Music of the 1950s

Music
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Genres that was popular in the 1950s and/or originated then:

• Blues
• Bossa Nova
• Classical Music
• Country Music
• Doo-wop
• Jazz
• Pop
• Rockabilly
• Rock & Roll
• World Music

Musicians

• The Andrews Sisters
• Paul Anka
• Louis Armstrong
• Dorothy Ashby
• Gene Autry
• Charles Aznavour
• Burt Bacharach
• Shirley Bassey
• Tony Bennett. First breakout single in 1951.
• 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
• Vince Guaraldi
• 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.
  • 1957 Here's Little Richard
• Vera Lynn
• 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.
• Anthony Newley
• 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 (The Album)
• 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.
  • 1959 - Gunfighter Ballads and Trail Songs
• 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.

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