Encyclopedia Britannica
Encyclopedia Britannica: Guide to Black History: Taj Mahal
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...
Constitutional Rights Foundation
Constitutional Rights Foundation: Black Troops in Union Blue
Activity on African American troops in the Union Army. Students read article for background information, answer questions, then analyze and write about the controversies in a piece to be published in a mock Frederick Douglass's Paper.
Encyclopedia Britannica
Encyclopedia Britannica: Lloyd Price
This entry from Encyclopedia Britannica features Lloyd Price, an American singer, songwriter, and entrepreneur. Price made his mark in rock music history with his exuberant tenor and his flair for recasting rhythm and blues as...
Tennessee History For Kids
Tennessee History for Kids: Bessie Smith
Often known as the "Empress of the Blues," Bessie Smith influenced entire generations of blues, jazz, and rock musicians and was the highest-paid black entertainer of her time. This website will provide more information about Smith's...
Encyclopedia Britannica
Encyclopedia Britannica: Usher
Learn about the life and career of Usher, the American musician whose smooth vocals and sensual ballads helped establish him as a rhythm-and-blues superstar beginning in the late 1990s.
Encyclopedia Britannica
Encyclopedia Britannica: The Soul Stirrers
This entry from Encyclopedia Britannica's Guide to Black History features the Soul Stirrers, an American gospel group who were one of the first male quintets and one of the most enduring male groups. Several singers emerged from the...
Encyclopedia Britannica
Encyclopedia Britannica: Louis Jordan
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...
Encyclopedia Britannica
Encyclopedia Britannica: Clyde Mc Phatter
This entry from Encyclopedia Britannica features Clyde McPhatter, an American rhythm-and-blues singer popular in the 1950s whose emotional style anticipated soul music.
Encyclopedia Britannica
Encyclopedia Britannica: Gene Ammons
This entry from Encyclopedia Britannica features Gene Ammons, an American jazz tenor saxophonist, noted for his big sound and blues-inflected, "soulful" improvising.
Encyclopedia Britannica
Encyclopedia Britannica: Ike Turner
Biographical account of Ike Turner, the American rhythm-and-blues and soul performer, and producer who was best known for his work with Tina Turner.
Encyclopedia Britannica
Encyclopedia Britannica: Teddy Pendergrass
This entry from Encyclopedia Britannica features Teddy Pendergrass, an American rhythm-and-blues singer who embodied the smooth, Philly soul sound of the 1970s as lead vocalist for Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes before embarking on a...
Encyclopedia Britannica
Encyclopedia Britannica: Jackie Wilson
This entry from Encyclopedia Britannica features Jackie Wilson, an American singer who was a pioneering exponent of the fusion of 1950s doo-wop, rock, and blues styles into the soul music of the 1960s.
Encyclopedia Britannica
Encyclopedia Britannica: Lou Rawls
This entry from Encyclopedia Britannica features Lou Rawls, an American singer whose smooth baritone adapted easily to jazz, soul, gospel, and rhythm and blues.
Encyclopedia Britannica
Encyclopedia Britannica: Professor Longhair
This entry from Encyclopedia Britannica features Professor Longhair, an American singer and pianist who helped shape the sound of New Orleans rhythm and blues from the mid-1940s.
Encyclopedia Britannica
Encyclopedia Britannica: R. Kelly
This entry from Encyclopedia Britannica features R. Kelly, an American singer, songwriter, producer, and multi-instrumentalist who became one of the best-selling rhythm-and-blues (R&B) artists of the 1990s and early 21st century....
Encyclopedia Britannica
Encyclopedia Britannica: Sammy Price
This entry from Encyclopedia Britannica features Sammy Price, an American pianist and bandleader, a jazz musician rooted in the old rhythm and blues and boogie-woogie traditions who had a long career as a soloist and accompanist.
Encyclopedia Britannica
Encyclopedia Britannica: Timbaland
This entry from Encyclopedia Britannica features Timbaland, an influential American producer and hip-hop and rhythm-and-blues performer who contributed to the chart-scaling success of a host of recording artists in the early 21st century.
Annenberg Foundation
Annenberg Learner: American Passages: Rhythms in Poetry: Langston Hughes
Poet laureate Langston Hughes is featured in this brief biography highlighting his vast collection of writings, particularly his poetry, which drew upon racial and self awareness in America. See "Langston Hughes Activities" for related...
Yale University
Yale New Haven Teachers Institute: A Guide Through the Culture of the Blues
An extraordinary curriculum unit to teach blues and all its cultural implications.
Varsity Tutors
Varsity Tutors: Web English Teacher: Langston Hughes
This resource focuses on the works of famous African-American author, Langston Hughes.
Encyclopedia Britannica
Encyclopedia Britannica: T Bone Walker
Biographical information on African-American musician and songwriter T-Bone Walker, a major figure in modern blues. He was the first important electric guitar soloist in the blues and one of its most influential players.
Encyclopedia Britannica
Encyclopedia Britannica: Muddy Waters
A brief biography of Muddy Waters, American blues guitarist and singer who became famous in the post-World War II era.
Encyclopedia Britannica
Encyclopedia Britannica: Willie Dixon
This entry from Encyclopedia Britannica features Willie Dixon, an American blues musician who, as record producer, bassist, and prolific songwriter, exerted a major influence on the post-World War II Chicago style.
Encyclopedia Britannica
Encyclopedia Britannica: Michael S. Harper
This entry from Encyclopedia Britannica features Michael S. Harper, an African-American poet whose sensitive, personal verse is concerned with ancestral kinship, jazz and the blues, and the separation of the races in America.