Alabama

Alabama

Alabama is a state located in the southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Tennessee to the north, Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gulf of Mexico to the south, and Mississippi to the west. Alabama ranks 30th in total land area and ranks second in the size of its inland...

 has played a central role in the development of both blues

Blues

Blues is the name given to both a musical form and a music genre that originated in African-American communities of primarily the "Deep South" of the United States at the end of the 19th century from spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts and chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads...

 and country music

Country music

Country music is a popular American musical style that began in the rural Southern United States in the 1920s. It takes its roots from Western cowboy and folk music...

, plus Appalachian folk music, fiddle

Fiddle

The term fiddle may refer to any bowed string musical instrument, most often the violin. It is also a colloquial term for the instrument used by players in all genres, including classical music...

 music, gospel

Gospel music

Gospel music is music that is written to express either personal, spiritual or a communal belief regarding Christian life, as well as to give a Christian alternative to mainstream secular music....

, spiritual

Spiritual (music)

Spirituals are religious songs which were created by enslaved African people in America.-Terminology and origin:...

s, and polka

Polka

The polka is a Central European dance and also a genre of dance music familiar throughout Europe and the Americas. It originated in the middle of the 19th century in Bohemia...

 have had local scenes in parts of Alabama. The Tuskegee Institute's School of Music (established 1931), especially the Tuskegee Choir, is an internationally-renowned institution. There are three major modern orchestras, the Mobile Symphony

Mobile Symphony

The Mobile Symphony Orchestra is the symphonic orchestra of Mobile, Alabama. Scott Speck, co-author of Classical Music for Dummies and Opera for Dummies is its current music director. They perform at the Mobile Saenger Theatre.-See also:...

, the Alabama Symphony Orchestra

Alabama Symphony Orchestra

- 1921-1955: Beginnings :The Alabama Symphony Orchestra can trace its beginnings to 1921, when on Friday, April 29, fifty-two volunteer musicians joined to perform at the Birmingham Music Festival at the Old Jefferson Theater...

 and the Huntsville Symphony Orchestra

Huntsville Symphony Orchestra

The Huntsville Symphony Orchestra is a symphonic orchestra located in Huntsville, Alabama. The current conductor and music director is Gregory Vajda. Vajda has been the conductor since the 2011-2012 season.-See also:*Alabama Symphony Orchestra...

; the last is the oldest continuously operating professional orchestra in the state, giving its first performance in 1955.

State song

The state song of Alabama is entitled "Alabama". It was written by Julia Tutwiler

Julia Tutwiler

Julia Strudwick Tutwiler was an advocate for education and prison reform in Alabama. Graduating in the first class of Vassar College, she served as co-principal of the Livingston Female Academy, and then the first woman president of Livingston Normal College .-Early life and education:Tutwiler...

 and composed by Edna Gockel Gussen. It was adopted as the state song in 1931.

A State Senate bill (SB-458) was passed 32-1 in 2000 to move "Alabama" to the status of State Anthem, with "Stars Fell On Alabama

Stars Fell on Alabama

"Stars Fell on Alabama" is the title of a 1934 jazz standard composed by Frank Perkins with lyrics by Mitchell Parish.- History :One of the earliest recordings was by the Guy Lombardo orchestra, with his brother Carmen doing a vocal. This version was recorded on August 27, 1934, and issued by Decca...

", a song written in 1933 whose most popular release was by Jimmy Buffett

Jimmy Buffett

James William "Jimmy" Buffett is a singer-songwriter, author, entrepreneur, and film producer. He is best known for his music, which often portrays an "island escapism" lifestyle. Together with his Coral Reefer Band, Buffett's musical hits include "Margaritaville" , and "Come Monday"...

 in 1972 becoming the new State Song, and "My Home's In Alabama" (1980) by the Country

Country music

Country music is a popular American musical style that began in the rural Southern United States in the 1920s. It takes its roots from Western cowboy and folk music...

 group Alabama

Alabama (band)

Alabama is a country music and southern rock band from Fort Payne, Alabama, United States. The band was founded in 1969 by Randy Owen and his cousin Teddy Gentry , soon joined by Jeff Cook...

 would become the State Ballad, but the bill failed in the State House.

Other grass roots efforts to make "Sweet Home Alabama

Sweet Home Alabama (song)

"Sweet Home Alabama" is a song by Southern rock band Lynyrd Skynyrd that first appeared in 1974 on their second album, Second Helping.It reached #8 on the US charts in 1974, and was the band's second hit single.-Creation and recording:...

" (1974) by Lynyrd Skynyrd

Lynyrd Skynyrd

Lynyrd Skynyrd is an American rock band prominent in spreading Southern Rock during the 1970s.Originally formed as the "Noble Five" in Jacksonville, Florida, in 1964, the band rose to worldwide recognition on the basis of its driving live performances and signature tune, Freebird...

 the State Song have also failed, but the song's potential official status made a comeback when the State Tourism Agency chose the song as the centerpiece of its 2008 marketing campaign.

Recording studios

Muscle Shoals, Alabama

Muscle Shoals, Alabama

Muscle Shoals is a city in Colbert County, Alabama, United States. As of 2007, the United States Census Bureau estimated the population of the city to be 12,846. The city is included in The Shoals MSA. It is famous for its contributions to American popular music.-Geography:Muscle Shoals is located...

 is renowned worldwide as one of the epicenters of the music industry, having been the birthplace of a number of classic recordings. The studios of the Muscle Shoals

Muscle Shoals Sound Studio

The Muscle Shoals Sound Studio was formed in Muscle Shoals, Alabama,in 1969 when musicians Barry Beckett , Roger Hawkins , Jimmy Johnson and David Hood left FAME Studios to create their own studio...

 area (Florence

Florence, Alabama

Florence is the county seat of Lauderdale County, Alabama, United States, in the northwestern corner of the state.According to the 2005 Census Bureau estimates, the city's population was 36,721....

, Sheffield

Sheffield, Alabama

Sheffield is a city in Colbert County, Alabama, United States, and is included in The Shoals MSA. As of the 2000 census, the population of the city is 9,652. Sheffield is the birthplace of notable attorney, actor, former senator and presidential contender Fred Thompson...

, Muscle Shoals

Muscle Shoals, Alabama

Muscle Shoals is a city in Colbert County, Alabama, United States. As of 2007, the United States Census Bureau estimated the population of the city to be 12,846. The city is included in The Shoals MSA. It is famous for its contributions to American popular music.-Geography:Muscle Shoals is located...

, and Tuscumbia

Tuscumbia, Alabama

Tuscumbia is a city in and the county seat of Colbert County, Alabama, United States. As of the 2010 census, the population was 8,423 and is included in The Shoals MSA....

) figure prominently in the history of rock, country and R&B through the 1960s and 1970s. FAME Studios

FAME Studios

FAME Studios are located at 603 East Avalon in Muscle Shoals, Alabama. They have been an integral part of American popular music from the late 1950s to the present...

, Muscle Shoals Sound Studios, Quinvy Studios, East Avalon Recorders/ClearDay Studio, Wishbone Studios, and others have recorded local musicians and international superstars alike. Notable artists have included Aretha Franklin

Aretha Franklin

Aretha Louise Franklin is an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. Although known for her soul recordings and referred to as The Queen of Soul, Franklin is also adept at jazz, blues, R&B, gospel music, and rock. Rolling Stone magazine ranked her atop its list of The Greatest Singers of All...

, Rolling Stones, Lynyrd Skynyrd

Lynyrd Skynyrd

Lynyrd Skynyrd is an American rock band prominent in spreading Southern Rock during the 1970s.Originally formed as the "Noble Five" in Jacksonville, Florida, in 1964, the band rose to worldwide recognition on the basis of its driving live performances and signature tune, Freebird...

 and Otis Redding

Otis Redding

Otis Ray Redding, Jr. was an American soul singer-songwriter, record producer, arranger and talent scout. He is considered one of the major figures in soul and R&B...

, Wilson Pickett

Wilson Pickett

Wilson Pickett was an American R&B/Soul singer and songwriter.A major figure in the development of American soul music, Pickett recorded over 50 songs which made the US R&B charts, and frequently crossed over to the US Billboard Hot 100...

, Bob Dylan

Bob Dylan

Bob Dylan is an American singer-songwriter, musician, poet, film director and painter. He has been a major and profoundly influential figure in popular music and culture for five decades. Much of his most celebrated work dates from the 1960s when he was an informal chronicler and a seemingly...

, Paul Simon

Paul Simon

Paul Frederic Simon is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist.Simon is best known for his success, beginning in 1965, as part of the duo Simon & Garfunkel, with musical partner Art Garfunkel. Simon wrote most of the pair's songs, including three that reached number one on the US singles...

, Rod Stewart

Rod Stewart

Roderick David "Rod" Stewart, CBE is a British singer-songwriter and musician, born and raised in North London, England and currently residing in Epping. He is of Scottish and English ancestry....

, Willie Nelson

Willie Nelson

Willie Hugh Nelson is an American country music singer-songwriter, as well as an author, poet, actor, and activist. The critical success of the album Shotgun Willie , combined with the critical and commercial success of Red Headed Stranger and Stardust , made Nelson one of the most recognized...

 and countless others have recorded there. The notable studio house bands include The Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section, The Swampers

Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section

The Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section, also known as The Swampers, are a group of American soul, R&B, and country studio musicians based in the town of Muscle Shoals, Alabama...

, The Muscle Shoals Horns and The Fame Gang. One broke out on their own to become major stars, known as the Country band Shenandoah

Shenandoah (band)

Shenandoah is an American country music group founded in Muscle Shoals, Alabama in 1984 by Marty Raybon , Ralph Ezell , Stan Thorn , Jim Seales , and Mike McGuire...

.

Though not as popular a recording center as before, Muscle Shoals

Muscle Shoals, Alabama

Muscle Shoals is a city in Colbert County, Alabama, United States. As of 2007, the United States Census Bureau estimated the population of the city to be 12,846. The city is included in The Shoals MSA. It is famous for its contributions to American popular music.-Geography:Muscle Shoals is located...

 continues to be an important contributor to American popular music and is home to a number of the world's most successful songwriters, musicians and producers.

Halls of fame

The Alabama Music Hall of Fame

Alabama Music Hall of Fame

The Alabama Music Hall of Fame, first conceived by the Muscle Shoals Music Association in the early 1980s, was created by the Alabama Music Hall of Fame Board, which then saw to its Phase One construction of a after a state-wide referendum in 1987...

 was created by the Alabama state legislature as a state agency in 1980. A 12,500 square foot (1,200 m²) exhibit hall opened in Tuscumbia

Tuscumbia, Alabama

Tuscumbia is a city in and the county seat of Colbert County, Alabama, United States. As of the 2010 census, the population was 8,423 and is included in The Shoals MSA....

 in 1990.

The Alabama Jazz Hall of Fame

Alabama Jazz Hall of Fame

The Alabama Jazz Hall of Fame was founded in 1978, and opened a museum on September 18, 1993, with a mission "to foster, encourage, educate, and cultivate a general appreciation of the medium of jazz music as a legitimate, original and distinctive art form indigenous to America...

 (AJHoF) is located in Birmingham

Birmingham, Alabama

Birmingham is the largest city in Alabama. The city is the county seat of Jefferson County. According to the 2010 United States Census, Birmingham had a population of 212,237. The Birmingham-Hoover Metropolitan Area, in estimate by the U.S...

, housed in the historic Carver Theatre. It was founded in 1978 and opened a museum

Museum

A museum is an institution that cares for a collection of artifacts and other objects of scientific, artistic, cultural, or historical importance and makes them available for public viewing through exhibits that may be permanent or temporary. Most large museums are located in major cities...

 in 1993.

Popular music

Many artists in the realms of Rock

Rock music

Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...

, Country

Country music

Country music is a popular American musical style that began in the rural Southern United States in the 1920s. It takes its roots from Western cowboy and folk music...

, Rhythm and Blues

Rhythm and blues

Rhythm and blues, often abbreviated to R&B, is a genre of popular African American music that originated in the 1940s. The term was originally used by record companies to describe recordings marketed predominantly to urban African Americans, at a time when "urbane, rocking, jazz based music with a...

 and pop

Popular music

Popular music belongs to any of a number of musical genres "having wide appeal" and is typically distributed to large audiences through the music industry. It stands in contrast to both art music and traditional music, which are typically disseminated academically or orally to smaller, local...

 have emerged from Alabama over the past 50 years, including Wilson Pickett

Wilson Pickett

Wilson Pickett was an American R&B/Soul singer and songwriter.A major figure in the development of American soul music, Pickett recorded over 50 songs which made the US R&B charts, and frequently crossed over to the US Billboard Hot 100...

, Toni Tennille

Toni Tennille

Cathryn Antoinette "Toni" Tennille is one-half of the 1970s Grammy Award-winning duo Captain & Tennille. Tennille has also done musical work independently of her husband Daryl Dragon. Tennille has a contralto vocal range.-Biography:...

, Percy Sledge

Percy Sledge

Percy Sledge is an American R&B and soul performer who recorded the hit "When a Man Loves a Woman" in 1966.-Early career:...

, Tommy Shaw

Tommy Shaw

Tommy Roland Shaw is an American guitarist, best known for his work with the rock band Styx. In between his stints with Styx, he has played with the supergroup Damn Yankees and Shaw Blades, and has released several solo albums....

 of Styx

Styx (band)

Styx is an American rock band that became famous for its albums from the late 1970s and early 1980s. The Chicago band is known for melding the style of prog-rock with the power of hard rock guitar, strong ballads, and elements of American musical theater....

, Martha Reeves

Martha Reeves

Martha Rose Reeves is an American R&B and Pop singer and former politician, and was the lead singer of the Motown girl group Martha and the Vandellas. During her tenure with The Vandellas, they scored over a dozen hit singles, including "Jimmy Mack", "Dancing in the Street" and "Nowhere to Run"...

 of Martha and the Vandellas

Martha and the Vandellas

Martha and the Vandellas were among the most successful groups of the Motown roster during the period 1963–1967...

, the Southern Rock/Pop/R&B band Wet Willie, the Rock band Brother Cane

Brother Cane

Brother Cane was an American hard rock band that released three albums in the 1990s. The band was formed in 1990 by singer/guitarist Damon Johnson and bassist Glenn Maxey. Joined by guitarist Roman Glick and drummer Scott Collier, Brother Cane released their self-titled debut album in 1993...

, the Power Pop band Hotel

Hotel (band)

The band Hotel was a power pop group formed in Birmingham, Alabama in 1973 and disbanded in 1982. They had a strong regional following and were loaded top to bottom with highly talented musicians.-Early history:...

 of Birmingham, Bill McCorvey of the Country band Pirates of the Mississippi

Pirates of the Mississippi

Pirates of the Mississippi was an American country music group. It was founded in 1987 by Rich Alves , Bill McCorvey Jimmy Lowe , Pat Severs , and Dean Townson...

, and songwriter/producer Walt Aldridge

Walt Aldridge

Walt Aldridge is an American musician, singer, songwriter, engineer and record producer.Aldridge is known primarily as a Nashville songwriter...

. The Commodores and their former front man Lionel Richie

Lionel Richie

Lionel Brockman Richie, Jr. , is an American singer-songwriter, musician and record producer. Since 1968, he has been a member of the musical group Commodores signed to Motown Records...

 both hail from Tuskegee

Tuskegee, Alabama

Tuskegee is a city in Macon County, Alabama, United States. At the 2000 census the population was 11,846 and is designated a Micropolitan Statistical Area. Tuskegee has been an important site in various stages of African American history....

. Rick Hall

Rick Hall

Roe Erister "Rick" Hall is an American record producer, songwriter, music publisher and musician who is best known as the owner and proprietor of the FAME Studios in Muscle Shoals, Alabama.-Life and career:...

, founder of FAME Studios

FAME Studios

FAME Studios are located at 603 East Avalon in Muscle Shoals, Alabama. They have been an integral part of American popular music from the late 1950s to the present...

 in Muscle Shoals is a well-known producer of classic R&B, Pop & Country music from the 1960s through the 1980s.

Other notable residents include Jimmy Buffett

Jimmy Buffett

James William "Jimmy" Buffett is a singer-songwriter, author, entrepreneur, and film producer. He is best known for his music, which often portrays an "island escapism" lifestyle. Together with his Coral Reefer Band, Buffett's musical hits include "Margaritaville" , and "Come Monday"...

, though born in Pascagoula, Mississippi

Pascagoula, Mississippi

Pascagoula is a city in Jackson County, Mississippi, United States. It is the principal city of the Pascagoula, Mississippi Metropolitan Statistical Area, as a part of the Gulfport–Biloxi–Pascagoula, Mississippi Combined Statistical Area. The population was 26,200 at the 2000 census...

, grew up in the Mobile

Mobile, Alabama

Mobile is the third most populous city in the Southern US state of Alabama and is the county seat of Mobile County. It is located on the Mobile River and the central Gulf Coast of the United States. The population within the city limits was 195,111 during the 2010 census. It is the largest...

 area. Country star Tammy Wynette

Tammy Wynette

Virginia Wynette Pugh, known professionally as Tammy Wynette , was an American country music singer-songwriter and one of the genre's best-known artists and biggest-selling female vocalists....

 was born on the Mississippi/Alabama line.

Probably one of the most well-known musicians to ever hail from Alabama is Hank Williams Sr., born in Georgiana

Georgiana, Alabama

Georgiana is a town in Butler County, Alabama, United States. As of the 2000 census, the population of the town was 1,737.-Geography:Georgiana is located at 31°38'24.313" North, 86°44'21.991" West .According to the U.S...

. Hank and his wife Audrey are both buried in Oakwood Cemetery in Montgomery, where the Hank Williams Museum resides downtown.

American Idol contestants

The Birmingham area has had more than its fair share of American Idol

American Idol

American Idol, titled American Idol: The Search for a Superstar for the first season, is a reality television singing competition created by Simon Fuller and produced by FremantleMedia North America and 19 Entertainment...

 contestants do well, including second season winner Ruben Studdard

Ruben Studdard

Christopher Theodore Ruben Studdard , best known as Ruben Studdard, is an American R&B, pop, and gospel singer. He rose to fame as winner of the second season of American Idol...

, fourth season runner-up Bo Bice

Bo Bice

Harold Elwin "Bo" Bice, Jr. is an American singer and musician who placed second to Carrie Underwood in the fourth season of American Idol. He has recorded three studio albums, including one on RCA Records...

, and fifth season winner Taylor Hicks

Taylor Hicks

Taylor Reuben Hicks is an American singer who achieved fame in 2006, when he won the fifth season of American Idol. Hicks got his start as a professional musician in his late teens and performed around the Southeastern United States for well over the span of a decade, during which he also released...

.

Jazz and Blues

Alabama has a rich jazz heritage, being the birthplace of such greats as Lionel Hampton

Lionel Hampton

Lionel Leo Hampton was an American jazz vibraphonist, pianist, percussionist, bandleader and actor. Like Red Norvo, he was one of the first jazz vibraphone players. Hampton ranks among the great names in jazz history, having worked with a who's who of jazz musicians, from Benny Goodman and Buddy...

, Erskine Hawkins

Erskine Hawkins

Erskine Ramsay Hawkins was an American trumpet player and big band leader from Birmingham, Alabama, dubbed "The 20th Century Gabriel". He is most remembered for composing the jazz standard "Tuxedo Junction" with saxophonist and arranger Bill Johnson...

, Nat King Cole

Nat King Cole

Nathaniel Adams Coles , known professionally as Nat King Cole, was an American musician who first came to prominence as a leading jazz pianist. Although an accomplished pianist, he owes most of his popular musical fame to his soft baritone voice, which he used to perform in big band and jazz genres...

, Cleveland Eaton

Cleveland Eaton

Cleveland "Cleve" Eaton is an American jazz double bassist from Fairfield, Alabama, a suburb of Birmingham, Alabama. His most famous accomplishments are substantial playing stints with the Ramsey Lewis Trio and later with the Count Basie Orchestra...

, Cootie Williams

Cootie Williams

Charles Melvin "Cootie" Williams was an American jazz, jump blues, and rhythm and blues trumpeter.-Biography:...

, Urbie Green

Urbie Green

Urban Clifford "Urbie" Green is an American jazz trombonist who toured with Woody Herman, Gene Krupa, Jan Savitt, and Frankie Carle....

, Ward Swingle

Ward Swingle

Ward Swingle is an American vocalist and jazz musician.Swingle was born in Mobile, Alabama. He studied music, particularly jazz, from a very young age. He was playing in Mobile-area Big Bands before finishing high school. After high school, Swingle graduated Summa Cum Laude from the Cincinnati...

, members of Take 6

Take 6

Take 6 is an American a cappella gospel music sextet formed in 1980 on the campus of Oakwood College in Huntsville, Alabama. The group sings in a contemporary style, integrating R&B and jazz influences into their devotional songs and has 10 Grammy wins, 10 Dove Awards, one Soul Train Award and two...

 and many more. Tubist Howard Johnson of the Saturday Night Live

Saturday Night Live

Saturday Night Live is a live American late-night television sketch comedy and variety show developed by Lorne Michaels and Dick Ebersol. The show premiered on NBC on October 11, 1975, under the original title of NBC's Saturday Night.The show's sketches often parody contemporary American culture...

 band hails from Montgomery

Montgomery, Alabama

Montgomery is the capital of the U.S. state of Alabama, and is the county seat of Montgomery County. It is located on the Alabama River southeast of the center of the state, in the Gulf Coastal Plain. As of the 2010 census, Montgomery had a population of 205,764 making it the second-largest city...

. The museum of the Alabama Jazz Hall of Fame

Alabama Jazz Hall of Fame

The Alabama Jazz Hall of Fame was founded in 1978, and opened a museum on September 18, 1993, with a mission "to foster, encourage, educate, and cultivate a general appreciation of the medium of jazz music as a legitimate, original and distinctive art form indigenous to America...

 honors many of these fine musicians. In the 1930s and 40s, college dance bands, such as the Alabama Cavaliers, the Auburn Knights

The Auburn Knights Orchestra

The Auburn Knights Orchestra is a jazz and swing big band based out of Auburn, Alabama, home to Auburn University, and is thought to be one of the oldest big band organizations in the world. Formed in 1930 at what was then known as API , the band organized to play for dances and other musical...

 and the Bama State Collegians

Bama State Collegians

The Bama State Collegians is a student jazz orchestra made up of students at Alabama State University. This group, founded in the 1930s, has been directed by a number of notable musicians, including Tommy Stewart and Erskine Hawkins....

 played an important role in the history of jazz in the South. Birmingham, Alabama

Birmingham, Alabama

Birmingham is the largest city in Alabama. The city is the county seat of Jefferson County. According to the 2010 United States Census, Birmingham had a population of 212,237. The Birmingham-Hoover Metropolitan Area, in estimate by the U.S...

 boasts several active big bands, including the SuperJazz Big Band, the Joe Giattina Orchestra, the Night Flight Big Band and the Magic City Jazz Orchestra

Magic City Jazz Orchestra

The Magic City Jazz Orchestra is an American jazz ensemble which was founded in 1999 as a spin-off of the SuperJazz Big Band by Birmingham, Alabama jazz pianist and vocalist Ray Reach...

, founded and directed by Ray Reach

Ray Reach

Raymond Everett Reach, Jr. is an American pianist, vocalist and educator residing in Birmingham, Alabama, now serving as Director of Student Jazz Programs for the Alabama Jazz Hall of Fame, director of the Alabama Jazz Hall of Fame All-Stars and President and CEO of Ray Reach Music and Magic City...

. In addition, there is a world-class horn section, the Tuscaloosa Horns http://www.tuscaloosahorns.com, comprising some of Alabama's finest jazz/soul/funk instrumentalists. Also the Newest/Youngest break out big band in Alabama which incorporates everything from Duke Ellington to Bob Marley; the New South Jazz Orchestra http://www.nsjo.com which prominently features the Tuscaloosa Horns and the composing/arranging skills of members of the Tuscaloosa Horns.

Ward Swingle

Ward Swingle

Ward Swingle is an American vocalist and jazz musician.Swingle was born in Mobile, Alabama. He studied music, particularly jazz, from a very young age. He was playing in Mobile-area Big Bands before finishing high school. After high school, Swingle graduated Summa Cum Laude from the Cincinnati...

, world famous multiple Grammy Award winning jazz vocal composer and pianist, hails from Mobile, Alabama.

Birmingham, Alabama contributed prominently to the history of jazz in America. It is the hometown of numerous influential jazz musicians, including bassist Cleveland Eaton

Cleveland Eaton

Cleveland "Cleve" Eaton is an American jazz double bassist from Fairfield, Alabama, a suburb of Birmingham, Alabama. His most famous accomplishments are substantial playing stints with the Ramsey Lewis Trio and later with the Count Basie Orchestra...

, pianist and vocalist Ray Reach

Ray Reach

Raymond Everett Reach, Jr. is an American pianist, vocalist and educator residing in Birmingham, Alabama, now serving as Director of Student Jazz Programs for the Alabama Jazz Hall of Fame, director of the Alabama Jazz Hall of Fame All-Stars and President and CEO of Ray Reach Music and Magic City...

, guitarist Johnny Smith

Johnny Smith

Johnny Smith is an American cool jazz and mainstream jazz guitarist.-Early years:...

, trumpeter and bandleader Erskine Hawkins

Erskine Hawkins

Erskine Ramsay Hawkins was an American trumpet player and big band leader from Birmingham, Alabama, dubbed "The 20th Century Gabriel". He is most remembered for composing the jazz standard "Tuxedo Junction" with saxophonist and arranger Bill Johnson...

, trumpeter and arranger Tommy Stewart

Tommy Stewart (trumpeter)

Tommy Stewart is an American trumpeter, arranger, producer, composer and pianist residing in Birmingham, Alabama. He is a member of several active performing groups, including the Magic City Jazz Orchestra, Cleveland Eaton and the Alabama All-Stars, the Alabama Jazz Hall of Fame All-Stars, and Ray...

, composer Hugh Martin

Hugh Martin

Hugh Martin was an American musical theater and film composer, arranger, vocal coach, and playwright. He is best known for his score for the 1944 MGM musical Meet Me In St...

, arranger Sammy Lowe

Sammy Lowe

Sammy Lowe was an American trumpeter, arranger, and conductor.Lowe was active both in jazz and in R&B music, particularly in the 1950s and 1960s. From...

, bandleader Sun Ra

Sun Ra

Sun Ra was a prolific jazz composer, bandleader, piano and synthesizer player, poet and philosopher known for his "cosmic philosophy," musical compositions and performances. He was born in Birmingham, Alabama...

, vibraphonist and bandleader Lionel Hampton

Lionel Hampton

Lionel Leo Hampton was an American jazz vibraphonist, pianist, percussionist, bandleader and actor. Like Red Norvo, he was one of the first jazz vibraphone players. Hampton ranks among the great names in jazz history, having worked with a who's who of jazz musicians, from Benny Goodman and Buddy...

, John Propst (pianist for Pete Fountain

Pete Fountain

Pete Fountain , is an American clarinetist based in New Orleans. He has played jazz, Dixieland and Creole music.-Early life and education:...

 and Boots Randolph

Boots Randolph

Homer Louis "Boots" Randolph III was an American musician best known for his 1963 saxophone hit, "Yakety Sax"...

) and many more. Historical areas such as Tuxedo Junction

Tuxedo Junction

"Tuxedo Junction" is a song co-written by Birmingham, Alabama composer Erskine Hawkins and saxophonist and arranger Bill Johnson. Julian Dash is also credited for the music. The song was introduced by Hawkins's orchestra. Lyrics were by Buddy Feyne...

 and the Fourth Avenue Historical District played an important role in the evolution of jazz in Birmingham and the United States.

Gospel

Gospel music, especially the Five Blind Boys of Alabama, has been especially influential in the state (see also the Birmingham Sunlights

Birmingham Sunlights

The Birmingham Sunlights is an African-American a cappella gospel singing group from the Birmingham, Alabama area.This group developed their style within the Church of Christ, a Christian denominational group in which no instruments are used for performing church music...

).
Integrity Media

Integrity Media

Integrity Media is a privately held media communications company that publishes and distributes Christian music, films and related materials. The corporate offices are located in Mobile, Alabama, with subsidiary offices in Tennessee and foreign offices in Singapore, South Africa and the United...

 a leading producer of praise and worship music

Praise song

Contemporary worship music is a loosely defined genre of Christian music used in contemporary worship. It has developed over the past sixty years and is stylistically similar to pop music. The songs are frequently referred to as "praise songs" or "worship songs" and are typically led by a "worship...

 is based in Mobile, AL.

Celtic

The state also has a Celtic music

Celtic music

Celtic music is a term utilised by artists, record companies, music stores and music magazines to describe a broad grouping of musical genres that evolved out of the folk musical traditions of the Celtic people of Western Europe...

 scene, which has produced bands like Henri's Notions, After Class, and the Birmingham-based harp

Harp

The harp is a multi-stringed instrument which has the plane of its strings positioned perpendicularly to the soundboard. Organologically, it is in the general category of chordophones and has its own sub category . All harps have a neck, resonator and strings...

ist Cynthia Douglass, as well as a number of piping bands and promotional Celtic organizations.

Sacred Harp

Alabama is the leading state for Sacred Harp

Sacred Harp

Sacred Harp singing is a tradition of sacred choral music that took root in the Southern region of the United States. It is part of the larger tradition of shape note music.- The music and its notation :...

 singing. The B. F. White Sacred Harp is published by the Sacred Harp Book Company of Samson, Alabama

Samson, Alabama

Samson is a city in Geneva County, Alabama, United States. It is part of the Dothan, Alabama Metropolitan Statistical Area. At the 2000 census the population was 2,071.-Geography:Samson is located at .According to the U.S...

. The Sacred Harp/Shape Note Music and Cultural Center is located in Bessemer

Bessemer, Alabama

Bessemer is a city outside of Birmingham in Jefferson County, Alabama, United States eight miles west of Hoover. The population was 29,672 at the 2000 Census, but by the 2009 U.S...

, Alabama.

Members of the Alabama Music Hall of Fame

• Alabama (band)
  Alabama (band)
  Alabama is a country music and southern rock band from Fort Payne, Alabama, United States. The band was founded in 1969 by Randy Owen and his cousin Teddy Gentry , soon joined by Jeff Cook...
  
   - Country superstar band, based in Fort Payne
  Fort Payne, Alabama
  Fort Payne is a city in DeKalb County, Alabama, United States. At the 2000 census the population was 12,938. The city is the county seat of DeKalb County. It bills itself as the "Official Sock Capital of the World."...
  
  
• Ernest Ashworth- Country Star and a member of the Grand Ole Opry for 44 years. Known for his hit "Talk Back Trembling Lips" from Huntsville, Alabama
• Nat King Cole
  Nat King Cole
  Nathaniel Adams Coles , known professionally as Nat King Cole, was an American musician who first came to prominence as a leading jazz pianist. Although an accomplished pianist, he owes most of his popular musical fame to his soft baritone voice, which he used to perform in big band and jazz genres...
  
   - Jazz and R&B musician/songwriter, born in Montgomery
  Montgomery, Alabama
  Montgomery is the capital of the U.S. state of Alabama, and is the county seat of Montgomery County. It is located on the Alabama River southeast of the center of the state, in the Gulf Coastal Plain. As of the 2010 census, Montgomery had a population of 205,764 making it the second-largest city...
  
  
• The Commodores - Soul/funk group formed in Tuskegee
  Tuskegee, Alabama
  Tuskegee is a city in Macon County, Alabama, United States. At the 2000 census the population was 11,846 and is designated a Micropolitan Statistical Area. Tuskegee has been an important site in various stages of African American history....
  
  
• William Levi Dawson - composer, organizer of the Tuskegee School of Music, from Anniston, Alabama
  Anniston, Alabama
  Anniston is a city in Calhoun County in the state of Alabama, United States.As of the 2000 census, the population of the city is 24,276. According to the 2005 U.S. Census estimates, the city had a population of 23,741...
  
  
• Delmore Brothers - from Elkmont, Alabama
  Elkmont, Alabama
  Elkmont is a town in Limestone County, Alabama, United States, and is included in the Huntsville-Decatur Combined Statistical Area. As of the 2000 census, the population of the town is 470.-Geography:Elkmont is located at 1....
  
  
• Cleveland Eaton
  Cleveland Eaton
  Cleveland "Cleve" Eaton is an American jazz double bassist from Fairfield, Alabama, a suburb of Birmingham, Alabama. His most famous accomplishments are substantial playing stints with the Ramsey Lewis Trio and later with the Count Basie Orchestra...
  
   - jazz bassist, veteran of the Count Basie Orchestra
  Count Basie Orchestra
  The Count Basie Orchestra is a 16 to 18 piece big band, one of the most prominent jazz performing groups of the swing era, founded by Count Basie. The band survived the late '40s decline in big band popularity and went on to produce notable collaborations with singers such as Frank Sinatra and Ella...
  
   and the Ramsey Lewis Trio, from Birmingham, Alabama
• Joe L. Frank - country music promoter from Mt. Rozell
• Rick Hall
  Rick Hall
  Roe Erister "Rick" Hall is an American record producer, songwriter, music publisher and musician who is best known as the owner and proprietor of the FAME Studios in Muscle Shoals, Alabama.-Life and career:...
  
   - record producer
  Record producer
  A record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording of an artist's music...
  
   from Franklin County
• W.C. Handy - father of the blues, Born in Florence
  Florence, Alabama
  Florence is the county seat of Lauderdale County, Alabama, United States, in the northwestern corner of the state.According to the 2005 Census Bureau estimates, the city's population was 36,721....
  
  
• Erskine Hawkins
  Erskine Hawkins
  Erskine Ramsay Hawkins was an American trumpet player and big band leader from Birmingham, Alabama, dubbed "The 20th Century Gabriel". He is most remembered for composing the jazz standard "Tuxedo Junction" with saxophonist and arranger Bill Johnson...
  
   - big band
  Big band
  A big band is a type of musical ensemble associated with jazz and the Swing Era typically consisting of rhythm, brass, and woodwind instruments totaling approximately twelve to twenty-five musicians...
  
   leader
• Sonny James
  Sonny James
  James Loden , known professionally as Sonny James, is an American country music singer and songwriter best known for his 1957 hit, "Young Love". Dubbed the Southern Gentleman, James had 72 country and pop chart hits from 1953 to 1983, including a five-year streak of 16 straight among his 23 No. 1...
  
   - Early country star, born in Hacklebug
  Hackleburg, Alabama
  Hackleburg is a town in Marion County, Alabama, United States. At the 2010 census the population was 1,430. It is also the hometown of country music singer Sonny James. James had numerous country and cross over pop hits starting in the 1950s though the 1970s...
  
  
• James Joiner - founder of Tune Recording Studio, songwriter, from Florence
  Florence, Alabama
  Florence is the county seat of Lauderdale County, Alabama, United States, in the northwestern corner of the state.According to the 2005 Census Bureau estimates, the city's population was 36,721....
  
  
• Jake Hess
  Jake Hess
  Jake Hess was an American Grammy Award-winning southern gospel singer.-Life:Hess was born Manchild Hess December 24, 1927, in Limestone County, Alabama...
  
   - gospel singer from Limestone County
  Limestone County, Alabama
  Limestone County is a county of the U.S. state of Alabama, and is included in the Huntsville Metropolitan Area.It is also included in the merged Huntsville-Decatur Metro Area. Its name comes from Limestone Creek, a local stream. In 2000, the population was 65,676. As of 2010 the county's...
  
  
• Buddy Killen
  Buddy Killen
  William Doyce “Buddy” Killen was a record producer and music publisher, and a former owner of Trinity Broadcasting Network, and the largest country music publishing business, before he sold it in 1989...
  
   - record producer and founder of Dial Records
  Dial Records (1964)
  A second Dial Records label was a New Orleans soul label formed by Nashville-based song publisher/plugger/producer Buddy Killen in 1964.This label was formed specifically so Killen could record perhaps his best-known discovery, soul singer Joe Tex...
  
  , executive at Tree Publishing

• Louvin Brothers
  Louvin Brothers
  The Louvin Brothers were an American country music duo composed of brothers Ira Lonnie Loudermilk and Charlie Elzer Loudermilk , better known as Ira and Charlie Louvin. They helped popularize close harmony, a genre of country music.-History:The brothers adopted the name Louvin Brothers in the...
  
   - influential close harmony
  Close harmony
  Close harmony is an arrangement of the notes of chords within a narrow range. It is different from open harmony or voicing in that it uses each part on the closest harmonizing note , while the open voicing uses a broader pitch array expanding the harmonic range past the octave...
  
   group, from Section
  Section, Alabama
  Section is a township in Jackson County, Alabama, United States and is included in the Huntsville-Decatur Combined Statistical Area. As of the 2000 census, the population of the township is 769. Section is located on top of Sand Mountain. It is also home to the Section Dairy Bar.-Geography:Section...
  
  
• Chuck Leavell
  Chuck Leavell
  Chuck Leavell is an American pianist and keyboardist, who was a member of The Allman Brothers Band throughout the height of their popularity, a founding member of the jazz-rock combo Sea Level, a frequently-employed session musician, and later, the keyboardist for Eric Clapton and The Rolling...
  
   - Keyboardist, former member of the Allman Brothers Band, sideman for Eric Clapton
  Eric Clapton
  Eric Patrick Clapton, CBE, is an English guitarist and singer-songwriter. Clapton is the only three-time inductee to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame: once as a solo artist, and separately as a member of The Yardbirds and Cream. Clapton has been referred to as one of the most important and...
  
   and the Rolling Stones
• Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section
  Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section
  The Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section, also known as The Swampers, are a group of American soul, R&B, and country studio musicians based in the town of Muscle Shoals, Alabama...
  
   - renowned studio band, consisting of Jimmy Johnson
  Jimmy Johnson (musician)
  Jimmy Johnson is an American a member of the Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section that was attached to FAME Studios in Muscle Shoals, Alabama for a period in the 1960s and 1970s, and later was the a founder of Muscle Shoals Sound Studio located at first on 3614 Jackson Highway in Sheffield, Alabama and at...
  
  , guitar, Roger Hawkins
  Roger Hawkins
  Roger G Hawkins , is an American drummer best known for playing as part of the studio backing band known as The Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section of Alabama...
  
  , drums, David Hood
  David Hood
  David Hood , is a bassist from Muscle Shoals, Alabama. He also plays the trombone and is a member of the Alabama Music Hall of Fame....
  
  , bass, and Barry Beckett
  Barry Beckett
  Barry Edward Beckett was a keyboardist who worked as a session musician with several notable artists on their studio albums...
  
  , keyboards
• Dan Penn
  Dan Penn
  Dan Penn is an American singer, songwriter, record producer and sometime guitar player who co-wrote many soul hits of the 1960s including "Dark End of the Street" and "Do Right Woman, Do Right Man" and "Out of Left Field" & "Cry Like A Baby"...
  
   - singer, songwriter & record producer, from Vernon
  Vernon, Alabama
  Vernon is a city in Lamar County, Alabama, United States. At the 2000 census the population was 2,143. The city is the county seat of Lamar County.- Geography :Vernon is located at .According to the U.S...
  
  
• Sam Phillips
  Sam Phillips
  Samuel Cornelius Phillips , better known as Sam Phillips, was an American businessman, record executive, record producer and DJ who played an important role in the emergence of rock and roll as the major form of popular music in the 1950s...
  
   - founder of Sun Records
  Sun Records
  Sun Records is a record label founded in Memphis, Tennessee, starting operations on March 27, 1952.Founded by Sam Phillips, Sun Records was known for giving notable musicians such as Elvis Presley , Carl Perkins, Roy Orbison, and Johnny Cash...
  
  , born in Florence
  Florence, Alabama
  Florence is the county seat of Lauderdale County, Alabama, United States, in the northwestern corner of the state.According to the 2005 Census Bureau estimates, the city's population was 36,721....
  
  
• Curly Putman
  Curly Putman
  Claude "Curly" Putman, Jr. is an American songwriter, based in Nashville. His biggest success was "Green, Green Grass of Home" , which was covered by Elvis Presley, Johnny Darrell, Gram Parsons, Joan Baez, Jerry Lee Lewis, Johnny Cash, Roberto Leal, Merle Haggard, Bobby Bare, Joe Tex, Nana...
  
   - songwriter from Princeton
• Martha Reeves
  Martha Reeves
  Martha Rose Reeves is an American R&B and Pop singer and former politician, and was the lead singer of the Motown girl group Martha and the Vandellas. During her tenure with The Vandellas, they scored over a dozen hit singles, including "Jimmy Mack", "Dancing in the Street" and "Nowhere to Run"...
  
   - Motown lead singer, Born in Eufaula
  Eufaula, Alabama
  Eufaula is a city in Barbour County, Alabama, United States. At the 2000 census the population was 13,908.-Geography:Eufaula is located at 31°53'21.732" North, 85°9'13.586" West ....
  
  
• Jimmie Rodgers
  Jimmie Rodgers (country singer)
  James Charles Rodgers , known as Jimmie Rodgers, was an American country singer in the early 20th century known most widely for his rhythmic yodeling...
  
   - Early country star, born in Geiger
  Geiger, Alabama
  Geiger is a town in Sumter County, Alabama, United States. At the 2000 census the population was 161.-Geography:Geiger is located at .According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the town has a total area of , all of it land....
  
  
• Billy Sherrill
  Billy Sherrill
  Billy Sherrill is a record producer and arranger who is most famous for his association with a number of country artists, most notably Tammy Wynette...
  
   - Country producer, with 74 top 10 hits, born in Phil Campbell
  Phil Campbell, Alabama
  Phil Campbell is a town in Franklin County, Alabama, United States. At the 2000 census the population was 1,091. Phil Campbell is the birthplace of Billy Sherrill.-Geography:Phil Campbell is located at .According to the U.S...
  
  
• Percy Sledge
  Percy Sledge
  Percy Sledge is an American R&B and soul performer who recorded the hit "When a Man Loves a Woman" in 1966.-Early career:...
  
   - 1960s soul star, born in Leighton
  Leighton, Alabama
  Leighton is a town in Colbert County, Alabama, United States. It is part of the Florence - Muscle Shoals Metropolitan Statistical Area known as "The Shoals". At the 2000 census the population was 849...
  
  
• Dinah Washington
  Dinah Washington
  Dinah Washington, born Ruth Lee Jones , was an American blues, R&B and jazz singer. She has been cited as "the most popular black female recording artist of the '50s", and called "The Queen of the Blues"...
  
   - Jazz and blues singer, born in Tuscaloosa
  Tuscaloosa, Alabama
  Tuscaloosa is a city in and the seat of Tuscaloosa County in west central Alabama . Located on the Black Warrior River, it is the fifth-largest city in Alabama, with a population of 90,468 in 2010...
  
  
• Jerry Wexler
  Jerry Wexler
  Gerald "Jerry" Wexler was a music journalist turned music producer, and was regarded as one of the major record industry players behind music from the 1950s through the 1980s...
  
   - New Yorker with Atlantic Records
  Atlantic Records
  Atlantic Records is an American record label best known for its many recordings of rhythm and blues, rock and roll, and jazz...
  
  , responsible for the rise of Muscle Shoals
• John T. "Fess" Whatley - music educator, worked with the Jazz Demons, the first jazz band in Birmingham
• Hank Williams - Country music pioneer, born in Georgiana
  Georgiana, Alabama
  Georgiana is a town in Butler County, Alabama, United States. As of the 2000 census, the population of the town was 1,737.-Geography:Georgiana is located at 31°38'24.313" North, 86°44'21.991" West .According to the U.S...
  
  
• Tammy Wynette
  Tammy Wynette
  Virginia Wynette Pugh, known professionally as Tammy Wynette , was an American country music singer-songwriter and one of the genre's best-known artists and biggest-selling female vocalists....
  
   - Country singer - Lived in Red Bay
  Red Bay, Alabama
  Red Bay is a city in Franklin County, Alabama, United States. At the 2000 census the population was 3,374.-Geography:Red Bay is located at .According to the U.S...
  
  

Other notable musicians from Alabama

• Maylene and the Sons of Disaster
  Maylene and the Sons of Disaster
  Maylene and the Sons of Disaster is an American, Southern metalcore band formed in 2004 in Birmingham, Alabama. In 2005, Maylene and the Sons of Disaster signed to Mono Vs Stereo and released their self-titled debut album...
  
   - Southern Metal band based out of Birmingham
  Birmingham, Alabama
  Birmingham is the largest city in Alabama. The city is the county seat of Jefferson County. According to the 2010 United States Census, Birmingham had a population of 212,237. The Birmingham-Hoover Metropolitan Area, in estimate by the U.S...
  
  
• Jonathan Alverson - Singer/Songwroter, guitarist, country music artist born in Gadsden, Alabama
  Gadsden, Alabama
  The city of Gadsden is the county seat of Etowah County in the U.S. state of Alabama, and it is located about 65 miles northeast of Birmingham, Alabama. It is the primary city of the Gadsden Metropolitan Statistical Area, which has a population of 103,459. Gadsden is closely associated with the...
  
  
• Hank Ballard
  Hank Ballard
  Hank Ballard , born John Henry Kendricks, was a rhythm and blues singer and songwriter, the lead vocalist of Hank Ballard and The Midnighters and one of the first proto-rock 'n' roll artists to emerge in the early 1950s...
  
   - R&B performer and songwriter, wrote "The Twist
  The Twist (song)
  "The Twist" is a twelve bar blues song that gave birth to the Twistdance craze. The song was written and originally released in 1959 by Hank Ballard and the Midnighters as a B-side but his version was only a moderate 1960 hit, peaking at 28 on the Billboard Hot 100...
  
  ", lived in Bessemer
  Bessemer, Alabama
  Bessemer is a city outside of Birmingham in Jefferson County, Alabama, United States eight miles west of Hoover. The population was 29,672 at the 2000 Census, but by the 2009 U.S...
  
  
• Bo Bice
  Bo Bice
  Harold Elwin "Bo" Bice, Jr. is an American singer and musician who placed second to Carrie Underwood in the fourth season of American Idol. He has recorded three studio albums, including one on RCA Records...
  
   - Runner-up, American Idol Season 4
• Bibi Black - Trumpet
  Trumpet
  The trumpet is the musical instrument with the highest register in the brass family. Trumpets are among the oldest musical instruments, dating back to at least 1500 BCE. They are played by blowing air through closed lips, producing a "buzzing" sound which starts a standing wave vibration in the air...
  
  er from Huntsville
  Huntsville, Alabama
  Huntsville is a city located primarily in Madison County in the central part of the far northern region of the U.S. state of Alabama. Huntsville is the county seat of Madison County. The city extends west into neighboring Limestone County. Huntsville's population was 180,105 as of the 2010 Census....
  
  
• Blind Boys of Alabama - Gospel group, based in Talladega
  Talladega, Alabama
  Talladega is a city in Talladega County, Alabama, United States. At the 2000 census the population was 15,143. The city is the county seat of Talladega County. Talladega is approximately 50 miles east of Birmingham, Alabama....
  
  
• Brother Cane
  Brother Cane
  Brother Cane was an American hard rock band that released three albums in the 1990s. The band was formed in 1990 by singer/guitarist Damon Johnson and bassist Glenn Maxey. Joined by guitarist Roman Glick and drummer Scott Collier, Brother Cane released their self-titled debut album in 1993...
  
   - Alternative musicians, based in Birmingham
  Birmingham, Alabama
  Birmingham is the largest city in Alabama. The city is the county seat of Jefferson County. According to the 2010 United States Census, Birmingham had a population of 212,237. The Birmingham-Hoover Metropolitan Area, in estimate by the U.S...
  
  
• Tommy Stewart (trumpeter)
  Tommy Stewart (trumpeter)
  Tommy Stewart is an American trumpeter, arranger, producer, composer and pianist residing in Birmingham, Alabama. He is a member of several active performing groups, including the Magic City Jazz Orchestra, Cleveland Eaton and the Alabama All-Stars, the Alabama Jazz Hall of Fame All-Stars, and Ray...
  
  - Composer, Arranger, Pianist and Trumpeter based in Birmingham
  Birmingham, Alabama
  Birmingham is the largest city in Alabama. The city is the county seat of Jefferson County. According to the 2010 United States Census, Birmingham had a population of 212,237. The Birmingham-Hoover Metropolitan Area, in estimate by the U.S...
  
  
• Jimmy Buffett
  Jimmy Buffett
  James William "Jimmy" Buffett is a singer-songwriter, author, entrepreneur, and film producer. He is best known for his music, which often portrays an "island escapism" lifestyle. Together with his Coral Reefer Band, Buffett's musical hits include "Margaritaville" , and "Come Monday"...
  
   - Popular singer/songwriter, from Mobile
  Mobile, Alabama
  Mobile is the third most populous city in the Southern US state of Alabama and is the county seat of Mobile County. It is located on the Mobile River and the central Gulf Coast of the United States. The population within the city limits was 195,111 during the 2010 census. It is the largest...
  
  
• Tony Brook - Songwriter, from Luverne
  Luverne, Alabama
  Luverne is a city in Crenshaw County, Alabama, United States. At the 2000 census the population was 2,635.The city is the county seat of Crenshaw County.-History:...
  
  
• Adam Brown - Singer/Songwriter originally from Hartselle
  Hartselle, Alabama
  Hartselle is the second largest city in Morgan County, Alabama, United States, about south of Decatur, and is included in the Decatur Metropolitan Area, and the Huntsville-Decatur Combined Statistical Area. As of the 2006 census estimates, the population of the city is 13,479. Hartselle was...
  
  
• Oteil Burbridge
  Oteil Burbridge
  Oteil Burbridge, in Washington, D.C.), is a Grammy Award-nominated American multi-instrumentalist, specializing on the bass guitar, trained in playing jazz and classical music from an early age. He has achieved fame primarily on bass guitar during the current resurgence of the Allman Brothers Band...
  
   - Jazz bassist, member of the Allman Brothers Band, from Birmingham
  Birmingham, Alabama
  Birmingham is the largest city in Alabama. The city is the county seat of Jefferson County. According to the 2010 United States Census, Birmingham had a population of 212,237. The Birmingham-Hoover Metropolitan Area, in estimate by the U.S...
  
  
• Larry Byrom
  Larry Byrom
  Larry Byrom is an American guitarist who has written, recorded, and toured with acts like Steppenwolf, Ratchell, Neil Young, Steve Winwood, Peter Frampton, Eddie Rabbit and Tanya Tucker.- References :...
  
   - Rock guitarist, from Huntsville
  Huntsville, Alabama
  Huntsville is a city located primarily in Madison County in the central part of the far northern region of the U.S. state of Alabama. Huntsville is the county seat of Madison County. The city extends west into neighboring Limestone County. Huntsville's population was 180,105 as of the 2010 Census....
  
  
• Clarence Carter
  Clarence Carter
  Clarence Carter is a blind American soul singer and musician.-Life and career:Born in Montgomery, Alabama on 14 January 1936, Carter attended the Alabama School for the Blind in Talladega, Alabama, and Alabama State College in Montgomery, graduating in August 1960 with a Bachelor of Science degree...
  
   - R&B musician and songwriter, Born in Montgomery
  Montgomery, Alabama
  Montgomery is the capital of the U.S. state of Alabama, and is the county seat of Montgomery County. It is located on the Alabama River southeast of the center of the state, in the Gulf Coastal Plain. As of the 2010 census, Montgomery had a population of 205,764 making it the second-largest city...
  
  
• Nell Carter
  Nell Carter
  Nell Carter was an American singer, and film, stage, and television actress. She won a Tony Award for her performance in the Broadway musical Ain't Misbehavin, as well as an Emmy Award for her reprisal of the role on television...
  
   - Broadway and TV, Born in Birmingham
  Birmingham, Alabama
  Birmingham is the largest city in Alabama. The city is the county seat of Jefferson County. According to the 2010 United States Census, Birmingham had a population of 212,237. The Birmingham-Hoover Metropolitan Area, in estimate by the U.S...
  
  
• Seaborn McDaniel Denson
  Seaborn McDaniel Denson
  Seaborn McDaniel Denson was a notable Alabama musician and singing school teacher within the Sacred Harp tradition. He was a son of The Rev. Levi Phillips Denson, a Methodist minister, and Julia Ann Jones Denson. Seaborn Denson was born April 9, 1854 in Arbacoochee, Alabama. He married Sidney...
  
   - Sacred Harp teacher and composer
• Thomas Jackson Denson
  Thomas Jackson Denson
  Thomas Jackson Denson was a notable Alabama musician and singing school teacher within the Sacred Harp tradition. He was the youngest of the four sons of the Levi Phillip Denson, a Methodist minister, and Julia Ann Jones Denson. Thomas J. Denson was born in 1863 in Arbacoochee, Cleburne County. He...
  
   - Sacred Harp teacher and composer
• Drive-By Truckers
  Drive-By Truckers
  Drive-By Truckers are an alternative country/Southern rock band based in Athens, Georgia, though three out of six members are originally from The Shoals region of Northern Alabama, and the band strongly identifies with Alabama. Their music uses three guitars as well as bass, drums, and now...
  
   - Alternative Rock band of Shoals-area natives
• Cleveland Eaton
  Cleveland Eaton
  Cleveland "Cleve" Eaton is an American jazz double bassist from Fairfield, Alabama, a suburb of Birmingham, Alabama. His most famous accomplishments are substantial playing stints with the Ramsey Lewis Trio and later with the Count Basie Orchestra...
  
   - jazz
  Jazz
  Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
  
   musician from Birmingham
• Ronnie Eades - "Fame Gang", Muscle Shoals Horn,Saxophone, raised in Tarrant, Alabama
  Tarrant, Alabama
  Tarrant is a city in Jefferson County, Alabama, United States southeast of Fultondale. At the 2000 census the population was 7,022.-Geography:Tarrant is located at .According to the U.S...
  
  
• Eddie Floyd
  Eddie Floyd
  Eddie Lee Floyd is an American soul/R&B singer and songwriter, best known for his work on the Stax record label in the 1960s and 1970s and the song "Knock on Wood".-Biography:...
  
   - R&B singer, born in Montgomery
  Montgomery, Alabama
  Montgomery is the capital of the U.S. state of Alabama, and is the county seat of Montgomery County. It is located on the Alabama River southeast of the center of the state, in the Gulf Coastal Plain. As of the 2010 census, Montgomery had a population of 205,764 making it the second-largest city...
  
  
• Lionel Hampton
  Lionel Hampton
  Lionel Leo Hampton was an American jazz vibraphonist, pianist, percussionist, bandleader and actor. Like Red Norvo, he was one of the first jazz vibraphone players. Hampton ranks among the great names in jazz history, having worked with a who's who of jazz musicians, from Benny Goodman and Buddy...
  
   - Jazz vibes pioneer, lived in Birmingham
  Birmingham, Alabama
  Birmingham is the largest city in Alabama. The city is the county seat of Jefferson County. According to the 2010 United States Census, Birmingham had a population of 212,237. The Birmingham-Hoover Metropolitan Area, in estimate by the U.S...
  
  
• Emmylou Harris
  Emmylou Harris
  Emmylou Harris is an American singer-songwriter and musician. In addition to her work as a solo artist and bandleader, both as an interpreter of other composers' works and as a singer-songwriter, she is a sought-after backing vocalist and duet partner, working with numerous other artists including...
  
   - Country singer/songwriter, Born in Birmingham
  Birmingham, Alabama
  Birmingham is the largest city in Alabama. The city is the county seat of Jefferson County. According to the 2010 United States Census, Birmingham had a population of 212,237. The Birmingham-Hoover Metropolitan Area, in estimate by the U.S...
  
  
• Ty Herndon
  Ty Herndon
  Boyd Tyrone "Ty" Herndon is an American country music and Christian singer. Signed to Epic Records in 1995, Herndon made his debut that year with the Number One single "What Mattered Most", followed by the release of his first album, also entitled What Mattered Most...
  
   - Country singer, lives in Butler
  Butler, Alabama
  Butler is a town in and the county seat of Choctaw County, Alabama, United States. The population was 1,952 at the 2000 census, at which time it was a city.-History:...
  
  
• Taylor Hicks
  Taylor Hicks
  Taylor Reuben Hicks is an American singer who achieved fame in 2006, when he won the fifth season of American Idol. Hicks got his start as a professional musician in his late teens and performed around the Southeastern United States for well over the span of a decade, during which he also released...
  
   - winner, American Idol Season 5
• Charlie Hodge
  Charlie Hodge (guitarist)
  Charles Franklin Hodge , better known as Charlie Hodge, was an American singer, vocal coach and musician who was a confidant and associate of Elvis Presley.- Early music career :...
  
   - Musician for Elvis Presley
  Elvis Presley
  Elvis Aaron Presley was one of the most popular American singers of the 20th century. A cultural icon, he is widely known by the single name Elvis. He is often referred to as the "King of Rock and Roll" or simply "the King"....
  
  , member of the "Memphis Mafia
  Memphis Mafia
  The "Memphis Mafia" was the nickname for a group of friends, associates, employees and "yes-men" whose main function was to be around Elvis Presley from 1954 until he died. Several filled practical roles in the singer's life. For instance, they were employed to work for him as bodyguards or on tour...
  
  ", born in Decatur
  Decatur, Alabama
  Decatur is a city in Limestone and Morgan Counties in the U.S. state of Alabama. The city, affectionately known as "The River City", is located in Northern Alabama on the banks of Wheeler Lake, along the Tennessee River. It is the largest city and county seat of Morgan County...
  
  
• Adam Hood
  Adam Hood
  Adam Hood is a singer-songwriter from Opelika, Alabama, who has released studio albums, "The Shape of Things" , Adam Hood" EP , "6th Street " EP , 21 to Enter and Different Groove . He had played as a musician for years before his breakthrough around 2001...
  
   - Singer/Songwriter from Opelika
  Opelika, Alabama
  Opelika is a city in and the county seat of Lee County in the east central part of the U.S. state of Alabama. It is a principal city of the Auburn-Opelika Metropolitan Area. According to 2010 Census, the population of Opelika was 26,477...
  
  
• Hotel
  Hotel (band)
  The band Hotel was a power pop group formed in Birmingham, Alabama in 1973 and disbanded in 1982. They had a strong regional following and were loaded top to bottom with highly talented musicians.-Early history:...
  
   - Pop-rock band from Birmingham from 1973–1982, recorded 2 albums with MCA Records, some chart success; very popular regional act in their day.
• Merle Kilgore
  Merle Kilgore
  Wyatt Merle Kilgore was an American singer, songwriter, and manager.-Early life:Although born in Chickasha, Oklahoma, Merle Kilgore was raised in Shreveport, Louisiana. He was the son of Wyatt and Gladys B. Kilgore...
  
   - Country musician, lived in Cullman
  Cullman, Alabama
  Cullman is a city in Cullman County, State of Alabama. Cullman is located along Interstate 65, about north of Birmingham, and about south of Huntsville. According to the U.S...
  
  
• Nicolette Larson
  Nicolette Larson
  Nicolette Larson was an American pop singer. She is perhaps best known for her work in the late 1970s with Neil Young, as well as her 1978 cover of Young's "Lotta Love". The song, her debut single, was a Number One Hot Adult Contemporary Tracks hit and #8 pop hit that year...
  
   - 1970s songwriter, lived in Birmingham
  Birmingham, Alabama
  Birmingham is the largest city in Alabama. The city is the county seat of Jefferson County. According to the 2010 United States Census, Birmingham had a population of 212,237. The Birmingham-Hoover Metropolitan Area, in estimate by the U.S...
  
  
• Eddie Levert
  Eddie Levert
  Edward "Eddie" Levert is an American singer, and is the lead vocalist of the soul/funk/R&B vocal group, The O'Jays.Levert was born in Bessemer, Alabama, but was raised in Canton, Ohio. While attending high school, he met buddies Walter Williams, Bill Isles, Bobby Massey, and William Powell...
  
   - Founding member of The O'Jays
  The O'Jays
  The O'Jays are an American R&B group from Canton, Ohio, formed in 1963 and originally consisting of Eddie Levert , Walter Williams , William Powell , Bobby Massey and Bill Isles. The O'Jays were inducted into the Vocal Group Hall of Fame in 2004, and The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2005...
  
  , born in Birmingham
  Birmingham, Alabama
  Birmingham is the largest city in Alabama. The city is the county seat of Jefferson County. According to the 2010 United States Census, Birmingham had a population of 212,237. The Birmingham-Hoover Metropolitan Area, in estimate by the U.S...
  
  
• Marty Lott, a.k.a. "The Phantom"
  Jerry Lott
  Jerry Lott aka Marty Lott aka The Phantom was an American rockabilly singer with the frantic Dot single, "Love Me" backed with the ballad "Whisper My Love" . Both sides were recorded in 1958 but not issued until January 1960. Songwriting credit for both is M...
  
   - "Love Me", the first rockabilly record-Born in Prichard, Alabama
• Lot Lizard - Psychadelic doom metal group from Marshall Co.
• Shelby Lynne
  Shelby Lynne
  Shelby Lynne is an American singer, songwriter and actress. The success of the 1999 album I Am Shelby Lynne led to her winning the Grammy Award for Best New Artist, even though she had been active in the music industry for some time...
  
   - Country music artist, lives in [Jackson, Alabama] Singer Sonwriter from St Stephens AL.

• Maddox Brothers and Rose
  Maddox Brothers and Rose
  The Maddox Brothers and Rose, known as America’s Most Colorful Hillbilly Band from the 1930s to the 1950s, consisted of four brothers, Fred, Cal, Cliff and Don Maddox, along with their sister Rose. Cliff died in 1949 and was replaced by brother Henry...
  
   - Influential early country group, from Boaz
  Boaz, Alabama
  Boaz is a city in Etowah and Marshall Counties in the U.S. state of Alabama. It is part of the 'Gadsden, Alabama Metropolitan Statistical Area'. As of the 2010 census, the population of the city is 9,551. Boaz is known mainly for its outlet shops....
  
  
• Man or Astro-man?
  Man or Astro-man?
  Man or Astro-man? is a surf rock group that formed in Auburn, Alabama, in the early 1990s and came to prominence over the following decade.Primarily instrumental, Man or Astro-man? blended the surf rock style of the early 1960s like that of The Spotnicks with the new wave and punk rock sounds of...
  
   - Surf rock revivalists, Auburn
  Auburn, Alabama
  Auburn is a city in Lee County, Alabama, United States. It is the largest city in eastern Alabama with a 2010 population of 53,380. It is a principal city of the Auburn-Opelika Metropolitan Area...
  
  
• Brian McKnight
  Brian McKnight
  Brian McKnight is an American singer-songwriter, arranger, producer, and R&B/Pop musician. He is a multi-instrumentalist who plays nine instruments: piano, guitar, bass guitar, drums, percussions, trombone, tuba, flugelhorn and trumpet....
  
   - R&B singer and producer, Born in Huntsville
  Huntsville, Alabama
  Huntsville is a city located primarily in Madison County in the central part of the far northern region of the U.S. state of Alabama. Huntsville is the county seat of Madison County. The city extends west into neighboring Limestone County. Huntsville's population was 180,105 as of the 2010 Census....
  
  
• Jim Nabors
  Jim Nabors
  James Thurston "Jim" Nabors is an American actor and singer. Born and raised in Sylacauga, Alabama, Nabors moved to Southern California because of his asthma. While working at a Santa Monica nightclub, The Horn, he was discovered by Andy Griffith and later joined The Andy Griffith Show, playing...
  
   - Actor and singer of standards and gospel, born in Sylacauga
  Sylacauga, Alabama
  Sylacauga is a city in Talladega County, Alabama, United States. At the 2000 census the population was 12,616.Nicknames for Sylacauga include: "The Marble City," "Buzzard's Roost" and "Sly Town"....
  
  
• Rex Oggs - Singer/songwriter, born in Elba
  Elba, Alabama
  Elba is a city in Coffee County, Alabama. At the time of the 2000 U.S. census, its population was 4,185.Elba is the official county seat of Coffee County, though Coffee County has two County Courthouses, with the other one being located in the town of Enterprise...
  
  
• Spooner Oldham
  Spooner Oldham
  Dewey Lindon "Spooner" Oldham is an American songwriter and session musician. An organist, he recorded in Muscle Shoals, Alabama and at FAME Studios on such hit R&B songs as "When a Man Loves a Woman" by Percy Sledge, "Mustang Sally" by Wilson Pickett and "I Never Loved a Man" by Aretha...
  
   - songwriter & keyboardist, born in Centre
  Centre, Alabama
  Centre is a city in Cherokee County, Alabama, United States. At the 2010 census the population was 3,273. The city is the county seat of Cherokee County, and is part of the 'Gadsden, Alabama Metropolitan Statistical Area'.-History:...
  
  
• Wayne Perkins
  Wayne Perkins
  Wayne Perkins is a rock and R & B guitarist, singer, songwriter and session musician. He was the oldest of six children, a brother and four sisters. Both of his parents sang and played guitar...
  
   - Guitarist, singer, songwriter, Muscle Shoals
  Muscle Shoals Sound Studio
  The Muscle Shoals Sound Studio was formed in Muscle Shoals, Alabama,in 1969 when musicians Barry Beckett , Roger Hawkins , Jimmy Johnson and David Hood left FAME Studios to create their own studio...
  
   studio musician, played on Rolling Stones album, from Birmingham
• Wilson Pickett
  Wilson Pickett
  Wilson Pickett was an American R&B/Soul singer and songwriter.A major figure in the development of American soul music, Pickett recorded over 50 songs which made the US R&B charts, and frequently crossed over to the US Billboard Hot 100...
  
   - R&B star, born in Prattville
  Prattville, Alabama
  Prattville is a city in Autauga and Elmore counties in the U.S. state of Alabama. As of the 2010 Census, the population of the city is 33,960. Nicknamed "The Fountain City" due to the many artesian wells in the area, Prattville is part of the Montgomery metropolitan statistical area and serves as...
  
  
• Shane Porter - Founder of the New South Jazz Orchestra http://www.nsjo.com, Published composer/arranger http://www.jalenpublishing.com, Free-lance Trumpet player, Pianist, Proud member of the Tuscaloosa Horns http://www.tuscaloosahorns.com, from Tuscaloosa
  Tuscaloosa, Alabama
  Tuscaloosa is a city in and the seat of Tuscaloosa County in west central Alabama . Located on the Black Warrior River, it is the fifth-largest city in Alabama, with a population of 90,468 in 2010...
  
  
• Ray Reach
  Ray Reach
  Raymond Everett Reach, Jr. is an American pianist, vocalist and educator residing in Birmingham, Alabama, now serving as Director of Student Jazz Programs for the Alabama Jazz Hall of Fame, director of the Alabama Jazz Hall of Fame All-Stars and President and CEO of Ray Reach Music and Magic City...
  
   - Jazz pianist, from Birmingham
  Birmingham, Alabama
  Birmingham is the largest city in Alabama. The city is the county seat of Jefferson County. According to the 2010 United States Census, Birmingham had a population of 212,237. The Birmingham-Hoover Metropolitan Area, in estimate by the U.S...
  
  
• Rich Boy
  Rich Boy
  Marece Richards , better known by his stage name Rich Boy, is an American rapper from Mobile, Alabama. He is best known for the hit single "Throw Some D's". His self-titled debut album was released in early 2007.- Early career :...
  
   - Rapper, real name Maurice Richards, born 1985 in Mobile, Alabama
  Mobile, Alabama
  Mobile is the third most populous city in the Southern US state of Alabama and is the county seat of Mobile County. It is located on the Mobile River and the central Gulf Coast of the United States. The population within the city limits was 195,111 during the 2010 census. It is the largest...
  
  
• Lionel Richie
  Lionel Richie
  Lionel Brockman Richie, Jr. , is an American singer-songwriter, musician and record producer. Since 1968, he has been a member of the musical group Commodores signed to Motown Records...
  
   - Singer/songwriter, see also Commodores
  Commodores
  The Commodores are an American funk/soul band of the 1970s and 1980s. The members of the group met as mostly freshmen at Tuskegee Institute in 1968, and signed with Motown in November 1972, having first caught the public eye opening for The Jackson 5 while on tour...
  
  , born in Tuskegee
  Tuskegee, Alabama
  Tuskegee is a city in Macon County, Alabama, United States. At the 2000 census the population was 11,846 and is designated a Micropolitan Statistical Area. Tuskegee has been an important site in various stages of African American history....
  
  
• Sex Clark Five
  Sex Clark Five
  Sex Clark Five is an underground indie rock band formed in the early 1980s in Huntsville, Alabama. Calling their inventive, sawed-off power pop songs "strum and drum" , SC5 released several albums that featured the jangly Rickenbacker guitar sound characteristic of Southern college rock bands of...
  
   - Strum and drum, alternative rock from Huntsville
  Huntsville, Alabama
  Huntsville is a city located primarily in Madison County in the central part of the far northern region of the U.S. state of Alabama. Huntsville is the county seat of Madison County. The city extends west into neighboring Limestone County. Huntsville's population was 180,105 as of the 2010 Census....
  
  
• State Line Mob
  State Line Mob
  The State Line Mob was an association of criminal elements that operated in the 1950s and 1960s at the Mississippi–Tennessee state line in Alcorn County, Mississippi, and McNairy County, Tennessee, along U.S. Route 45. The State Line Mob was involved in bootlegging, gambling, prostitution, tourist...
  
   - Southern Rock
  Southern rock
  Southern rock is a subgenre of rock music, and genre of Americana. It developed in the Southern United States from rock and roll, country music, and blues, and is focused generally on electric guitar and vocals...
  
  , Country
  Country music
  Country music is a popular American musical style that began in the rural Southern United States in the 1920s. It takes its roots from Western cowboy and folk music...
  
   duo group, Florence
  Florence, Alabama
  Florence is the county seat of Lauderdale County, Alabama, United States, in the northwestern corner of the state.According to the 2005 Census Bureau estimates, the city's population was 36,721....
  
   & Muscle Shoals
  Muscle Shoals, Alabama
  Muscle Shoals is a city in Colbert County, Alabama, United States. As of 2007, the United States Census Bureau estimated the population of the city to be 12,846. The city is included in The Shoals MSA. It is famous for its contributions to American popular music.-Geography:Muscle Shoals is located...
  
   natives, 2008 Winners of 2 Muscle Shoals music awards for Best new artist & Best new country album of the year. http://www.statelinemob.com
• Tommy Shaw
  Tommy Shaw
  Tommy Roland Shaw is an American guitarist, best known for his work with the rock band Styx. In between his stints with Styx, he has played with the supergroup Damn Yankees and Shaw Blades, and has released several solo albums....
  
   - guitarist, singer & songwriter from Montgomery with the popular 1970s-1980s rock band Styx
  Styx (band)
  Styx is an American rock band that became famous for its albums from the late 1970s and early 1980s. The Chicago band is known for melding the style of prog-rock with the power of hard rock guitar, strong ballads, and elements of American musical theater....
  
  , will be inducted in Alabama Music Hall of Fame in February, 2008.
• The Skeeters - alt.country band from Ft. Payne
• The Tuscaloosa Horns - Mart Avant (Trumpet), Chris Gordon (Trumpet), Shane Porter (Trumpet), Jim Moeller (Trombone), Demondrae Thurman (Trombone), Chad Fisher (Trombone), Steve Black (Saxophone), Kelley ONeal (Saxophone), Mace Hibbard (Saxophone), Jerry Ball (Saxophone), Jimmy Bowland (Saxophone), Steven Collins (Saxophone), Jon Noffsinger (Saxophone)
• Ruben Studdard
  Ruben Studdard
  Christopher Theodore Ruben Studdard , best known as Ruben Studdard, is an American R&B, pop, and gospel singer. He rose to fame as winner of the second season of American Idol...
  
   - Winner of American Idol
  American Idol
  American Idol, titled American Idol: The Search for a Superstar for the first season, is a reality television singing competition created by Simon Fuller and produced by FremantleMedia North America and 19 Entertainment...
  
  , Born in Birmingham
  Birmingham, Alabama
  Birmingham is the largest city in Alabama. The city is the county seat of Jefferson County. According to the 2010 United States Census, Birmingham had a population of 212,237. The Birmingham-Hoover Metropolitan Area, in estimate by the U.S...
  
  
• Sun Ra
  Sun Ra
  Sun Ra was a prolific jazz composer, bandleader, piano and synthesizer player, poet and philosopher known for his "cosmic philosophy," musical compositions and performances. He was born in Birmingham, Alabama...
  
   - Jazz musician and composer, born in Birmingham
  Birmingham, Alabama
  Birmingham is the largest city in Alabama. The city is the county seat of Jefferson County. According to the 2010 United States Census, Birmingham had a population of 212,237. The Birmingham-Hoover Metropolitan Area, in estimate by the U.S...
  
  
• Take 6
  Take 6
  Take 6 is an American a cappella gospel music sextet formed in 1980 on the campus of Oakwood College in Huntsville, Alabama. The group sings in a contemporary style, integrating R&B and jazz influences into their devotional songs and has 10 Grammy wins, 10 Dove Awards, one Soul Train Award and two...
  
   - Contemporary Gospel group, from Huntsville
  Huntsville, Alabama
  Huntsville is a city located primarily in Madison County in the central part of the far northern region of the U.S. state of Alabama. Huntsville is the county seat of Madison County. The city extends west into neighboring Limestone County. Huntsville's population was 180,105 as of the 2010 Census....
  
  
• The Temptations
  The Temptations
  The Temptations is an American vocal group having achieved fame as one of the most successful acts to record for Motown Records. The group's repertoire has included, at various times during its five-decade career, R&B, doo-wop, funk, disco, soul, and adult contemporary music.Formed in Detroit,...
  
   - four members: Eddie Kendricks
  Eddie Kendricks
  Eddie Kendricks was an American singer and songwriter. Noted for his distinctive falsetto singing style, Kendricks co-founded the Motown singing group The Temptations, and was one of their lead singers from 1960 until 1971. His was the lead voice on such famous songs as "The Way You Do The Things...
  
   (Union Springs
  Union Springs, Alabama
  Union Springs is a town in Bullock County, Alabama, United States. The population was 3,670 at the 2000 census.-History:The area that became Union Springs was first settled by white men after the Creek Indian removal of the 1830s. Twenty-seven springs watered the land, giving rise to the name of...
  
  ), Paul Williams
  Paul Williams (The Temptations)
  Paul Williams was an American baritone singer and choreographer. Williams is noted for being one of the founding members and original lead singer of the Motown group The Temptations...
  
   (Birmingham
  Birmingham, Alabama
  Birmingham is the largest city in Alabama. The city is the county seat of Jefferson County. According to the 2010 United States Census, Birmingham had a population of 212,237. The Birmingham-Hoover Metropolitan Area, in estimate by the U.S...
  
  ), Melvin Franklin
  Melvin Franklin
  David Melvin English better known by the stage name Melvin Franklin, was an American bass singer. Franklin is best known for his role as a member of Motown singing group The Temptations from 1960 to 1994....
  
   (Montgomery
  Montgomery, Alabama
  Montgomery is the capital of the U.S. state of Alabama, and is the county seat of Montgomery County. It is located on the Alabama River southeast of the center of the state, in the Gulf Coastal Plain. As of the 2010 census, Montgomery had a population of 205,764 making it the second-largest city...
  
  ), and Dennis Edwards
  Dennis Edwards
  Dennis Edwards is a soul and R&B singer, most noted for being one of Motown act The Temptations' lead singers replacing David Ruffin. He is the father of Issa Pointer, whose mother is Ruth Pointer of The Pointer Sisters.-Career:...
  
   (Birmingham)
• Toni Tennille
  Toni Tennille
  Cathryn Antoinette "Toni" Tennille is one-half of the 1970s Grammy Award-winning duo Captain & Tennille. Tennille has also done musical work independently of her husband Daryl Dragon. Tennille has a contralto vocal range.-Biography:...
  
   - Half of '70s hitmakers Captain & Tennille
  Captain & Tennille
  Captain & Tennille are American pop music recording artists who achieved chart success from 1975 to 1980. The duo consists of husband and wife duo "Captain" Daryl Dragon , and Cathryn Antoinette "Toni" Tennille . They are best known for their singles "Love Will Keep Us Together" and "Do That to Me...
  
  , born in Montgomery
  Montgomery, Alabama
  Montgomery is the capital of the U.S. state of Alabama, and is the county seat of Montgomery County. It is located on the Alabama River southeast of the center of the state, in the Gulf Coastal Plain. As of the 2010 census, Montgomery had a population of 205,764 making it the second-largest city...
  
  
• Willie Mae "Big Momma" Thornton
  Big Mama Thornton
  Willie Mae "Big Mama" Thornton was an American rhythm and blues singer and songwriter. She was the first to record the hit song "Hound Dog" in 1952. The song was #1 on the Billboard R&B charts for seven weeks in 1953. The B-side was "They Call Me Big Mama," and the single sold almost two million...
  
   - Blues and R&B artist, born in Ariton
  Ariton, Alabama
  Ariton is a town in Dale County, Alabama, United States. At the 2000 census the population was 772. According to the 2005 U.S. Census estimates, the town had a population of 755. Ariton is part of the Enterprise–Ozark Micropolitan Statistical Area....
  
  
• Thrasher Brothers - Seminal gospel group, based in Birmingham
  Birmingham, Alabama
  Birmingham is the largest city in Alabama. The city is the county seat of Jefferson County. According to the 2010 United States Census, Birmingham had a population of 212,237. The Birmingham-Hoover Metropolitan Area, in estimate by the U.S...
  
  
• Gary Wheat - Saxophonist residing in Birmingham
  Birmingham, Alabama
  Birmingham is the largest city in Alabama. The city is the county seat of Jefferson County. According to the 2010 United States Census, Birmingham had a population of 212,237. The Birmingham-Hoover Metropolitan Area, in estimate by the U.S...
  
  
• Hank Williams Jr. - Country music star, lived in Gadsden
  Montgomery, Alabama
  Montgomery is the capital of the U.S. state of Alabama, and is the county seat of Montgomery County. It is located on the Alabama River southeast of the center of the state, in the Gulf Coastal Plain. As of the 2010 census, Montgomery had a population of 205,764 making it the second-largest city...
  
  
• Will Kimbrough
  Will Kimbrough
  Will Kimbrough born in Mobile, Alabama in 1964 is an American Singer-Songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and producer currently based in Nashville, Tennessee.-Biography:...
  
   - Singer/Songwriter, Producer, Guitarist, Multi-Instrumentalist, lived in Mobile, Alabama
  Mobile, Alabama
  Mobile is the third most populous city in the Southern US state of Alabama and is the county seat of Mobile County. It is located on the Mobile River and the central Gulf Coast of the United States. The population within the city limits was 195,111 during the 2010 census. It is the largest...
  
  
• Trust Company
  Trust Company (band)
  Trust Company is an American alternative metal/post-grunge band from Prattville, Alabama.-First run :...
  
   - Rock band from Montgomery, Alabama
• Candi Staton
  Candi Staton
  Candi Staton is an American soul and gospel singer, best known for her 1970 remake of Tammy Wynette's "Stand By Your Man" and her 1976 disco hit "Young Hearts Run Free". In 2007, Staton was inducted into the Christian Music Hall of Fame.-Early years:...
  
   - R&B, disco and gospel singer from Hanceville, Alabama
• Allison Moorer
  Allison Moorer
  Allison Moorer is an American alternative country singer and the younger sister of Shelby Lynne. She signed to MCA Nashville in 1998 and made her debut on the U.S...
  
   - Academy Award nominated country folk musician from Frankville, Alabama

See also

• List of songs about Alabama
• Muscle Shoals, Alabama
  Muscle Shoals, Alabama
  Muscle Shoals is a city in Colbert County, Alabama, United States. As of 2007, the United States Census Bureau estimated the population of the city to be 12,846. The city is included in The Shoals MSA. It is famous for its contributions to American popular music.-Geography:Muscle Shoals is located...
  
  
• WLAY (AM)
  WLAY (AM)
  The station celebrated the FM launch with a two-day marathon, broadcasting live from two of the city’s most celebrated recording studios. FAME Studios, where legendary recordings by Aretha Franklin, Wilson Pickett, the Allman Brothers Band, Little Richard, Jerry Lee Lewis, Solomon Burke, George...
  
  

Muscle Shoals Music

• Birmingham, Alabama
  Birmingham, Alabama
  Birmingham is the largest city in Alabama. The city is the county seat of Jefferson County. According to the 2010 United States Census, Birmingham had a population of 212,237. The Birmingham-Hoover Metropolitan Area, in estimate by the U.S...
  
  

External links

• Alabama Music Hall of Fame
• Download traditional music
• Alabama Symphony Orchestra
• The Tuscaloosa Horns
• Alabama Jazz Hall of Fame
• Birmingham Live Music
• New South Jazz Orchestra