Vocalist, composer and instrumentalist Esperanza Spalding fell in love with music as a little girl in Portland, Oregon. She first drew acclaim as a child violinist before discovering the upright bass as a teenager. Within months she was playing in local clubs, exploring pop, rock, hip-hop and especially jazz. By age 20 she was an instructor at Boston's prestigious Berklee College of Music, and was performing with singer Patti Austin and a stellar roster of jazz greats. Her 2008 album...

Aretha Franklin is known the world over as the Queen of Soul Music. In the 1960s, her hit recording "Respect" became an anthem of the civil rights struggle and a theme song for the dawning women's movement. He musical career began in the New Bethel Baptist Church in Detroit, Michigan, where her father, Rev. C.L. Franklin was the pastor. Young Aretha sang and played piano, and the passion of Gospel music has remained with her through her subsequent triumphs in secular blues, rock and...

With the release of his debut album in 1972, Jackson Browne joined the elite rank of American singer-songwriters who shaped the musical ethos of an era. He captured the mood of the 1970s with the introspective songs on his albums Late For the Sky and The Pretender, as well as his greatest success, the classic road album Running On Empty. At the end of the decade he emerged as a highly visible social activist, co-founder of MUSE (Musicians for Safe Energy). His interest in global issues of the...

Raised on a farm in Bloomington, Indiana, Joshua Bell was given his first violin when he was four years old after his parents noticed him picking out melodies on a pair of rubber bands he had stretched between the knobs of his dresser. He first came to national attention at the age of 14 in a highly acclaimed orchestral debut with Riccardo Muti and the Philadelphia Orchestra. A rare classical superstar in the record industry, Joshua Bell has released over 30 CDs, among them the...

Amy Grant made her recording debut while still in her teens and soon released the first record of contemporary Christian music to sell over a million copies. She later achieved unprecedented crossover success with her albums "Lead Me On" and "Heart in Motion." With six Grammy awards and over 30 million records sold worldwide, she is the best-selling Christian music artist of all time. Grant is married to fellow musician and Academy member Vince Gill.

Singer and songwriter Vince Gill has won 19 Grammy awards, more than any other male artist in country music. His latest release, "These Days," is a four-disc, 43 song set, showcasing his versatility in bluegrass, country, rock, folk and contemporary styles. His sweet tenor voice has made him a favorite collaborator with the biggest names in American music. He has sung with everyone from Dolly Parton to Barbra Streisand, but his favorite partner is his wife, Amy Grant. Vince Gill and Amy...

Taylor Swift's self-titled debut album -- recorded when she was still in high school -- sold more than three million copies. A prodigiously talented singer and songwriter, she wrote every song on the album, including the year’s number one country single, "Our Song." Her dedication to music began in childhood. By age ten she was performing at karaoke contests, festivals and county fairs around her hometown of Wyomissing, Pennsylvania. At age 12, she persuaded her parents to move to Nashville...

The songs Brian Wilson created as leader of the Beach Boys combined the rhythms of rock and roll with Baroque counterpoint and jazz harmony to create an exhilarating sound that has become the perennial soundtrack of the American summer. Despite near deafness in one ear, Brian Wilson began experimenting with music and tape recorders as a teenager in Hawthorne, California. Forming the Beach Boys with his two younger brothers, a cousin, and a neighbor, he recorded their first single at...

Taylor Swift's self-titled debut album -- recorded when she was still in high school -- sold more than three million copies. A prodigiously talented singer and songwriter, she wrote every song on the album, including the year’s number one country single, "Our Song." Her dedication to music began in childhood. By age ten she was performing at karaoke contests, festivals and county fairs around her hometown of Wyomissing, Pennsylvania. At age 12, she persuaded her parents to move to Nashville...

Raised on a farm in Bloomington, Indiana, Joshua Bell was given his first violin when he was four years old after his parents noticed him picking out melodies on a pair of rubber bands he had stretched between the knobs of his dresser. He first came to national attention at the age of 14 in a highly acclaimed orchestral debut with Riccardo Muti and the Philadelphia Orchestra. A rare classical superstar in the record industry, Joshua Bell has released over 30 CDs, among them the...

In the rock and roll pantheon, Chuck Berry stands alone. Every element of the music existed before he ever stepped onstage, but no one can deny he was the first writer and performer to put it all together. In the 1950s, he combined stinging guitar licks with a jumping rhythm section, sly lyrics and an audacious stage presence to create a sound and style that proved irresistible to both black and white audiences at a time when radio and performance venues were still largely...

Naomi Judd won renown as half of the mother-daughter singing team, The Judds, the most popular female singing duo in country music history. But her rise in the world was not an easy one. Before graduating from high school, the unmarried Naomi was already pregnant with the first of her two daughters. When her first marriage ended in divorce, she found herself struggling to support two daughters on her own. A decade of struggle followed, but Naomi and her daughter Wynonna developed their...

Sheryl Crow's warm voice, vibrant stage presence and rock-solid musicianship have made her one of the most enduring stars of our era. Her songwriting craft is firmly rooted in rock tradition, but her allusive, free-associative lyrics are all her own. Her songs, "All I Wanna Do," "If It Makes You Happy," "Every Day Is a Winding Road," and "Soak Up the Sun" have become pop classics. A former music teacher from Kennett, Missouri, she worked in near-anonymity for almost a decade as a backup...

He has recorded in a dazzling variety of styles, from the hard bop of his youth to the free jazz, avant-garde, fusion, Latin jazz, funk and R&B of subsequent decades. A formidable composer and bandleader, he is unparalleled in his imagination and expressiveness as a soloist. A 1956 album title still captures his enduring stature in the world of jazz: Saxophone Colossus. As he enters his ninth decade, he is still going strong. Always spontaneous, always unpredictable, with Sonny...

The undisputed monarch of the blues guitar, B.B. King was born on a cotton plantation in the Mississippi Delta. As a child he learned the rudiments of his instrument from his preacher and was soon performing blues and gospel songs on street corners. In 1947 he hitchhiked to Memphis, Tennessee with $2.50 in his pocket to pursue a professional music career. Within a year he was singing on the radio and in local night clubs. In 1951 he recorded his first big hit, "Three O'Clock Blues," and began...

The career of Emmylou Harris has spanned the wide open range of American music. Whether singing traditional ballads, country classics, or her own highly personal compositions, her achingly pure voice and emotional commitment to her music have remained constant. She first won national attention in the early 1970s, recording and performing with country-rock pioneer Gram Parsons. Her major label solo debut Pieces of Sky in 1975 gave her a Top Ten hit, "If I Could Only Win Your Love." The 1976...

In the rock and roll pantheon, Chuck Berry stands alone. Every element of the music existed before he ever stepped onstage, but no one can deny he was the first writer and performer to put it all together. In the 1950s, he combined stinging guitar licks with a jumping rhythm section, sly lyrics and an audacious stage presence to create a sound and style that proved irresistible to both black and white audiences at a time when radio and performance venues were still largely...

Ray Charles (1930 -2004) was born in Albany, Georgia, at the beginning of the Great Depression. He began to lose his sight in his early childhood, and was completely blind by age seven. At age 15, he was an orphan. At 16, he moved on his own to Seattle, Washington to make a career in music. A gifted pianist and singer, he easily imitated the styles of other popular entertainers, but his career only took off when he found his own unique voice and style. Although he began recording...

Born and raised in Dublin, Ireland, Paul "Bono" Hewson was still in his teens when he answered an ad posted on a school bulletin board to join a fledgling rock band. It became one of the most original, best-loved rock groups of all time: U2. Bono's passionate vocals are heard on landmark albums. The band recorded albums including The Joshua Tree and The Unforgettable Fire and on anthemic singles such as "Bloody Sunday" and "In the name of Love." For many, U2's success came to symbolize a new...

The protean musician and impresario Quincy Jones has been dubbed "a master inventor of musical hybrids," shuffling pop, soul, hip-hop, jazz, classical, African and Brazilian music into unique and extraordinary musical syntheses. He began his career as a young trumpeter with the Lionel Hampton and Dizzy Gillespie bands, at the end of the swing era, and has continued to create and thrive in the era of digital technology in music, film and television worlds. He has won international recognition...

Lauryn Hill is an internationally acclaimed singer, songwriter and record producer. Born and raised in South Orange, New Jersey, she was only 13 when she joined the innovative hip-hop group the Fugees. Academically accomplished as well as musically gifted, she took time off from her musical career to attend Columbia University. The worldwide success of the Fugees’ album "The Score" thrust Lauryn Hill into the international spotlight. She exceeded her admirers' most ambitious...

Lauryn Hill is an internationally acclaimed singer, songwriter and record producer. Born and raised in South Orange, New Jersey, she was only 13 when she joined the innovative hip-hop group the Fugees. Academically accomplished as well as musically gifted, she took time off from her musical career to attend Columbia University. The worldwide success of the Fugees’ album "The Score" thrust Lauryn Hill into the international spotlight. She exceeded her admirers' most ambitious...

A pioneer of contemporary Christian music, Amy Grant is the best-selling Christian music artist of all time. She made her recording debut while still in her teens and released the first record of Christian music to go platinum, selling over a million copies. She soon achieved an unprecedented crossover success with mainstream pop audiences with her best-selling albums Lead Me On and Heart in Motion. She has won six Grammy awards and sold over 30 million records worldwide. She is married to...

Wynonna Judd and her mother Naomi are one of the most popular singing duets in country music history, which have sold more than 20 million records. Naomi married her childhood sweetheart and gave birth to Wynonna during her high school graduation week. The marriage didn’t last and Naomi moved to the mountains of Kentucky. With no TV, the two began spending hours around the kitchen table, where Wynonna’s soulful leads and Naomi’s sweet harmonies took form. The determined young mother arranged...

In this audio podcast, recorded at the 1993 Academy of Achievement Summit at the Glacier Park Lodge at majestic Glacier Park in Montana, Cash spoke to student delegates about his early life growing up and working on a cotton patch. At the end of the podcast, Cash asnwered a question from one of the students about his early musical inspiration.