Score a home run with this packet of information on the very first player of the Negro League to be elected into the National Baseball Hall of Fame — cultural groundbreaker and sports legend Satchel Paige. These worksheets include a...

A reading of Tanya Lee Stones' biography of Ella Fitzgerald lets middle schoolers get up close and personal with the First Lady of Jazz. Stone recounts details of Fitzgerald's life from her early days through her experiences as a teenage...

This encyclopedia entry gives a brief history of rap and hip hop and the influences of the music on modern culture.

This encyclopedia entry offers a brief look at Quincy Jones, who began as a jazz trumpet player, but has expanded his career beyond music into film and television. There are links to websites for more information.

This encyclopedia article gives a good overview of the life of Bert Williams, a black entertainer of the early 1900's who broke many color lines.

This encyclopedia entry extols Queen Latifah as the most influential female rap singer. You can read about her evolution as a rap singer and actress.

This encyclopedia article gives a brief biography of Andre Watts, the first internationally known black classical pianist.

Biography of Duke Ellington, one of the originators of big band jazz, and a noted composer.

Information on the popular style of music called Motown that developed from a recording company of the same name.

Using primary documents, oral histories, and other historical resources, discover how the arts of Africa, Europe, and pre-Civil War America influenced the culture of enslaved African Americans.

Sam Cooke's influence on music, as the pioneer in cross-over from gospel to rhythm and blues, is described in this encyclopedia entry. His music was important to the African-American identity in the Civil Rights movement.

This encyclopedia article tells the high points of Mahalia Jackson's life. She was a world-renowned gospel singer whose influence was felt in the civil rights movement.

This is a brief encyclopedia biography of the ragtime composer, Scott Joplin, whose music was influential in the growth of jazz.

This encyclopedia entry gives a brief account of Thelonius Monk, jazz pianist, and his influence on the jazz scene.

Entry, from an online encyclopedia of African American history, for Josephine Baker.

In this encyclopedia entry, you read about the rap group, Public Enemy, their songs, and the evolution of their message. There is a link to a website for more information.

Jack the Rapper (Jack Gibson) helped open the first African-American-owned radio station in the United States, WERD in Atlanta, Georgia, in 1949. Gibson learned about radio while working as a gofer for deejay Al Benson in Chicago. He...

This entry from Encyclopedia Britannica features Louis Jordan, an American saxophonist-singer prominent in the 1940s and '50s who was a seminal figure in the development of both rhythm and blues and rock and roll. The bouncing, rhythmic...

This entry from Encyclopedia Brittanica's Guide to Black History features Berry Gordy, Jr., an American businessman, founder of the Motown Record Corporation (1959), which became the most successful black-owned music company in the...

This entry from Encyclopedia Brittanica's Guide to Black History features Taj Mahal, an American singer, guitarist, songwriter, and one of the pioneers of what came to be called world music. He combined blues and other African-American...

Biographical details on Sam and Dave, the American vocal duo who were among the most popular performers of soul music in the late 1960s and whose gritty, gospel-drenched style typified the Memphis Sound.

This entry from Encyclopedia Britannica features Celia Cruz, a Cuban singer who reigned for decades as the "Queen of Salsa Music," electrifying audiences with her wide-ranging, soulful voice and rhythmically compelling style.

Summarizes the life and career of Luther Vandross, an American soul and pop singer, songwriter, and producer whose widespread popularity and reputation as a consummate stylist began in the early 1980s.

A brief biographical sketch of Stevie Wonder, an African-American singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist, a child prodigy who developed into one of the most creative musical figures of the late 20th century.