If the School Of Rock Was Real...

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, baptised as Johannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart, was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical era. Mozart showed prodigious ability from his earliest childhood.

Born: January 27, 1756, Salzburg, Austria
Died: December 5, 1791, Vienna, Austria

Johann Sebastian Bach was a German composer, organist, harpsichordist, violist, and violinist of the Baroque period.

Born: March 31, 1685, Eisenach, Eisenach
Died: July 28, 1750, Leipzig, Prussia

Ludwig van Beethoven was a German composer and pianist. A crucial figure in the transition between the Classical and Romantic eras in Western art music, he remains one of the most famous and influential of all composers.

Born: December 16, 1770, Bonn, France (Technically although it had previously been Prussian Territory and would be retaken in 1815)
Died: March 26, 1827, Vienna, Austria

Wilhelm Richard Wagner was a German composer, theatre director, polemicist, and conductor primarily known for his operas.

Born: May 22, 1813, Leipzig, Prussia
Died: February 13, 1883, Venice, Austria

Franz Peter Schubert was an Austrian composer. In a short lifespan of less than 32 years, Schubert was a prolific composer, writing 600 Lieder as well as nine symphonies.

Born: January 31, 1797, Alsergrund, Austria
Died: November 19, 1828, Vienna, Austria

Robert Schumann, sometimes known as Robert Alexander Schumann, was a German composer, aesthete and influential music critic. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest composers of the Romantic era.


Born: June 8, 1810, Zwickau, Saxony
Died: July 29, 1856, Endenich, Prussia

Frédéric François Chopin, born Fryderyk Franciszek Chopin, was a Polish composer and virtuoso pianist. He is widely considered one of the greatest Romantic piano composers.


Born: March 1, 1810, Żelazowa Wola, Poland
Died: October 17, 1849, Paris, France

Franz Liszt; in Hungarian: Liszt Ferencz, in modern use Liszt Ferenc; from 1859 to 1867 officially Franz Ritter von Liszt was a 19th-century Hungarian composer, pianist, conductor, and teacher.

Born: October 22, 1811, Raiding, Hungary
Died: July 31, 1886, Bayreuth, Germany

Johannes Brahms was a German composer and pianist. Born in Hamburg into a Lutheran family, Brahms spent much of his professional life in Vienna, Austria, where he was a leader of the musical scene.

Born: May 7, 1833, Hamburg, Hamburg
Died: April 3, 1897, Vienna, Austria

Giuseppe Fortunino Francesco Verdi was an Italian Romantic composer, mainly of opera. Some of his themes have long since taken root in popular culture.

Born: October 10, 1813, Le Roncole, Italy
Died: January 27, 1901, Milan, Italy

Gustav Mahler was a late-Romantic Austrian composer and one of the leading conductors of his generation. A Jew, he was born in the village of Kalischt, Bohemia, in what was then the Austrian Empire, now Kaliště in the Czech Republic.

Born: July 7, 1860, Kaliště, Austria
Died: May 18, 1911, Vienna, Austro-Hungary

Louis Armstrong, nicknamed Satchmo or Pops, was an American jazz trumpeter and singer from New Orleans, Louisiana.

Born: August 4, 1901, New Orleans, USA
Died: July 6, 1971, Corona, USA

Edward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington was an American composer, pianist, and big-band leader. Ellington wrote over 1,000 compositions.

Born: April 29, 1899, Washington, D.C. , USA
Died: May 24, 1974, New York, USA

Charles "Charlie" Parker, Jr., also known as "Yardbird" and "Bird", was an American jazz saxophonist and composer. Miles Davis once said, "You can tell the history of jazz in four words: Louis Armstrong. Charlie Parker."

Born: August 29, 1920, Kansas City, USA
Died: March 12, 1955, New York City, USA

Miles Dewey Davis III was an American jazz musician, trumpeter, bandleader, and composer. Widely considered one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century, Miles Davis was, with his musical groups, at the forefront of several major developments in jazz music, including bebop, cool jazz, hard bop, modal jazz, and jazz fusion.

Born May 26, 1926 Alton, USA
Died September 28, 1991, Santa Monica , USA

Benjamin David "Benny" Goodman was an American jazz and swing musician, clarinetist and bandleader; known as the "King of Swing". In the mid-1930s, Benny Goodman led one of the most popular musical groups in America.

Born: May 30, 1909, Chicago, USA
Died: June 13, 1986, New York City, USA

Coleman Randolph Hawkins, nicknamed Hawk and sometimes "Bean", was an American jazz tenor saxophonist. He was one of the first prominent jazz musicians on his instrument.


Born: November 21, 1904, St. Joseph, USA
Died: May 19, 1969, New York City, USA

William "Count" Basie was an American jazz pianist, organist, bandleader, and composer. His mother first taught him piano and he started performing in his teens.

Born: August 21, 1904, Red Bank, USA
Died: April 26, 1984, Hollywood, USA

John William Coltrane, also known as "Trane", was an American jazz saxophonist and composer. Working in the bebop and hard bop idioms early in his career, Coltrane helped pioneer the use of modes in jazz and later was at the forefront of free jazz.


Born: September 23, 1926, Hamlet, USA
Died: July 17, 1967, Long Island, USA

Billie Holiday was an American jazz singer and songwriter. Nicknamed "Lady Day" by her friend and musical partner Lester Young, Holiday had a seminal influence on jazz and pop singing.


Born: April 7, 1915, Philadelphia, USA
Died: July 17, 1959, New York City, USA

Maxwell Lemuel "Max" Roach was an American jazz percussionist, drummer, and composer. A pioneer of bebop, Roach went on to work in many other styles of music, and is generally considered alongside the most important drummers in history.


Born: January 10, 1924, North Carolina, USA
Died: August 15, 2007, New York City, USA

Charles Mingus Jr. was a highly influential American jazz double bassist, composer and bandleader. Mingus's compositions retained the hot and soulful feel of hard bop and drew heavily from black gospel.

Born: April 22, 1922, Nogales, USA
Died: January 5, 1979, Cuernavaca, USA

Francis Albert "Frank" Sinatra, pron., was an American singer and film actor.
His Solo career was very possibly the most successful one ever at his peak.


Born: December 12, 1915, Hoboken, USA
Died: May 14, 1998, Los Angeles, USA

Dean Martin was an American singer, film actor, television star and comedian. One of the most popular and enduring American entertainers of the mid-20th Century, Martin was nicknamed the "King of Cool".


Born: June 7, 1917, Steubenville, USA
Died: December 25, 1995, Beverly Hills, USA

Anthony Dominick Benedetto, better known as Tony Bennett, is an Italian-American singer of popular music, standards, show tunes, and jazz.

Born: August 3, 1926 (age 86), New York, USA

Julio Iglesias is a Spanish singer and songwriter who has sold over 300 million records worldwide in 14 languages and released 80 albums, and more than 2,600 gold and platinum records certified.

Born: September 23, 1943 (age 69), Madrid, Spain

Nathaniel Adams Coles, known professionally as Nat King Cole, was an American singer and musician who first came to prominence as a leading jazz pianist.

Born: March 17, 1919, Montgomery, USA
Died: February 15, 1965, Santa Monica, USA

Shahnour Vaghenag Aznavourian, better known by his stage name Charles Aznavour OC OQ is a French and Armenian singer, songwriter, actor, public activist and diplomat.

Born: May 22, 1924 (age 88), Paris, France

Melvin Howard Tormé, nicknamed The Velvet Fog, was an American musician, known for his jazz singing. He was also a jazz composer and arranger, drummer, pianist, and actor in radio, film, and television, and the author of five books.

Born: September 13, 1925, Chicago, USA
Died: June 5, 1999, Los Angeles, USA

Pierino Ronald "Perry" Como was an American singer and television personality. During a career spanning more than half a century, he recorded exclusively for the RCA Victor label after signing with them in 1943.

Born: May 18, 1912, Canonsburg, USA
Died: May 12, 2001, Jupiter Inlet Colony, USA

Al Martino was an American singer and actor. He had his greatest success as a singer between the early 1950s and mid-1970s, being described as "one of the great Italian American pop crooners".


Born: October 7, 1927, Philadelphia, USA
Died: October 13, 2009, Springfield, USA

Bobby Darin was an American singer, songwriter, and actor of film and television. He performed in a range of music genres, including pop, rock, jazz, folk, and country.

Born: May 14, 1936, Bronx, USA
Died: December 20, 1973, Los Angeles, USA

Gene Austin was an American singer and songwriter, one of the first "crooners". His 1920s compositions "When My Sugar Walks Down the Street" and "The Lonesome Road" became pop and jazz standards.

Born: June 24, 1900, Gainesville, USA
Died: January 24, 1972, Palm Springs, USA

Riley B. King, known by the stage name B.B. King, is an American blues guitarist and singer-songwriter.


Born: September 16, 1925 (age 87), Itta Bena, USA

Robert Leroy Johnson was an American blues singer and musician. His landmark recordings from 1936–37 display a combination of singing, guitar skills, and songwriting talent that has influenced later generations of musicians.

Born: May 8, 1911, Hazlehurst, USA
Died: August 16, 1938, Greenwood, USA

McKinley Morganfield, known as Muddy Waters, was an American blues musician who is considered the "father of modern Chicago blues".


Born: April 4, 1913, Issaquena County, USA
Died: April 30, 1983, Westmont, USA

Chester Arthur Burnett, known as Howlin' Wolf, was an influential American blues singer, guitarist and harmonica player.

Born: June 10, 1910, White Station, Mississippi, USA
Died: January 10, 1976, Hines, Illinois, USA

John Lee Hooker was a highly influential American blues singer-songwriter and guitarist.


Born: August 22, 1917, Coahoma County, USA
Died: June 21, 2001, Los Altos, USA

Stephen "Stevie" Ray Vaughan was an American guitarist, singer-songwriter, and record producer. Often referred to by his initials SRV, Vaughan is best known as a founding member and leader of Double Trouble.

Born: October 3, 1954, Dallas, USA
Died: August 27, 1990, East Troy, USA

John Mayall, OBE is an English blues singer, guitarist, and songwriter, whose musical career spans over fifty years. Also He is Widely Considered the leader of the British Blues Movement in the 1960s.


Born: November 29, 1933 (age 79), Macclesfield, UK

Albert King was an American blues guitarist and singer, and a major influence in the world of blues guitar playing. On December 11th, 2012, it was announced that King would be posthumously inducted into the 2013 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.



Born: April 25, 1923, Indianola, USA
Died: December 21, 1992, Memphis, USA

Etta James was an American singer. Her style spanned a variety of music genres including blues, rhythm and blues, rock and roll, soul, gospel and jazz.


Born: January 25, 1938, Los Angeles, USA
Died: January 20, 2012, Riverside, USA

George "Buddy" Guy is an American blues guitarist and singer. Critically acclaimed, he is a pioneer of the Chicago blues sound and has served as an influence to some of the most notable musicians of the past 50 Years.



Born: July 30, 1936 (age 76), Lettsworth, USA

Little Walter, born Marion Walter Jacobs, was an American blues harmonica player, whose revolutionary approach to his instrument has earned him comparisons to Charlie Parker and Jimi Hendrix, for innovation and impact on succeeding generations.


Born: May 1, 1930, Marksville, USA
Died: February 15, 1968, Chicago, USA

John R. "Johnny" Cash was an American singer-songwriter, actor, and author who was considered one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century.


Born: February 26, 1932, Kingsland, USA
Died: September 12, 2003, Nashville, USA

Hank Williams, born Hiram King Williams, was an American singer-songwriter and musician regarded as one of the most important country music artists of all time.


Born: September 17, 1923, Georgiana, USA
Died: January 1, 1953, Oak Hill, USA

Troyal Garth Brooks is an American country music artist. His eponymous first album was released in 1989 and peaked at number 2 in the US country album chart while climbing to number 13 on the Billboard 200 album chart.


Born: February 7, 1962 (age 51), Tulsa,USA

Dolly Rebecca Parton is an American singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, actress, author, and philanthropist, best known for her work in country music.


Born: January 19, 1946 (age 67), Sevierville, USA

Willie Hugh Nelson is an American country music singer-songwriter, as well as an author, poet, actor, and activist.


Born: April 30, 1933 (age 79), Abbott, USA

George Harvey Strait is an American country music singer, actor, and music producer. Strait is referred to as the "King of Country" and has been called a living legend by some critics.


Born: May 18, 1952 (age 60), Poteet, USA