Van Morrison (George Ivan Morrison, OBE, born 31 August 1945 in Belfast, Northern Ireland) is a critically acclaimed singer and songwriter with a reputation for being at once curmudgeonly, idiosyncratic, and sublime. His live performances at their best are seen as revelatory and inspired; while some of his recordings, such as the studio albums Astral Weeks and Moondance, and the live album It's Too Late to Stop Now, are acclaimed as among the greatest ever made. Known as "Van the Man" by his fans, Morrison started his professional career when, as a young teenager in the late 1950s, he played a variety of instruments, including the guitar, harmonica, keyboards, and saxophone, in a range of Irish showbands who covered the popular hits of the day, before rising to prominence in the mid- 1960s as the lead singer of the gritty Northern Irish R&B band Them. Following that he embarked on a solo career under the pop-hit oriented guidance of Bert Berns with the release of the hit single "Brown Eyed Girl" in 1967. After Berns' death, Warner Bros. Records bought out his contract and allowed him the artistic freedom to record Astral Weeks in 1968. Even though this album would gradually garner high praise, it initially sold poorly; however, the next one, Moondance, established Morrison as a major artist, and he then built on his reputation throughout the 1970s with a series of critically acclaimed albums and live performances. Morrison's career, spanning some five decades, has traced an idiosyncratic musical path and has influenced a number of musical artists. Much of his music is tightly structured around the conventions of soul music and R&B, such as the popular singles, "Brown Eyed Girl", "Moondance", "Domino" and "Wild Night". An equal part of his catalogue consists of lengthy, loosely connected, spiritually inspired musical journeys that show the influence of Celtic tradition, jazz, and stream-of-consciousness narrative, such as his classic album Astral Weeks and lesser-known works such as Veedon Fleece and Common One. The two strains together are sometimes referred to as "Celtic Soul". Morrison has received considerable acclaim. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1993 and the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2003. In 2000, Morrison ranked twenty-fifth on American cable music channel VH1's list of its "100 Greatest Artists of Rock and Roll", and in 2004, Rolling Stone magazine ranked Van Morrison forty-second on their list of "Greatest Artists of All Time". Paste ranked him twentieth in their list of "100 Greatest Living Songwriters" in 2006. Q ranked him twenty-second on their list of "100 Greatest Singers" in April 2007 and he was voted twenty-fourth on the November 2008 list of Rolling Stone magazine's 100 Greatest Singers of All Time.

Ray Charles Robinson (September 23, 1930 - June 10, 2004), known by his stage name Ray Charles, was a blind musician. He brought a soulful sound to country music and pop standards through his Modern Sounds recordings, as well as a rendition of "America the Beautiful" that Ed Bradley of 60 Minutes called the "definitive version of the song, an American anthem — a classic, just as the man who sang it." He also appeared in the 1980 hit movie, The Blues Brothers. Frank Sinatra called him "the only true genius in the business". In 2004, Rolling Stone Magazine ranked Charles number ten on their list of the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time and also voted him number two on their November 2008 list of The 100 Greatest Singers of All Time.

Wynonie "Mr. Blues" Harris (August 24,1915-June 14, 1969), born in Omaha, Nebraska, was an American blues shouter and rhythm and blues singer of upbeat songs featuring humorous, often ribald lyrics. With fifteen Top 10 hits between 1946 and 1952, Harris is generally considered one of rock and rollu2019s forerunners, influencing Elvis Presley among others. He was the subject of a 1994 biography by Tony Collins.

William Clarence u201CBillyu201D Eckstein (July 8, 1914 - March 8, 1993) was an American singer of ballads and bandleader of the Swing Era. Eckstine's smooth baritone and distinctive vibrato broke down barriers throughout the 1940s, first as leader of the original bop big-band, then as the first romantic black male in popular music.

William James "Willie" Dixon (July 1, 1915 – January 29, 1992) was a well-known American blues bassist, singer, songwriter, arranger and record producer. His songs, including "Little Red Rooster", "Hoochie Coochie Man", "Evil", "Spoonful", "Back Door Man", "I Just Want to Make Love to You", "I Ain't Superstitious", "My Babe", "Wang Dang Doodle", and "Bring It On Home", written during the peak of Chess Records, 1950-1965, and performed by Muddy Waters, Howlin' Wolf, and Little Walter, influenced a worldwide generation of musicians. Next to Muddy Waters, he was the most influential person in shaping the post-World War II sound of the Chicago blues. He also was an important link between the blues and rock and roll, working with Chuck Berry and Bo Diddley in the late-1950s, and his songs were covered by some of the biggest bands of the 1960s and 1970s, including Bob Dylan, Cream, Led Zeppelin, The Yardbirds, The Rolling Stones, The Doors, The Allman Brothers Band, and the Grateful Dead.

Eddie "Cleanhead" Vinson (December 18 1917, Houston, Texas - July 2 1988, Los Angeles, California) was an American jump blues, jazz, bebop and R&B alto saxophonist and blues shouter. He was nicknamed Cleanhead after a lye-laced straightener destroyed his hair.

Aaron Thibeaux Walker or T-Bone Walker or Oak Cliff T-Bone (May 28 1910 - March 15 1975) was an American blues guitarist, singer, pianist and songwriter who was one of the most important pioneers of the electric guitar. His electric guitar solos were among the first heard on modern blues recordings and helped set a standard that is still followed. He was ranked #47 in Rolling Stone Magazine's list of The 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time.

Dinah Washington (August 29, 1924 – December 14, 1963) was a blues, R&B and jazz singer. Because of her strong voice and emotional singing, she is known as the "Queen of the Blues". Despite dying at the early age of 39, Washington became one of the most influential vocalists of the twentieth century, credited among others as a major influence on Aretha Franklin. She is a 1986 inductee of the Alabama Jazz Hall of Fame.

Andrew W. Bey (born October 28, 1939 in Newark, New Jersey) is a jazz singer and pianist. He worked on a television show, Startime, with Connie Francis and sang for Louis Jordan.He went on to form a trio with sisters Salome Bey and Geraldine Bey called "Andy and The Bey Sisters". They recorded various sides and had 2 albums on Prestige and 1 on RCA. The group parted in 1965. He also did notable work with Horace Silver and Gary Bartz. Later he had an album named Experience And Judgment, which had Indian influences. After that period he returned to hard bop and also did covers of music by non-jazz musicians like Nick Drake. Other albums: Andy Bey and The Bey Sisters, Ballads, Blues & Bey, American Song, Tuesdays In Chinatown, Ain't Necessarily So . In 1994, openly gay, Bey was diagnosed HIV-positive, but it never stopped him from achieving his musical heights. Colleague Herb Jordan assisted Bey in a revived resurgence in his recording career. Their recording "Ballads, Blues, & Bey" in 1996 put Andy Bey back on top. Albums that followed, like "Shades of Bey" (1998), were a bigger success. Bey constantly explores his art, and still tours, and his unique sound and style is still in high demand. Bey was recently quoted in an interview, "Did you know that gratefulness helps get rid of fear? ...I'm so grateful to be able to do what I love, to have a purpose in life."

Janis Lyn Joplin (January 19, 1943 - October 4, 1970) was an American singer, songwriter, and music arranger, from Port Arthur, Texas. She rose to prominence in the late 1960s as the lead singer of Big Brother and the Holding Company, and later as a solo artist. In 2004, Rolling Stone magazine ranked Joplin number 46 on its list of the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time, and number 28 on its 2008 list of 100 Greatest Singers of All Time.

Roy Milton (31 July 1907 - 18 September 1983) was an American R&B singer, drummer and bandleader.

Mary Stallings (born August 16, 1939 in San Francisco) is an American jazz vocalist.

Nathaniel Adams Coles (March 17, 1919 – February 15, 1965), 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. He was the first black American to host a television variety show and has maintained worldwide popularity over 40 years past his death; he is widely considered one of the most important musical personalities in United States history.

Big Joe Turner (born Joseph Vernon Turner Jr., May 18 1911 – November 24 1985) was an American blues shouter from Kansas City, Missouri.

Francis Albert "Frank" Sinatra (December 12, 1915 – May 14, 1998) was an American singer and actor. Beginning his musical career in the swing era with Harry James and Tommy Dorsey, Sinatra became a successful solo artist in the early to mid-1940s, being the idol of the "bobby soxers." His professional career had stalled by the 1950s, but it was reborn in 1954 after he won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor. He signed with Capitol Records and released several critically lauded albums . Sinatra left Capitol to found his own record label, Reprise Records, toured internationally, was a founding member of the Rat Pack and fraternized with celebrities and presidents, including President John F. Kennedy. Sinatra turned 50 in 1965, recorded the retrospective September of My Years, starred in the Emmy-winning television special Frank Sinatra: A Man and His Music, and scored hits with "Strangers in the Night" and "My Way". Sinatra attempted to weather the changing tastes in popular music, but with sales of his music dwindling, and after appearing in several poorly received films, he retired in 1971. Coming out of retirement in 1973, he recorded several albums, scored a hit with " New York, New York" in 1980, and toured both within the United States and internationally until a few years before his death in 1998. Sinatra also forged a career as a dramatic actor, winning the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his performance in From Here to Eternity, and he was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor for The Man with the Golden Arm. He also starred in such musicals as High Society, Pal Joey, Guys and Dolls and On the Town. Sinatra was honored with the Kennedy Center Honors in 1983 and awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by Ronald Reagan in 1985 and the Congressional Gold Medal in 1997. Sinatra was also the recipient of eleven Grammy Awards, including the Grammy Trustees Award, Grammy Legend Award and the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award.