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Music of the 1950s
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Genres that was popular in the 1950s and/or originated then:
Musicians
- The Andrews Sisters
- Louis Armstrong
- Irving Berlin
- Leonard Bernstein
- Chuck Berry. First recording in 1955.
- The Big Bopper. Died in 1959.
- Bill Haley and 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.
- Eddie Cochran. Debuted in 1957.
- John Coltrane. Made his solo debut in 1957.
- Nat King Cole
- Ornette Coleman:
- Aaron Copland
- Bing Crosby
- Bobby Darin. First recording in 1956.
- Miles Davis. Debuted in the 1940s, released some of his most famous albums during this decade.
- 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.
- Eddie Fisher
- The Four Freshmen. First recording in 1950.
- Aretha Franklin. Debuted in 1956 with the album Songs of Faith.
- Serge Gainsbourg. First recording in 1958.
- Woody Guthrie
- Screamin' Jay Hawkins
- Billie Holiday. Still popular during this decade, until her untimely death in 1959.
- 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.
- Howlin' Wolf
- The Ink Spots.
- George Jones. Debuted in 1954, first chart hit in 1955.
- Spike Jones
- Erich Wolfgang Korngold. Died in 1957.
- Tom Lehrer
- Leiber and Stoller: Started writing together in 1950 and had a string of hits throughout the decade.
- Jerry Lee Lewis. First recording in 1956.
- 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.
- Charles Mingus:
- Thelonious Monk:
- Alfred Newman
- Lionel Newman
- The Nutty Squirrels. Debuted in 1959.
- 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.
- Tito Puente
- 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
- Neil Sedaka. Began his career in 1957.
- Ravi Shankar: Released his first album in 1956.
- 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.
- Jimmy Smith
- Igor Stravinsky.
- Sun Ra
- Art Tatum. Still going strong until his death in 1956.
- Ritchie Valens.
- Sarah Vaughan
- Edgard Varèse
- Muddy Waters.
- Johnny "Guitar" Watson
- Hank Williams. Died in 1953.
