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Genres that was popular in the 1950s and/or originated then:
Musicians
- The Andrews Sisters
- Paul Anka
- Louis Armstrong
- Dorothy Ashby
- Gene Autry
- Charles Aznavour
- Burt Bacharach
- Shirley Bassey
- Irving Berlin
- Leonard Bernstein
- Chuck Berry. First recording in 1955.
- The Big Bopper. Died in 1959.
- Bill Haley & His Comets. First recording in 1952.
- Georges Brassens. First recording in 1952-1953.
- Jacques Brel. First recording in 1953-1954.
- James Brown. Debuted in 1955, first hit single in 1956.
- John Cage
- Cab Calloway
- Ella Fitzgerald. Her fame sky-rocketed with her cover albums of jazz standards.
- Johnny Cash. Debuted in 1955.
- Ray Charles. Career started in the 1940s. First chart hit in 1953.
- Petula Clark
- Eddie Cochran. Debuted in 1957.
- John Coltrane. Made his solo debut in 1957.
- 1957 - Blue Train
- Nat King Cole
- Ornette Coleman:
- 1959 - The Shape of Jazz to Come
- Connie Converse
- Sam Cooke. Started as a member of Soul Stirrers with whom he was with from 1950 to 1956. His solo records starting getting released in 1957.
- Aaron Copland
- Bing Crosby
- Celia Cruz
- Dick Dale
- Bobby Darin. First recording in 1956.
- Miles Davis. Debuted in the 1940s, released some of his most famous albums during this decade.
- 1959 - Kind of Blue
- Bo Diddley. First recording in 1955.
- Eric Dolphy
- Fats Domino. Debuted in 1949, first hit "The Fat Man" was in 1950.
- Duke Ellington
- Bill Evans. Recorded his first solo album in 1956.
- The Everly Brothers. Debuted in 1956, with their first hit, "Bye Bye Love" the following year.
- Fabian. Debuted in 1958.
- Art Farmer
- Eddie Fisher
- Flanders and Swann
- Tennessee Ernie Ford
- George Formby
- The Four Freshmen. First recording in 1950.
- Four Tops
- Aretha Franklin. Debuted in 1956 with the album Songs of Faith.
- Serge Gainsbourg. First recording in 1958.
- João Gilberto
- Dizzy Gillespie
- Woody Guthrie
- Coleman Hawkins
- Bernard Herrmann
- Screamin' Jay Hawkins
- Johnny Hodges
- Billie Holiday. Still popular during this decade, until her untimely death in 1959.
- 1958 - Lady in Satin
- Buddy Holly. Had his entire career within this decade. First recording in 1956, three studio albums in 1957-58, died in a plane crash in early 1959.
- John Lee Hooker
- Johnny Horton
- Howlin' Wolf
- 1959 - Moanin' in the Moonlight
- The Ink Spots.
- The Isley Brothers
- Antônio Carlos Jobim
- George Jones. Debuted in 1954, first chart hit in 1955.
- Quincy Jones
- Spike Jones
- B.B. King. First studio album released in 1956.
- Rahsaan Roland Kirk
- Eartha Kitt
- Erich Wolfgang Korngold. Died in 1957.
- Tom Lehrer
- 1953 - Songs by Tom Lehrer
- 1959 - An Evening Wasted with Tom Lehrer
- Leiber and Stoller: Started writing together in 1950 and had a string of hits throughout the decade.
- Lerner and Loewe
- Jerry Lee Lewis. First recording in 1956.
- Liberace
- Little Richard. First recording in 1951, first chart hit in 1955.
- Dean Martin. Made two recordings in the 40s but didn't become a major success until the following decade.
- Johnny Mathis
- Toshiro Mayuzumi
- Charles Mingus:
- 1959 - Mingus Ah Um
- Thelonious Monk:
- 1957 - Brilliant Corners
- Ricky Nelson. Even from The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet his talent was being realized.
- Alfred Newman
- Lionel Newman
- The Nutty Squirrels. Debuted in 1959.
- The Oak Ridge Boys
- Babatunde Olatunji
- Roy Orbison. Released a number of singles, starting in 1956.
- Charlie Parker. Still recording during this decade, until his untimely death in 1955.
- Édith Piaf
- Cole Porter
- Elvis Presley. Had his first recording in 1953, signed a professional contract in 1954.
- The Sun Sessions (recorded in 1954-1955, but only compiled on one record in 1976)
- 1956 - Elvis Presley
- Tito Puente
- 1958 - Dance Mania Vol 1
- The Quintet
- 1953 - Jazz at Massey Hall
- Jimmy Reed
- Django Reinhardt. Active until his death in 1953.
- Debbie Reynolds
- Cliff Richard. First hit single in 1958, debut album in 1959.
- Marty Robbins. Started as a rock artist in 1956 before branching into country and variations on folk later in the decade.
- Rodgers and Hammerstein
- Roy Rogers
- Neil Sedaka. Began his career in 1957.
- Ravi Shankar: Released his first album in 1956.
- The Sherman Brothers
- Dinah Shore
- Dmitri Shostakovich
- Nina Simone
- Simon & Garfunkel. Duo formed in 1957.
- Frank Sinatra. Recording career started in 1939. Sinatra continued to enjoy mainstream popularity through this decade.
- 1954 - Songs for Young Lovers
- 1955 - In the Wee Small Hours
- 1956 - Songs for Swingin' Lovers!
- Jimmy Smith
- 1959 - Home Cookin'
- Igor Stravinsky.
- Sun Ra
- Art Tatum. Still going strong until his death in 1956.
- Allen Toussaint. Wrote and performed since the 40s, debut record came in 1958.
- Conway Twitty
- Ritchie Valens.
- Sarah Vaughan
- 1954 - Sarah Vaughan with Clifford Brown (with Clifford Brown)
- Edgard Varèse
- Muddy Waters.
- Johnny "Guitar" Watson
- Lawrence Welk
- Kitty Wells
- Andy Williams
- Hank Williams. Died in 1953.
