Music

Voices, compositions, and performances that people remember.

People in Music

341 profiles

Composer

Lin-Manuel Miranda

Creating the musical Hamilton.

Singer

Freddie Mercury

Fronting Queen and writing Bohemian Rhapsody.

Singer

Aretha Franklin

Turning Respect into a soul anthem.

Singer

David Bowie

Creating Ziggy Stardust and repeatedly reinventing his music.

Composer

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

Composing The Magic Flute and The Marriage of Figaro.

Singer

Nina Simone

Bringing classical piano and civil-rights conviction into soul music.

Singer

Beyoncé

Making Crazy in Love, Single Ladies and Lemonade.

Singer

Rod Stewart

Singing Maggie May, Sailing and Da Ya Think I’m Sexy?

Singer

Mary J. Blige

Bringing soul singing and hip-hop together on What’s the 411? and My Life.

Rapper

LL Cool J

Recording Mama Said Knock You Out and becoming an early solo rap star.

Singer

Dolly Parton

Writing and singing Jolene, I Will Always Love You and 9 to 5.

Singer

Neil Diamond

Writing and singing Sweet Caroline and America.

Composer

Franz Schubert

Composing Winterreise, the Unfinished Symphony and hundreds of songs.

Singer

Shakira

Singing Hips Don’t Lie, Whenever, Wherever and Waka Waka.

Composer

Felix Mendelssohn

Composing the Wedding March and reviving Bach’s St Matthew Passion.

Singer

Bob Marley

Bringing reggae to a worldwide audience with the Wailers.

Singer

Peter Gabriel

Singing Sledgehammer and co-founding the WOMAD festival.

Singer

The Weeknd

Singing Blinding Lights, Starboy and Can’t Feel My Face.

Singer

Rihanna

Singing Umbrella, Diamonds and We Found Love.

Composer

Gioachino Rossini

Composing The Barber of Seville and William Tell.

Composer

Antonio Vivaldi

Composing The Four Seasons.

Singer

Nat King Cole

Singing Unforgettable, Mona Lisa and The Christmas Song.

Rapper

Queen Latifah

Recording U.N.I.T.Y. and starring in Living Single and Chicago.

Composer

Andrew Lloyd Webber

Composing The Phantom of the Opera, Cats and Evita.

Singer

Lady Gaga

Singing Bad Romance, Born This Way and Shallow.

Composer

Vangelis

Composing the scores for Chariots of Fire and Blade Runner.

Singer

Billie Holiday

Singing Strange Fruit and reshaping jazz through intimate, flexible phrasing.

Singer

Paul Robeson

Combining a celebrated bass-baritone voice with outspoken civil-rights activism.

Pianist

Herbie Hancock

Bringing jazz piano into new conversations with funk and electronic music.

Singer

Barbra Streisand

Starring in Funny Girl and building a career across singing, acting and directing.

Singer

Ella Fitzgerald

Turning jazz singing and scat improvisation into a form of effortless virtuosity.

Composer

Duke Ellington

Composing for a jazz orchestra as a palette of individual voices.

Singer

James Brown

Helping create funk through rhythm-driven songs and explosive stage performances.

Singer

Stevie Wonder

Creating soul albums including Innervisions and Songs in the Key of Life.

Singer

Cher

Reinventing herself across pop music, television and Oscar-winning film roles.

Singer

Bob Dylan

Expanding popular songwriting with poetic, political and surreal lyrics.

Trumpeter

Miles Davis

Leading jazz in new directions through Kind of Blue and electric fusion.

Singer

Kylie Minogue

Creating dance-pop hits including Can’t Get You Out of My Head.

Clarinetist

Benny Goodman

Leading a defining swing orchestra and prominent racially integrated jazz groups.

Singer

Prince

Fusing funk, rock and pop in Purple Rain and a vast self-directed catalogue.

Songwriter

Cole Porter

Writing witty, sophisticated songs for musicals including Anything Goes and Kiss Me, Kate.

Pianist

Chick Corea

Bridging acoustic jazz and electric fusion with Return to Forever.

Composer

Edvard Grieg

Composing the Piano Concerto and the music for Peer Gynt.

Composer

Igor Stravinsky

Composing The Rite of Spring and reshaping twentieth-century musical rhythm.

Singer

Paul McCartney

Writing Beatles songs and continuing with Wings and a long solo career.

Singer

Lena Horne

Singing Stormy Weather and challenging racial barriers in American entertainment.

Composer

Gustav Mahler

Writing symphonies that combine orchestral drama, song and vast emotional contrasts.

Rapper

M.I.A.

Combining rap, electronic music and a refugee’s perspective in Paper Planes.

Singer

Tony Bennett

Singing I Left My Heart in San Francisco.

Musician

Louis Armstrong

Making the jazz solo a powerful personal voice.

Singer

Whitney Houston

Singing I Will Always Love You with extraordinary power and control.

Singer

Madonna

Continually reinventing pop music, performance and image.

Composer

Claude Debussy

Expanding musical colour through works such as La mer and Clair de lune.

Composer

Leonard Bernstein

Composing West Side Story and bringing orchestral music to television audiences.

Singer

Michael Jackson

Making Thriller and redefining the pop music video.

Singer

Gloria Estefan

Bringing Latin rhythms into international pop with Miami Sound Machine.

Singer

Buddy Holly

Helping establish the guitar-band sound of rock and roll.

Musician

B. B. King

Giving electric blues a distinctive singing guitar voice.

Singer

Hank Williams

Writing country standards including I’m So Lonesome I Could Cry.

Musician

John Coltrane

Expanding jazz saxophone through Giant Steps and A Love Supreme.

Composer

Dmitri Shostakovich

Writing symphonies and quartets under the pressures of Soviet rule.

Musician

John Lennon

Co-founding the Beatles, writing with Paul McCartney and recording Imagine.

Singer

Luciano Pavarotti

Bringing an unmistakably bright tenor voice to opera houses, stadiums and the Three Tenors concerts.

Musician

Chuck Berry

Helping define rock and roll with guitar riffs, teenage stories and songs such as Johnny B. Goode.

Composer

Franz Liszt

Transforming virtuoso piano performance and composing works that stretched the instrument’s expressive possibilities.

Violinist

Niccolò Paganini

Pushing violin technique to spectacular extremes in performances and the 24 Caprices.

Composer

Ennio Morricone

Writing film scores whose whistles, voices and melodies became inseparable from the scenes.

Singer

Miley Cyrus

Moving from Hannah Montana stardom to a solo career spanning pop, country and rock.

Singer

Tina Turner

Rebuilding her career as a solo rock and soul star with Private Dancer.

Guitarist

Jimi Hendrix

Transforming electric-guitar playing through distortion, feedback and inventive performance.

Singer

Bette Midler

Singing The Rose and Wind Beneath My Wings, and playing Winifred in Hocus Pocus.

Singer

Maria Callas

Transforming operatic roles into intensely dramatic performances, especially Norma and Tosca.

Rapper

Jay-Z

Building a defining hip-hop catalogue with Reasonable Doubt, The Blueprint and The Black Album.

Pianist

Dave Brubeck

Leading the quartet behind Take Five and the rhythmically adventurous album Time Out.

Composer

Hector Berlioz

Composing Symphonie fantastique and expanding the dramatic possibilities of the orchestra.

Singer

Frank Sinatra

Making songs such as My Way and Fly Me to the Moon standards of popular singing.

Singer

Taylor Swift

Turning personal storytelling into global country and pop success, from Fearless to the Eras Tour.

Singer

Édith Piaf

Giving French chanson an international voice through La Vie en rose and Non, je ne regrette rien.

Singer

Annie Lennox

Fronting Eurythmics and singing Sweet Dreams, Why and Walking on Broken Glass.

Composer

A. R. Rahman

Reshaping Indian film music with Roja and Bombay, then winning two Oscars for Slumdog Millionaire.

Composer

Ludwig van Beethoven

Expanding what a symphony could express, from the Fifth’s four-note opening to the Ninth’s Ode to Joy.

Singer

Elvis Presley

Bringing rock and roll to a mass audience with songs such as Jailhouse Rock.

Singer

Adele

Singing Someone Like You, Rolling in the Deep and Hello.

Singer

Lata Mangeshkar

Providing the singing voice for generations of Indian film characters.

Singer

Umm Kulthum

Commanding Arabic song through long, expressive performances of works such as Al Atlal.

Musician

Fela Kuti

Pioneering Afrobeat and turning extended songs into attacks on political corruption.

Singer

Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan

Taking qawwali, a Sufi devotional singing tradition, to international audiences.

Rapper

Eminem

Rapping Lose Yourself and creating the Slim Shady persona.

Rapper

Bad Bunny

Bringing Spanish-language reggaeton and Latin trap to a global pop audience.

Singer

Teresa Teng

Singing The Moon Represents My Heart and becoming a defining voice of Chinese-language pop.

Singer

Justin Bieber

Turning teenage YouTube performances into a pop career with Baby, Sorry and Love Yourself.

Singer

Ariana Grande

Singing hits including Thank U, Next and playing Glinda in Wicked.

Singer

Bruno Mars

Combining pop, funk and soul in songs such as Just the Way You Are and Uptown Funk.

Singer

Diana Ankudinova

Gaining an international online audience through a distinctive low voice and televised performances.

Singer

Billie Eilish

Turning intimate vocals and home-made production into global pop hits.

Singer

Dua Lipa

Building dance-pop hits including New Rules, Don’t Start Now and Levitating.

Rapper

Kendrick Lamar

Creating ambitious rap albums including To Pimp a Butterfly and the Pulitzer-winning DAMN.

Singer

Miriam Makeba

Taking South African music to international audiences while opposing apartheid.

Singer

Fairuz

Becoming one of the Arab world’s most recognisable voices through songs of love, place and longing.

Guitarist

Paco de Lucía

Expanding flamenco guitar through virtuosity and collaborations with jazz musicians.

Musician

Ravi Shankar

Bringing Hindustani classical sitar music to worldwide audiences.

Musician

Amjad Ali Khan

Carrying the sarod tradition to international concert audiences.

Musician

Yo-Yo Ma

Combining classical cello performance with wide-ranging musical collaborations.

Violinist

Itzhak Perlman

Performing and recording the classical violin repertoire.

Singer

Elton John

Creating a vast pop songbook with Bernie Taupin and a flamboyant live-performance style.

Singer

Celine Dion

Performing My Heart Will Go On and becoming a major voice in French- and English-language pop.

Singer

Celia Cruz

Becoming the Queen of Salsa through a powerful voice and decades of Afro-Cuban music.

Singer

Dimash Qudaibergen

Combining classical technique, dramatic pop and an unusually wide vocal range.

Singer

Shreya Ghoshal

Becoming a leading playback voice across Indian film industries.

Singer

Jungkook

Singing with BTS and building a global solo career with Seven and Golden.

Singer

Asha Bhosle

Recording a vast, stylistically varied body of Indian film songs.

Singer

Sade

Creating the poised soul sound of Smooth Operator and No Ordinary Love.

Singer

Ed Sheeran

Writing global pop hits including Thinking Out Loud and Shape of You.

Singer

Faye Wong

Bringing an alternative edge to Chinese pop and starring in Chungking Express.

Rapper

Nicki Minaj

Combining rapid-fire verses, alter egos and pop hooks in a major rap career.

Singer

Cesária Évora

Bringing Cape Verdean morna to international audiences.

Singer

Arijit Singh

Becoming a defining voice of modern Hindi film romance through songs such as Tum Hi Ho.

Singer

Jay Chou

Combining R&B, pop and Chinese musical references in Mandopop.

Rapper

Daddy Yankee

Taking reggaeton to global audiences with Gasolina.

Singer

Abdel Halim Hafez

Becoming a defining romantic voice of Egyptian popular music.

Singer

Mandawuy Yunupingu

Fronting Yothu Yindi and helping bring Treaty to a national audience.

Trumpeter

Hugh Masekela

Combining South African musical traditions with jazz and anti-apartheid songs.

Singer

Leslie Cheung

Becoming a defining Cantopop star and an acclaimed film actor.

Singer

Karol G

Becoming an international star of reggaeton and Latin pop.

Singer

Amr Diab

Combining Arabic pop with Mediterranean rhythms for an international audience.

Singer

Kishore Kumar

Giving Hindi cinema a versatile playback voice across decades of songs.

Singer

Youssou N'Dour

Bringing Senegalese mbalax to a worldwide audience.

Singer

Harry Styles

Moving from One Direction to a successful solo pop career.

Singer

IU

Building a leading Korean music career alongside acclaimed acting.

Singer

Luis Miguel

Becoming a major Spanish-language recording star across pop, bolero and mariachi.

Singer

Nancy Ajram

Becoming a leading voice in Arabic pop with songs such as Akhasmak Ah.

Singer

Mohammed Rafi

Giving Hindi cinema one of its most versatile playback voices.

Singer

Angélique Kidjo

Bringing Beninese musical traditions into international collaborations.

Singer

Zayn Malik

Moving from One Direction to a solo career shaped by R&B.

Singer

Juan Gabriel

Writing and performing songs that became standards across Latin America.

Singer

Googoosh

Becoming an icon of Iranian pop before and after decades away from public performance.

Singer

M. S. Subbulakshmi

Bringing Carnatic and devotional singing to a vast audience.

Singer

Salif Keita

Combining a distinctive Malian voice with international popular music.

Singer

George Michael

Moving from Wham! to a major solo career built on songwriting and soul-influenced pop.

Rapper

RM

Leading BTS while developing a thoughtful solo rap catalogue.

Singer

Mohammad Reza Shajarian

Becoming a leading interpreter of Persian classical song.

Rapper

Tupac Shakur

Writing influential rap that combined social criticism, vulnerability and confrontation.

Singer

S. P. Balasubrahmanyam

Singing across major Indian film industries with extraordinary versatility.

Singer

Ali Farka Touré

Connecting Malian guitar traditions with an international blues audience.

Singer

Amy Winehouse

Combining jazz and soul influences with sharply personal songwriting.

Rapper

Lisa

Becoming an international performer with Blackpink and a solo career.

Singer

Mercedes Sosa

Giving Latin American folk song a powerful political and emotional voice.

Singer

Sezen Aksu

Shaping Turkish pop as a singer, songwriter and mentor.

Singer

K. J. Yesudas

Singing classical, devotional and film music across Indian languages.

Singer

Rosalía

Reworking flamenco influences within experimental contemporary pop.

Composer

Johann Sebastian Bach

Writing the Brandenburg Concertos and making intricate musical counterpoint sound expressive and alive.

Composer

George Frideric Handel

Composing Messiah, Water Music and music for British royal occasions.

Composer

Johannes Brahms

Composing symphonies, chamber music and A German Requiem that joined Romantic expression to classical form.

Composer

Joseph Haydn

Helping shape the symphony and string quartet into major classical forms.

Composer

Maurice Ravel

Composing Boléro and creating exceptionally vivid orchestral colours.

Composer

Giacomo Puccini

Composing La bohème, Tosca and Madama Butterfly, staples of opera stages worldwide.

Composer

Giuseppe Verdi

Writing Rigoletto, La traviata and Aida, which helped define Italian opera.

Composer

Jean Sibelius

Composing Finlandia and seven symphonies that became central to Finnish musical identity.

Composer

Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky

Composing Swan Lake, The Nutcracker and some of classical music’s most familiar orchestral melodies.

Composer

Frédéric Chopin

Transforming piano music through nocturnes, études, ballades and Polish-inspired dances.

Composer

Sergei Rachmaninoff

Composing sweeping piano concertos and performing as one of the great pianists of his era.

Composer

Richard Wagner

Creating The Ring of the Nibelung and reshaping opera through continuous music and recurring themes.

Composer

Robert Schumann

Writing Romantic piano cycles and songs that joined music with literary imagination.

Pianist

Clara Schumann

Sustaining a major concert career while composing and championing Romantic piano music.

Singer

Yma Sumac

Becoming an international vocal sensation with an unusually wide range and the album Voice of the Xtabay.

Singer

Chavela Vargas

Reinventing Mexican ranchera songs through spare accompaniment and a raw, emotionally direct voice.

Singer

Oumou Sangaré

Bringing Wassoulou music to international audiences while singing about women’s freedom and dignity.

Singer

Rokia Traoré

Creating a distinctive Malian sound through intimate vocals, guitar and inventive traditional-instrument arrangements.

Singer

Baaba Maal

Carrying Pulaar-language music to global audiences through acoustic performances and modern collaborations.

Musician

Bismillah Khan

Bringing the shehnai from ceremonial settings to the Hindustani classical concert stage.

Musician

Zakir Hussain

Making tabla a leading voice in Indian classical music and international musical collaboration.

Musician

Ali Akbar Khan

Introducing the sarod and Hindustani classical music to generations of international listeners and students.

Singer

Khaled

Taking Algerian raï to international audiences with Didi, Aïcha and C’est la vie.

Singer

Ofra Haza

Bringing Yemenite Jewish song into international pop through Im Nin’alu and her distinctive voice.

Composer

Astor Piazzolla

Creating nuevo tango by bringing jazz and classical ideas into Argentine tango.

Singer

Mariah Carey

Singing Vision of Love, We Belong Together and All I Want for Christmas Is You.

Singer

Caetano Veloso

Helping create Tropicália, which mixed Brazilian song with rock and avant-garde experimentation.

Singer

Grace Jones

Nightclubbing, Slave to the Rhythm and a striking fusion of music, fashion and performance.

Singer

Burna Boy

African Giant, Twice as Tall and an international Afro-fusion sound.

Singer

Rachid Taha

Mixing Algerian music with rock and electronic sounds on Ya Rayah, Barra Barra and Rock el Casbah.

Singer

Abida Parveen

Powerful interpretations of Sufi poetry, including Tere Ishq Nachaya and Yaar Ko Humne.

Singer

Utada Hikaru

First Love and the songs of Kingdom Hearts, including Simple and Clean.

Singer

Psy

Gangnam Style, the first video to reach one billion views on YouTube.

Singer

Jacky Cheung

Cantopop and Mandarin hits including The Goodbye Kiss, and major concert performances.

Singer

Tarkan

Şımarık and Turkish pop that reached audiences across national and language boundaries.

Singer

Joni Mitchell

Writing Blue, Both Sides, Now and Big Yellow Taxi while expanding the possibilities of the singer-songwriter album.

Singer

Gilberto Gil

Helping create Tropicália and combining Brazilian song with rock, reggae and global influences.

Singer

Keith Urban

Combining country songwriting with expressive guitar playing on songs including Somebody Like You and Blue Ain’t Your Color.

Singer

Wizkid

Singing Ojuelegba and Essence and helping Afrobeats reach a worldwide pop audience.

Singer

Cheb Mami

Bringing raï vocals to international audiences, including Sting’s Desert Rose.

Singer

Noor Jehan

Her expressive playback singing across Indian and Pakistani cinema, earning the title Queen of Melody.

Singer

Ayumi Hamasaki

Her self-written pop songs, albums such as Duty and elaborate concert performances.

Singer

G-Dragon

Leading BIGBANG and writing and performing solo records including Heartbreaker and Coup d’Etat.

Singer

Jolin Tsai

Her dance-pop albums Dancing Diva, Play and Ugly Beauty.

Singer

Ajda Pekkan

The Turkish pop star behind Süperstar, whose polished stage style helped define modern Turkish pop.

Singer

Johnny Cash

The country singer behind I Walk the Line, Folsom Prison Blues and the prison concert albums that made him the Man in Black.

Singer

Carlos Gardel

The voice of tango, whose recordings and musical films carried the form far beyond Buenos Aires.

Singer

Sia

The singer and songwriter behind Chandelier, Cheap Thrills and hits written for other pop stars.

Singer

Yemi Alade

The Afropop singer whose Johnny breakthrough led to Mama Africa and a multilingual international career.

Singer

Souad Massi

The Algerian singer-songwriter behind Raoui, combining acoustic folk with North African musical traditions.

Composer

Ilaiyaraaja

The film composer who fused Tamil folk melodies, Indian classical music and Western orchestration.

Singer

Namie Amuro

The Japanese pop star behind Can You Celebrate?, whose dance-pop and R&B career ended with a major farewell tour.

Singer

Taeyang

The BIGBANG vocalist known for his R&B solo work and the ballad Eyes, Nose, Lips.

Singer

Chaka Khan

The funk and soul singer behind I’m Every Woman, Ain’t Nobody and I Feel for You.

Singer

Bülent Ersoy

Becoming a leading voice in Turkish classical music and popular song.

Singer

Marvin Gaye

Recording What’s Going On and helping transform the sound and ambition of soul music.

Singer

Ricky Martin

Bringing Latin pop to a global audience with Livin’ la Vida Loca and The Cup of Life.

Singer

Lorde

Breaking through with Royals and making introspective pop albums including Pure Heroine and Melodrama.

Singer

Davido

Taking Afrobeats worldwide with songs including Fall and If.

Singer

Hindi Zahra

Blending Amazigh music, blues and jazz on Handmade and Homeland.

Singer

Sonu Nigam

Singing Hindi-film favourites including Kal Ho Naa Ho and Abhi Mujh Mein Kahin.

Singer

Sheena Ringo

Creating adventurous Japanese pop and rock as a solo artist and with Tokyo Jihen.

Rapper

CL

Leading 2NE1 and building a solo career with songs including Hello Bitches.

Singer

Eason Chan

The Cantopop and Mandopop singer behind Ten Years, King of Karaoke and U87.

Singer

Barış Manço

The Anatolian rock pioneer who blended Turkish folk music with rock and became a much-loved television host.

Singer

Janet Jackson

The pop and R&B innovator behind Control, Rhythm Nation 1814 and The Velvet Rope.

Singer

Anitta

The Brazilian pop star who carried funk-inflected music into global charts with Envolver.

Singer

Florence Welch

The powerful voice and principal songwriter of Florence and the Machine.

Singer

Tiwa Savage

The Nigerian singer who blended R&B and Afrobeats on songs such as Eminado and Somebody’s Son.

Singer

Oum

The Moroccan singer who combines soul and jazz with Darija lyrics and desert musical influences.

Musician

Anoushka Shankar

The sitar player who carries Hindustani classical training into collaborations across musical traditions.

Singer

Gladys Knight

Singing Midnight Train to Georgia and decades of soul hits with the Pips.

Singer

BoA

The singer whose success in Japan helped open an international path for K-pop.

Singer

A-Mei

Becoming a defining Mandopop voice with Sisters, Bad Boy and Amit.

Musician

Hüsnü Şenlendirici

Bringing Turkish clarinet traditions to international audiences through Laço Tayfa and Taksim Trio.

Singer

Britney Spears

Defining an era of pop with …Baby One More Time, Oops!… I Did It Again and Toxic.

Singer

Ludmilla

Bringing funk, pop and pagode together in hits and the Numanice project.

Singer

Kate Bush

Creating distinctive art-pop songs including Wuthering Heights and Running Up That Hill.

Singer

Tems

Bringing a distinctive voice to Essence, Free Mind and Grammy-winning recordings.

Musician

Naseer Shamma

Expanding the oud’s solo possibilities and founding the Arabic Oud House.

Musician

Hariprasad Chaurasia

Bringing the bansuri flute to international audiences through classical music and collaboration.

Composer

Ryuichi Sakamoto

Combining electronic music, piano and film scoring with Yellow Magic Orchestra and an Oscar-winning soundtrack.

Singer

Rain

Becoming an international Korean pop star and actor.

Singer

Stefanie Sun

Becoming a leading Mandopop voice with songs including Cloudy Day and Encounter.

Singer

Christina Aguilera

Singing Genie in a Bottle and Beautiful, with a powerful voice spanning pop, soul and Latin music.

Singer

Ivete Sangalo

Bringing Bahia’s axé music to huge audiences through songs such as Festa and Sorte Grande.

Singer

Björk

Combining an unmistakable voice with adventurous electronic pop.

Singer

Rema

Taking Calm Down from Nigerian pop to a worldwide hit.

Musician

Marcel Khalife

Setting Arabic poetry to music and expanding the expressive role of the oud.

Musician

Shivkumar Sharma

Bringing the santoor into Hindustani classical music and recording Call of the Valley.

Singer

Mariya Takeuchi

Recording Plastic Love, a song that helped introduce Japanese city pop to new international audiences.

Singer

Lee Hyori

Leading Fin.K.L and becoming a major solo pop star with 10 Minutes.

Singer

Tanya Chua

Writing and performing Mandarin pop albums including Goodbye & Hello and Depart.

Singer

Jennifer Lopez

Turning a breakthrough role in Selena into a major career in both music and film.

Singer

Daniela Mercury

Taking Bahian axé music to a national audience with O Canto da Cidade.

Singer

Sinéad O'Connor

Turning Nothing Compares 2 U into a worldwide hit with a voice of striking emotional force.

Singer

Asake

Blending Yoruba vocals, fuji and amapiano into hits such as Sungba and Joha.

Singer

Majida El Roumi

Singing Kalimat and becoming one of Lebanon’s best-known Arabic vocalists.

Singer

Bhimsen Joshi

Becoming a leading voice of Hindustani classical music and the Kirana tradition.

Singer

Tatsuro Yamashita

Shaping Japanese city pop with Ride on Time, For You and Christmas Eve.

Singer

Taeyeon

Leading Girls’ Generation and building a solo career with I, Fine and INVU.

Singer

Diana Ross

Leading the Supremes and building a solo career across soul, pop and disco.

Musician

Marisa Monte

Blending Brazilian popular music, samba and pop in solo recordings and Tribalistas.

Singer

Enya

Creating the layered vocals of Orinoco Flow, Only Time and May It Be.

Musician

King Sunny Adé

Bringing Nigerian jùjú music to international audiences with Juju Music.

Musician

Wadih El Safi

Becoming a defining voice of Lebanese folk song and the mawwal.

Musician

Kumar Gandharva

Reimagining Hindustani singing through distinctive phrasing, folk traditions and Kabir’s devotional poetry.

Singer

Kenshi Yonezu

Creating Lemon and Kick Back after first finding an audience as Vocaloid producer Hachi.

Singer

Smokey Robinson

Giving Motown its lyrical soul as the Miracles’ singer and a prolific songwriter.

Singer

Gal Costa

Giving Tropicália one of its most distinctive voices.

Singer

Dolores O'Riordan

The unmistakable voice behind the Cranberries’ Linger and Zombie.

Singer

Ebenezer Obey

Developing the richly layered miliki sound of Nigerian jùjú music.

Singer

Sabah

Bringing Lebanese song and a exuberant screen presence to audiences across the Arab world.

Singer

Kishori Amonkar

Reinterpreting Hindustani classical singing with an intensely expressive approach.

Singer

Ado

Breaking through with Usseewa and voicing Uta’s songs in One Piece Film: Red.

Singer

Otis Redding

Singing deeply expressive soul music, including (Sittin’ On) The Dock of the Bay.

Singer

Maria Bethânia

Giving dramatic voice to Brazilian popular music in songs such as Carcará.

Singer

Leon Lai

Becoming one of Hong Kong pop’s Four Heavenly Kings.

Singer

Annie Haslam

The distinctive lead voice of progressive-rock band Renaissance.

Singer

Oliver Mtukudzi

Developing the distinctive Zimbabwean sound known as Tuku Music.

Singer

Asmahan

Singing celebrated Arabic songs including Layali al-Uns fi Vienna.

Singer

Begum Akhtar

Giving ghazal, dadra and thumri a distinctive expressive voice.

Rapper

Kanye West

Reshaping hip-hop through soul-sampling production, ambitious albums and the melodic experiments of 808s & Heartbreak.

Singer

Israel Kamakawiwoʻole

Bringing Hawaiian music to a worldwide audience with Over the Rainbow.

Rapper

The Notorious B.I.G.

Shaping East Coast hip-hop with Ready to Die and Life After Death.

Singer

Anita Mui

The Cantopop star and actor known for dramatic stage transformations, a deep voice and her award-winning role in Rouge.

Singer

Cem Karaca

Combining Anatolian musical traditions with rock and political protest.

Songwriter

Miyuki Nakajima

Writing Japanese popular songs including Wakareuta and Earthly Stars.

Singer

Malena Villa

Combining an acting career with the music of La negación.

Composer

Doina Rotaru

Composing Romanian orchestral and chamber music.

Rapper

Dina Di

Giving women’s experiences a prominent voice in Brazilian rap.

Rapper

Fior de Bior

Recording the viral collaboration Gnonmi avec lait with Niska.

Singer

Opick

Popularising Tombo Ati in Indonesian religious music.

Singer

Elvy Sukaesih

Becoming a leading voice of Indonesian dangdut.

Singer

Jorge Casal

Singing tango with Florindo Sassone and Aníbal Troilo.

Musician

Debby Nasution

Shaping Indonesian rock recordings as a keyboardist and arranger.

Musician

Marcus Viana

Combining violin-led progressive music with Brazilian screen soundtracks.

Guitarist

Sami Yli-Sirniö

Playing guitar with Kreator, Waltari and Barren Earth.

Singer

Vivi Sumanti

Performing Indonesian pop music and appearing in 1970s films.

Singer

Mario Pomar

Singing tango with Carlos Di Sarli’s orchestra.

Musician

Made Kuti

Extending Afrobeat through the self-performed album For(e)ward.

Singer

Osvaldo Ribó

Singing tango with Ricardo Tanturi’s orchestra.

Singer

Astrud Gilberto

Singing on The Girl from Ipanema.

Singer

Diego Torres

Recording Color Esperanza and bringing Argentine pop to international audiences.

Singer

Fadwa Obeid

Performing Arabic-language music across North America and Lebanon.

Singer

Denny Caknan

Recording Javanese-language hits including Kartonyono Medot Janji.

Musician

Rory Gallagher

Performing blues-rock guitar with Taste and as a solo artist.

Singer

Juan Carlos Cobos

Singing tango with Osvaldo Pugliese’s orchestra.

Singer

Mayssa Karaa

Singing the Arabic White Rabbit on the American Hustle soundtrack.

Singer

Sami Clark

Singing Mori Mori and the Arabic theme for Grendizer.

Singer

Harvey Malaiholo

Building a long Indonesian pop career after winning a national singing contest.

Singer

Athenas

Recording contemporary Catholic music including Alfa y Omega.

Singer

Ustad Qasim

Helping shape Afghan classical music through court performance and teaching.

Singer

Carlos Dante

Singing tango with Alfredo de Ángelis’s orchestra.

Singer

Jorge Aragão

Writing samba and helping establish Fundo de Quintal.

Musician

Ramdas Palsule

Performing and teaching Hindustani tabla.

Singer

Martinho da Vila

Building a celebrated samba career with songs such as Casa de Bamba.

Musician

Mondo Gascaro

Co-founding Sore and recording Rajakelana.

Singer

Sofia Hoffmann

Recording One Soul and Rebirth.

Musician

Chris Joss

Making funk and electronic records inspired by imaginary film soundtracks.

Singer

Enrique Dumas

Bringing tango to radio, television and the stage.

Musician

Pandharinath Nageshkar

Performing and teaching tabla in the Hindustani tradition.

Singer

Odette Kaddo

Recording Arabic songs for audiences in the Middle East and United States.

Songwriter

Kannadasan

Writing Tamil film lyrics, poetry and Arthamulla Indhu Matham.

Singer

Bob Tutupoly

Singing the Indonesian hit Widuri

Singer

Héctor De Rosas

Singing tango with Astor Piazzolla and leading Argentine orchestras.

Composer

Valerie Rodway

Setting Guyanese national poetry to music.

Composer

Ninón Lapeiretta de Brouwer

Composing Dominican orchestral and chamber music.

Musician

Puput Novel

Building a career as an Indonesian child singer and television performer.

Singer

Joshua Suherman

Indonesian child-pop songs and a later comedy career

Singer

T. M. Krishna

Carnatic singing and efforts to widen access to classical music

Musician

Brian Jones

Founding the Rolling Stones

Musician

Kishan Maharaj

Benares gharana tabla performance

Singer

Jasraj

Hindustani classical singing in the Mewati tradition.

Composer

Leopoldine Blahetka

Nineteenth-century piano performance and composition.

Singer

Jennifer Hudson

Powerful vocal performances and her Oscar-winning Dreamgirls debut.

Composer

Agnes Tyrrell

Piano, vocal and orchestral music in nineteenth-century Moravia.

Musician

Ananda Gopal Bandopadhyay

Tabla performance in the Benaras tradition.

Singer

Saffron

Fronting Republica and its hit Ready to Go.

Composer

Atul Sharma

Composing Punjabi songs including Yaar Bolda.

Singer

Nabila Taqiyyah

Finishing runner-up on Indonesian Idol’s twelfth season.

Singer

Kaneishia Yusuf

Moving from The Voice Kids Indonesia into musical acting.

Singer

Marina Sena

Breaking through with De Primeira and Por Supuesto.

Singer

Rodolfo Galé

Singing with leading Argentine tango orchestras.

Singer

Jorge Maciel

Singing tango with Alfredo Gobbi, Osvaldo Pugliese and Sexteto Tango.

Singer

Cristina Buarque

Recording and preserving Brazilian samba repertoire.

Singer

Alberto Podestá

Interpreting tango with Carlos di Sarli, Miguel Caló and Pedro Laurenz.

Composer

Nina Šenk

Contemporary orchestral and chamber music

Musician

Sergio Arau

Botellita de Jerez and the film A Day Without a Mexican.

Composer

Shafiga Akhundova

Azerbaijani opera, songs and theatre music.

Musician

Taranath Rao

Preserving and teaching rare tabla and pakhavaj compositions.