena Marie, was an American singer-songwriter, musician, composer, arranger, and producer. She was known by her childhood nickname Tina before taking the stage name Teena Marie and later acquired the nickname Lady Tee, given to her by her collaborator and friend, Rick James.
Kenneth Earl Burrell is an American jazz guitarist known for his work on numerous top jazz labels: Prestige, Blue Note, Verve, CTI, Muse, and Concord. His collaborations with Jimmy Smith were notable, and produced the 1965 Billboard Top Twenty hit Verve album Organ Grinder Swing. He has cited jazz guitarists Charlie Christian, Oscar Moore, and Django Reinhardt as influences, along with blues guitarists T-Bone Walker and Muddy Waters.
Norah Jones is an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. She has won multiple awards and has sold more than 50 million records worldwide. Billboard named her the top jazz artist of the 2000s decade. She has won nine Grammy Awards and was ranked 60th on Billboard magazine's artists of the 2000s decade chart.
Lianne Charlotte Barnes, known professionally as Lianne La Havas, is a British singer-songwriter and record producer. Her career began after being introduced to various musicians, including singer Paloma Faith, for whom she sang backing vocals. In 2010, La Havas signed to Warner Bros. Records, spending two years developing her songwriting, before releasing any music. La Havas' debut studio album, Is Your Love Big Enough? (2012), was released to positive reviews from critics and earned her a nomination for the BBC's Sound of 2012 poll and awards for the iTunes Album of The Year 2012.
Brandon Heath Knell is an American contemporary Christian musician, singer, and songwriter from Nashville, Tennessee. He has released six studio albums: Don't Get Comfortable (2006), What If We (2008), Leaving Eden (2011), Blue Mountain (2012), No Turning Back (2015), and Faith Hope Love Repeat (2017). He is best known for the No. 1 singles: 'I'm Not Who I Was' and 'Give Me Your Eyes'. He was nominated four times at the Dove Awards of 2008 and won in the 'New Artist of the Year' category. His second album was nominated for 'Gospel Album of the Year' at the 51st Grammy Awards of 2009.
Igor Yuryevich Nikolayev is a Russian composer, singer and song-writer.
Amandine Bourgeois is a French singer. She was the winner of the sixth edition of the French version of the Pop Idol series Nouvelle Star in 2008. On 26 July 2014, Bourgeois participated in the television game show Fort Boyard.
Michelle Lynn Johnson, better known as Meshell Ndegeocello, is an American singer-songwriter, rapper, and bassist. She has gone by the name Meshell Suhaila Bashir-Shakur which is used as a writing credit on some of her later work. Her music incorporates a wide variety of influences, including funk, soul, jazz, hip hop, reggae and rock. She has received significant critical acclaim throughout her career, being nominated for eleven Grammy Awards, and winning one. She also has been credited for helping to 'spark the neo-soul movement'.
Brian Kelly McKnight is an American singer, songwriter, actor, record producer, and multi-instrumentalist. McKnight is most recognized for his strong falsetto and belting range. His work has earned him 16 Grammy Awards nominations, third only to Zubin Mehta and Snoop Dogg for the record of most Grammy nominations without a win.
Sylvester Stewart, better known by his stage name Sly Stone, is an American musician, songwriter, and record producer who is most famous for his role as frontman for Sly and the Family Stone, playing a critical role in the development of funk with his pioneering fusion of soul, rock, psychedelia and gospel in the 1960s and 1970s. Crawdaddy! has called him 'the founder of progressive soul'.
James Michael Bay is an English singer-songwriter and guitarist. In 2014, he released his single 'Hold Back the River', which was certified platinum, before releasing his debut studio album Chaos and the Calm (2015). The album went to number one in the UK and number 15 in the US. In February 2015, Bay received the Brit Awards 'Critics' Choice' award. At the 2016 Brit Awards he received the award for Best British Male Solo Artist. Bay also received three nominations at the 2016 Grammy Awards, for Best New Artist, Best Rock Album, and Best Rock Song. In May 2018, he released his second studio album, Electric Light.