Curated playlist

20th-century American singer-songwriters

Bob DylanAt a 1966 Manchester concert, Bob Dylan told his band to play loud after a heckler called him Judas.
Britney SpearsBritney Spears sold the rights to her entire music catalogue for a reported $200 million. The buyer was the music publisher Primary Wave, and the BBC reported that the purchase closed on the 30th of December 2025. The price reflects a body…
Jimi HendrixJimi Hendrix's first guitar was a one-string ukulele found in the garbage. He learned by ear to Elvis songs.
MadonnaMadonna arrived in New York in 1978 with thirty-five dollars. It was her first plane ride and first taxi.
Buddy HollyBuddy Holly was back on tour in 1959 because his royalties were frozen in a lawsuit. He died in a plane crash at 22.
Bruce SpringsteenBruce Springsteen threw the first acetate of his own album Born to Run into the swimming pool of his hotel in 1975. The record was being mastered while the band toured, and he was furious at what he heard. He briefly considered scrapping…
Janet JacksonJanet Jackson was seen at the 1983 American Music Awards wearing a hoop earring with a key attached to it. She has worn variations of that earring in music videos and live shows ever since. The pair she wore between 1987 and 1990 is now on…
Marvin GayeMotown boss Berry Gordy refused to release Marvin Gaye's What's Going On.
Ella FitzgeraldElla Fitzgerald walked onstage at the Apollo Theater planning to dance, then chose to sing. She was 17 in 1934.
Little RichardLittle Richard walked away from rock and roll to study theology. A fireball over Sydney in 1957 shook him.
Robert MitchumRobert Mitchum, the American film actor and singer, gave critic Roger Ebert a picture that never faded. Ebert named him his favorite movie star and praised his "deep, laconic voice and his long face and those famous weary eyes." Ebert saw…
Justin TimberlakeJustin Timberlake was 11 years old when he appeared on the television show Star Search and sang country songs under the name Justin Randall. The boy from Memphis, Tennessee would one day be dubbed the Prince of Pop. Billboard would name…
Paul SimonPaul Simon, the American singer-songwriter and guitarist, nearly gave one of his best-known songs the wrong name. While writing music for the film The Graduate, he toyed with calling a new song "Mrs. Roosevelt." Art Garfunkel passed the…
James BrownJames Brown pointed out band members' wrong notes with hand signals.
Fergie (singer)Fergie, born Stacy Ann Ferguson, sang on a song that held the top spot on the Billboard Hot 100 for 14 straight weeks in 2009. That song, "I Gotta Feeling," stayed at number one longer than any other song that year. By then her records had…
Charles MansonOn the first day of testimony in his 1970 murder trial, Charles Manson arrived with an X carved into his forehead.
Tom WaitsTom Waits accepted his place in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2011 with a joke at his own expense. “They say that I have no hits and I'm difficult to work with. And they say that like it's a bad thing!” The man who inducted him, Neil…
Jim MorrisonOn live TV in 1967, Jim Morrison sang a lyric censors had told him to change. Ed Sullivan then banned the Doors.
Johnny CashJohnny Cash never served a prison sentence. He was jailed seven times, one night each.
Missy ElliottMissy Elliott and Timbaland wrote and produced nine tracks on Aaliyah's 1996 album One in a Million.
Hank WilliamsHank Williams was already dead in a car's back seat when the driver noticed. He was 29.
Brian WilsonOn a flight to Houston in 1964, Brian Wilson broke down sobbing. He then quit touring with the Beach Boys.
Jerry Lee LewisJerry Lee Lewis feared his own hit song was blasphemous.
Cyndi LauperCyndi Lauper wore almost a pound of necklaces to the Grammy Awards ceremony in 1985. The excess suited the woman wearing it. Lauper is an American singer, songwriter and actress, born on the 22nd of June 1953. She is known for eccentric…
Iggy PopIggy Pop, born James Newell Osterberg Jr., built a reputation on rolling around in broken glass while a crowd watched. Admirers eventually called him the "Godfather of Punk". His first band sold few records, yet its songs outlasted much of…
Lou ReedLou Reed made a record that almost nobody bought, and a future president of Czechoslovakia still credited it with changing his life. Václav Havel picked up The Velvet Underground & Nico while visiting the United States. He later said it…
Ray CharlesRay Charles Robinson, known to the world as Ray Charles, carried two nicknames that pulled in different directions. Contemporaries called him "The Genius." Among friends and fellow musicians, he preferred to be called "Brother Ray." Frank…
River PhoenixRiver Phoenix was an American actor and musician, and at the 92nd Academy Awards his brother Joaquin spoke one of River's lyrics aloud. Accepting the Best Actor prize, Joaquin told the room that River wrote it at 17: "run to the rescue…
Jerry GarciaJerry Garcia, the lead guitarist of the Grateful Dead, left behind roughly 15,000 hours of recorded guitar work. That estimate comes from the Bay Area guitarist Henry Kaiser, who calls Garcia the most recorded guitarist in history. Kaiser…
Eddie CochranPaul McCartney joined the Quarrymen by playing an Eddie Cochran song. The song was "Twenty Flight Rock".
Steven TylerSteven Tyler, the singer born Steven Victor Tallarico, saw his touring career end in August 2024. That month, his band Aerosmith announced that it was retiring from the road. The reason was Tyler's voice. He had fractured his larynx and…
Tom PettyTom Petty was ten years old in the summer of 1961 when his uncle, who was working on the set of Elvis Presley's film Follow That Dream in nearby Ocala, Florida, invited him to watch the filming. Petty became a Presley fan on the spot.…
Don HenleyDon Henley told interviewer Charlie Rose in March 2001 that "rock bands work best as a benevolent dictatorship." He knew the arrangement from the inside. Henley is a drummer, singer and songwriter, and a founding member of the Eagles. In…
Hulk HoganHulk Hogan held the World Wrestling Federation championship for 1,474 days during his first reign. That is the third-longest run in the history of the title. The man under the bandana and the blond moustache was born Terry Gene Bollea.…
Stevie NicksStevie Nicks, born Stephanie Lynn Nicks on the 26th of May 1948, could not pronounce her own name as a toddler. The best she could manage was "tee-dee", and that slip turned into the nickname Stevie. Decades later, Rolling Stone placed her…
Patti SmithPatti Smith, the American singer, songwriter, poet and author, lost her place in the middle of a song at the Nobel Prize Award Ceremony in Stockholm. The date was the 10th of December 2016. She was standing in for Bob Dylan, winner of the…
Christina AguileraChristina Aguilera sang "A Sunday Kind of Love" on the television contest Star Search in 1990 and was eliminated in the semi-final round. That loss decided nothing. She would go on to sell more than 100 million records worldwide, and…
Layne StaleyLayne Staley was nine years old when he wrote in his Dr. Seuss book, All About Me, that he wanted to be a singer. He got his wish. As the original lead vocalist of Alice in Chains, he helped carry Seattle's grunge movement to international…
Rob ZombieRob Zombie was twelve years old in 1977 when a riot broke out at the carnival where his parents worked. Gunfire cracked through the crowd, tents went up in flames, and a man the family knew was struck in the face with a hammer. His parents…
Fiona AppleOn the 8th of March 2020, Fiona Apple posted a video of herself spelling out a sentence with her fingers: M-Y-R-E-C-O-R-D-I-S-D-O-N-E. Fans had waited years for any sign of that sentence. Apple is an American singer-songwriter, born Fiona…
Kelly RowlandKelly Rowland spent the first years of her fame as one voice in a trio. A single duet in 2002 made critics ask whether she belonged at center stage. The song was "Dilemma", recorded with the rapper Nelly. It topped charts around the world,…
Mike ShinodaMike Shinoda has toured Japan with Linkin Park about four times, and the first visit began with a smell. Stepping off the plane, he later recalled, "it smelled like my aunt's house, in the airport, it smelled like Japan." He had not yet…
Dolly PartonDolly Parton refused to give Elvis Presley half the publishing rights to "I Will Always Love You."
Gene VincentGene Vincent's hit "Be-Bop-a-Lula" was supposed to be the B-side. Radio stations played it over the A-side.
Roy OrbisonRoy Orbison died weeks after finishing the best-selling album of his career. He never heard Mystery Girl released.
Axl RoseAxl Rose, the lead singer of Guns N' Roses, was ninety minutes into a July 1991 concert at the Riverport Amphitheater near St. Louis when he decided to deal with a problem himself. He had asked security on stage to confiscate a fan's video…
Trent ReznorTrent Reznor once worked at Right Track Studio in Cleveland as an assistant engineer and janitor. Studio owner Bart Koster remembered his employee this way: "He is so focused in everything he does. When that guy waxed the floor, it looked…
Reba McEntireReba McEntire, later known as the Queen of Country, nearly missed her Grand Ole Opry debut on the 17th of September 1977. A guard at the gate overlooked her name on the list of performers. Her parents and her older sister Alice had driven…
Alicia KeysAlicia Keys was fifteen years old when Columbia Records tried to win her signature with a $26,000 white baby grand piano. She took the deal. It began a long struggle over who would decide what her music sounded like. Years later she summed…
Billy JoelWilliam Martin Joel, better known as Billy Joel, left Hicksville High School in 1967 without a diploma. He had missed a crucial English exam after playing a late-night gig at a piano bar, where he earned money to help support his mother…