Louis “King of the Jukebox” Jordan was a music pioneer who inspired generations of American blues, jazz, and rhythm and blues.

Louis Jordan

Few people have had as large an impact on American music as has Charley Patton, known as the first superstar of the blues.

Charley Patton

The Carter Family was one of country music’s most influential groups and a valuable link to the music’s folk origins.

Carter Family

The Louisiana Hayride was a north Louisiana musical institution from 1948 to 1960. It was one of several radio barn dances that helped popularize country music in the 20th century, broadcasting over 50,000-watt station KWKH from Shreveport’s Municipal Auditorium to 28 states.

Louisiana Hayride

Building on early careers in R&B and soul, the brothers were instrumental in defining the funk sound of the 1970s by reconnecting New Orleans' music with its Caribbean and Afro-diasporic roots.

Neville Brothers

Cassandra Wilson is known for her unique, multi-faceted voice, as well as her perpetual drive to explore a multitude of musical genres and styles while fusing them with her own distinctive jazz sensibility.

Cassandra Wilson

By the mid-1950s, Monroe's inventive style had become known as bluegrass, taken from his band's name, and by the late-1960s Monroe was the central figure in the emergence of bluegrass festivals.

Bill Monroe

Memphis Minnie was one of the most influential and prolific blues artists of the 20th century.

Memphis Minnie

John Herndon Mercer, who came to be known as Johnny Mercer, was born in Savannah, Ga. in 1909.

Katie Carter King

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