From Business Insider · Max Kalnitz · · 4m
The most famous musician from every US state
Business Insider identifies the most influential solo artist from each state, from Hank Williams in Alabama to Scott Avett in Wyoming.
In brief
Business Insider identifies the most influential solo artist from each state, from Hank Williams in Alabama to Scott Avett in Wyoming. Business Insider ranked the most famous musician from all fifty US states and Washington DC, based on reputation, record sales and awards. Originally reported by Business Insider.
Ranking musicians by state
Business Insider identified the most famous solo musician from every US state, considering reputation within their era, record sales, and awards.
Alabama: Hank Williams
Hank Williams, born in Mount Olive, Alabama, is widely considered the father of country music. He died at twenty-nine in nineteen fifty-three.
Tennessee: Dolly Parton
Dolly Parton released forty-nine studio albums, won ten Grammys from fifty-five nominations, and created Dollywood theme park near Pigeon Forge, Tennessee.
Mississippi: Elvis Presley
Elvis Presley, the King of Rock and Roll, was born and raised in Tupelo, Mississippi. He died in nineteen seventy-seven at age forty-two.
Indiana: Michael Jackson
Michael Jackson from Gary, Indiana, won thirteen Grammys from thirty-eight nominations and a two thousand twenty-six biopic that grossed one billion dollars worldwide.
Pennsylvania: Taylor Swift
Taylor Swift, born in West Reading, Pennsylvania, won album of the year four times at the Grammys and fourteen from fifty-eight nominations total.
California: Jerry Garcia
Jerry Garcia, a working-class kid from San Francisco, was best known for his role in the Grateful Dead. He died in nineteen ninety-five at fifty-three.
Minnesota: Prince
Prince released Purple Rain in nineteen eighty-four, which sold over thirteen million copies and spent twenty-four weeks at the top of the charts.
Arkansas: Johnny Cash
Johnny Cash, born in Kingsland, Arkansas, won thirteen Grammys from thirty-five nominations and received the Recording Academy's Lifetime Achievement Award in nineteen ninety-nine.
Texas: Willie Nelson
Willie Nelson, born in Abbott, Texas in nineteen thirty-three, scored twenty number one and forty top ten hits during his six-decade career.
Louisiana: Louis Armstrong
Louis Armstrong emerged from New Orleans as an integral musician who influenced nearly every era of jazz music from the nineteen twenties to the sixties.
Illinois: Miles Davis
Miles Davis, born in Alton, Illinois, won eight Grammys from thirty-two nominations and was posthumously inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in two thousand six.
Michigan: Stevie Wonder
Stevie Wonder started his career as a child prodigy at age eleven and won an incredible twenty-five Grammys from seventy-five nominations.
New York: Tony Bennett
Tony Bennett, born in Astoria, Queens, won nineteen Grammys from forty-one nominations and continued performing into his nineties before his death in two thousand twenty-three.
New Jersey: Frank Sinatra
Frank Sinatra, born in Hoboken, sold over one hundred fifty million records and won nine Grammys from thirty-one nominations before his death in nineteen ninety-eight.
Washington: Jimi Hendrix
Jimi Hendrix, born in Seattle, died in nineteen seventy at twenty-seven. His guitar innovations including fuzz distortion and the wah-wah effect remain influential.
Oklahoma: Garth Brooks
Garth Brooks, from Tulsa, is one of the best-selling solo artists of all time with over one hundred sixty-two million album sales.
Virginia: Ella Fitzgerald
Ella Fitzgerald, born in Newport News, Virginia, was the most popular jazz singer for more than half a century and sold over forty million records.
Missouri: Chuck Berry
Chuck Berry, born in St. Louis, nicknamed the Father of Rock and Roll, was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in its nineteen eighty-six inaugural class.
Georgia: James Brown
James Brown, dubbed the Godfather of Soul, scored seventeen number one hits and sold fifty million records during his career before his death in two thousand six at seventy-three.
The key point
Business Insider ranked the most famous musician from all fifty US states and Washington DC, based on reputation, record sales and awards.
