Well Done – Celebrating Black Music Month

In June of 1979, then President Jimmy Carter decreed that June would be Black Music Month.  This being June, it got us thinking about all the fantastic musical artists who happen to be black and the impact they have made on our lives and culture as a country.  Throughout the 20th and 21st centuries, there have been great black artists in virtually every genre of music, including ragtime, jazz, blues, country, gospel, rock and roll/rock, R&B, soul, funk, disco, pop, and rap.

Here are just a few of those who have changed music forever and changed the culture with their talent:

Alicia Keyes

Bob Marley

Billie Holiday

B.B. King

Janet Jackson

Prince

Diana Ross

Usher

Jennifer Hudson

Nat King Cole

Snoop Dogg

Queen Latifah

James Brown

Aretha Franklin

John Legend

Patti Labelle

Dizzy Gillespie

Ella Fitzgerald

Duke Ellington

Whitney Houston

Marvin Gaye

Chuck Berry

Beyonce

Stevie Wonder

Mahalia Jackson

Ray Charles

Jay Z

Sarah Vaughn

John Coltrane

Louis Armstrong

And though this is only a partial list, no list would be complete without the artist who in one way or another changed how we all listen to music and have come to understand it’s power…
the iconic King of Pop…

Michael Jackson

So many artists…so many musical moments…so much talent!  Just stop and think about how much we have been influenced by these and other black musicians and how much a part of our culture they have become.  Do you have a favorite?  They have all brought us love, brought us joy and made our lives so much more abundant because they shared their talent with the world.  So we say to these and so many others…Well Done!