Jerry Adler Brother of Larry Adler, Baltimore born Jerry has several albums of his harmonica playing available. Larry Adler Born in Baltimore, Larry has appeared in 7 films (once billed as 'Himself') but his strength is as a composer. He is credited as composer for 8 films since 1954. The earliest of those was 'Genevieve' which gave him an Academy Award nomination for Best Score in 1953.
Howard Ashman Baltimore born lyricist, Ashman received 2 Golden Globe Awards and 6 other Golden Globe nominations, 2 Academy Awards and 5 other Academy Award nominations for songs from 'Little Shop of Horrors', 'The Little Mermaid', 'Beauty and the Beast' and 'Aladdin'. He is also listed as producer for 2 of those films. Howard died in 1991 at the age of 40.
Eubie Blake Baltimore born Jazz legend.
David Byrne The lead singer of the 'Talking Heads' was born in Scotland. When he was 2, his family moved to Canada and when he was 8, they moved to Baltimore where he was raised. In 1988 he won both an Oscar and an Golden Globe Award for 'best original score' for his contributions to 'The Last Emperor'. He has also appeared in 6 films and directed 2.
Cab Calloway Jazz legend Cab Calloway was born in Baltimore.
Adam Duritz The lead singer for the 'Counting Crows' was born in Baltimore.
'Mama' Cass Elliot Arguably the best know of 'The Mama's and the Papa's'. Cass received more press when she died then she did when her group was at the peak of their career. The reports that she died by choking on a chicken sandwich were wrong but the rumors remain even today. She was born in Baltimore.
Philip Glass Baltimore born classical musician and composer with 30 solo Albums and many appearances on compilation albums. This former New York cabbie has composed for over 20 films ranging from documentaries like 'A Brief History of Time' to horror films such as 'Candyman'. He was nominated in 1997 for a Golden Globe award for 'Best Original Score - Motion Picture' for the movie 'Kundun'. He won the Los Angeles Film Critics Association Award for 'Best Music' for the same film. He has a Biography, an autobiography. He has authored several books and is mentioned in more than a dozen books on Classic Music.
Billie Holiday Blues singer from the mid 30's until her death in 1959. Born in Baltimore (a new book claims Philadelphia) as Eleanora Fagan Gough, her autobiography was turned into the movie 'Lady Sings the Blues'.
Joan Jett Although born in Philadelphia, Joan grew up in Baltimore. After her band 'The Runaways' (one of the first all girl rock groups) broke up, Joan was turned down by just about every record label around. She formed her own label, Blackheart Records, and 'Joan Jett and The Blackhearts' went on to have several hits. She appeared in the film, 'Light of Day' as (are you ready for this...) a rock singer. An Orioles fan, she sang the national anthem, at Cal Ripken's request, at the game in which Ripken tied Lou Gehrig's record for consecutive games played. A movie was made in 2010 about her and her band called 'The Runaway's" starring Kristen Stewart as Joan.
Greg Kihn Greg and his group 'The Greg Kihn Band' had some great hits, including 'The Breakup Song' and (my life's in)'Jeopardy'. He was born and raised in Baltimore close enough to Memorial Stadium (that's the old one) to hear the Orioles play ball. He has relatives in Baltimore and still visits here at least occasionally. He brought the manuscript of his first novel, 'Horror Show' to Baltimore and placed it on Poe's grave to 'vibe it up' before sending to the publisher. Greg also does the morning DJ job at KFOX in San Jose, CA.
Jerry Leiber Half of Leiber and Stoller (Jerry and Mike) , a songwriting team that wrote hits for Elvis , The Coasters, Peggy Lee, Ray Charles and others. Jerry was born in Baltimore. Their hits include 'Jail House Rock', 'Charley Brown', 'Yakety Yak', 'Is that all there is', 'Stand By Me', and 'Spanish Harlem'.
Ric Ocasek Born in Baltimore, Rick is best know as the lead singer of the rock group 'The Cars'. The had several hits including "My Best Friend's Girl" and "Good Times Roll" and "Drive".
Tupac Shakur This famous rapper considered Baltimore, along with New York City and Oakland California, to be one of the places he grew up. He attended the Baltimore School for the Arts with his good friend Jada Pinkett.
Sonny Till Lead singer of the 50's rock group the Orioles, Sonny was born in Baltimore. Their biggest hit was 1953's 'Crying in the Chapel' which reached No. 1 on the R&B chart and No. 11 on the pop chart.
Frank Zappa Baltimore born Rock Musician. He and his band, The Mothers of Invention, earned a reputation for their non-conformist style. Non-conformity for Frank extended beyond his music and into everything in his life from His political views (He was cultural Liaison to Czech. Pres. Havel) to his children's names - Dweezil, Moon Unit, Ahmet and Diva Zappa.
|