With its roots in the blues, jazz has been referred to as America's classical music, yet has also become a major global phenomenon, branching off into a variety of forms. Earlier pioneers like Scott Joplin and Jelly Roll Morton paved the way for the swinging big-band sounds of Louis Armstrong and Duke Ellington. In contrast, contemporaries Dizzie Gillespie, Charlie Parker and Thelonious Monk developed bebop, with its speedy, dissonant harmonies and improvisations. And Miles Davis heralded the birth of cool jazz, modal jazz and fusion at different points in his career. Famous jazz instrumentalists have tended to be male, yet women have been at the forefront of the genre when it comes to vocalization, from the brassy blues of Bessie Smith to the haunting eclecticism of Nina Simone.
Take a look at famous people named Dave, such as Dave Matthews, Dave Thomas, and Dave Coulier.
In 2012, we said goodbye to many iconic figures—the first man to walk on the moon, Neil Armstrong and the first American woman in space, Sally Ride. We lost writers such as Ray Bradbury, Maeve Binchy, Maurice Sendak and Nora Ephron. We said farewell to musicians and singers who left an indelible mark on the soundtrack of our times—among them Whitney Houston, Davy Jones, Donna Summer, Etta James, Robin Gibb, Kitty Wells, Adam Yauch and Ravi Shankar. We also lost great actors such as Ernest Borgnine, Larry Hagman, Michael Clarke Duncan, Jack Klugman and Sherman Hemsley, as well as TV personalities such as Andy Griffith, Phyllis Diller, Dick Clark and Don Cornelius.
Meet famous people like Dian Fossey, Cary Grant, Eartha Kitt, John Lennon, Wolfgang Mozart, and Roy Orbison, who died in the month of December.
Browse notable pianists such as Ray Charles, Ludwig van Beethoven, and Sun Ra.
Browse notable songwriters and composers such as Irving Berlin, Johann Sebastian Bach, and Leonard Bernstein.
Originally called Toast of the Town, The Ed Sullivan Show ran from 1948-1971 on CBS and was an American staple in the 50s and 60s. The American variety show featured the Who's Who of celebritydom over the decades, including Elvis Presley, The Beatles, Tony Bennett, Carol Channing, Lucille Ball, The Jackson 5, and The Doors.