An icon of American music, Frank Sinatra defined sophisticated pop singing of the post-war era and spent more than 50 years in the limelight. After formative stints with Harry James, Tommy Dorsey, and others, Sinatra shot to worldwide fame through hi…

Trumpeter/vocalist Louis Armstrong is perhaps the single most influential artist in the history of jazz. He started out in the "hot" bands of 1920s New Orleans, and was one of the first to introduce solo improvisation into the jazz idiom. Over the ne…

"Before Elvis, there was nothing," John Lennon once said. An overstatement, of course, but Elvis Presley's ascendance to superstardom in the mid-1950s kicked off a musical and social revolution whose impact has yet to abate. After the charming young …

Through unparalleled ability and judicious choice of repertoire, Ella Fitzgerald became the foremost female interpreter of the 20th-century Great American Popular Song Book. With producer Norman Granz she worked on the "songbook" series, placing on r…

Bronx-born singer and songwriter Bobby Darin was always a man who bucked convention. Though he started out writing and singing rock & roll hits such as "Splish Splash" in the 1950s, he stood out from the crowd in the '60s as a post-Sinatra crooner. B…

Dean Martin was a towering pop-culture icon of the 20th century. He first became known as part of a wildly successful music-and-comedy team with Jerry Lewis in the 1940s and '50s, subsequently becoming a solo singing star. His mellow, Bing Crosby-ins…

One of the seminal performers in 20th-century American music, Nat "King" Cole was a major figure in the development of jazz piano, the stylistic link between early jazz and pop of the sophisticated urban variety that emerged in the '30s, and finally …

One of the most versatile of contemporary film composers, John Barry combines influences from classical, jazz, and pop into a lushly atmospheric and romantic whole, but with tongue occasionally in cheek, as evidenced by his famous music for the James…

b. John Towner Williams, 8 February 1932, Flushing, Long Island, New York, USA. A composer, arranger, and conductor for film background music from the early 60s to the present. As a boy, Williams learned to play several instruments, and studied compo…

Dave Brubeck is one of the great post-bop jazz innovators of the 1950s, whose use of irregular time signatures, a restrained, classical-influenced approach to the piano, and exceptional composing skills have allowed him to make bold musical statement…

Best known for his work in collaboration with director Tim Burton composer Danny Elfman created one of the most distinctive bodies of work in contemporary film music bringing his talents to a dark fantasy world populated by superheroes monsters and f…

One of the finest voices of 20th century American pop, Tony Bennett began his career in the '50s, under the watchful eye of producer Mitch Miller, recording huge hits such as "Boulevard of Broken Dreams," and "Because of You." In 1958, his album BASI…

U2's Bono was one of the few real rock heroes of the 1980s, leading the Irish band to international recognition with a charged, political approach to music. The band's early efforts brought a stadium-size presence to alt-rock, with Bono's expressive …

Admired for both their infectious surfer music and their sophisticated, multi-tracked pop productions, the Beach Boys created a lasting impression on popular music through their complex harmonies and Brian Wilson's genius for composition and arrangem…

Elmer Bernstein was one of the most prolific and highly regarded film composers of the 20th century. His big breakthrough was the 1955 Frank Sinatra film THE MAN WITH THE GOLDEN ARM, which was the first movie to feature an all-jazz score and begat co…

Peggy Lee started out as the vocalist for the Benny Goodman Orchestra in the early 1940s, and shortly thereafter became a star in her own right. Though she had numerous pop hits, she constantly crossed back and forth across the line between pop and j…

b. 6 November 1916, Attelboro, Massachusetts, USA, d. 12 October 2002, Escondido, California, USA. Taught to play the trombone by his father, Conniff studied arranging with the aid of a mail-order course while still at college. In 1934, after graduat…

From his beginnings as a sensitive singer and pianist through his ascent to superstardom, Elton John has enjoyed one of the longest and most successful careers in rock & roll. With his outrageous costumes and campy theatricality, the man formerly kno…

The Los Angeles-based hip-hop group Black Eyed Peas has made a name for itself by taking an eclectic and organic approach to rap, R&B, and funk. Led by vocalist/multi-instrumentalist Will.I.Am., the band also includes two other MCs, Apl.de.Ap. and Ta…

Queen embodied 1970s glam rock--mixing heavy riffs and intricate vocal harmonies with a gender-bending image. Freddie Mercury's operatic voice and Brian May's guitar were multi-tracked ad infinitum to create pomp-rock in the grandest sense. In the '8…