* W. C. Handy – Today Memphis is rightfully known as the “Home of the Blues.” No one deserves more credit for this than W. C. Handy -- the “Father of the Blues.” 
 

William Christopher Handy was born in Florence, Alabama. His father was a minister who wanted his son to follow in his footsteps. But young W.C. Handy loved music, and in spite of his parents wishes set his sights on a musical career.

But it wasn’t easy. As a young man, Handy played with a minstrel show for a time, then later got a job as band leader at Alabama A&M University in Huntsville .

In 1909, Handy moved to Memphis and began leading bands on Beale Street and writing music there. Two years later he wrote a campaign song, originally called Mr. Crump for “Boss” Ed Crump of Memphis . He later re-released the song under the name Memphis Blues. 
 

Handy went on to write and publish many great blues songs such as Beale Street Blues, Yellow Dog Rag, and St. Louis Blues. In the 1920s and 1930s, a time when blues music was extremely popular, Handy was an international superstar. 

* B. B. King – Rufus King was born on a plantation in Itta Bena, Mississippi and began playing music on street corners when he was a boy. Then, in 1947, he hitchhiked to Memphis, which is where just about every other African-American musician was moving at that time. His big break came the next year when he played on radio station WMEM, and soon he became a regular in Beale Street restaurants and clubs. His nickname became “Blues Boy,” so he soon shortened his name to “B.B.” King. 

B.B. King is not only one of the greatest blues musicians; he is also one of the hardest working. In 1956 he played 342 concerts – nearly one per day! His music is unforgettable, and today he is a member of both the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and the Blues Foundation Hall of Fame.

Click here to hear some of B.B. King's music.

* Elvis Presley – Elvis Presley, a Tennessean, may have done more to change American popular culture than any other person who has ever lived.
 

Presley was born in Tupelo, Mississippi, in 1935, and his working class family moved to Memphis when he was a child. In 1954 a record producer named Sam Phillips signed him to a small recording label called Sun Records, and two years later he moved onto a much larger label called RCA. For a while it looked like Elvis might be a country star (he once appeared on the Grand Ole Opry), but his manager Colonel Tom Parker saw something different in his young star. In 1956 Presley began going on national television shows, and from that point his career skyrocketed -- to the delight of teenagers and the horror of parents.
 

Presley died on August 16, 1977. Every year on that day his fans still make a pilgrimage to his Memphis home, Graceland.
 

By the way, the best place to learn more about Memphis’ musical legacy is at the Memphis Rock ‘n’ Soul Museum. Click here to be taken to its web site.