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Discover some of the highlights of America’s musical history in this timeline
600 AD: Native American music dates back to the 7th Century.
1720: Africans taken to the US as slaves brought with them the complex rhythms of Western African music
1880: The Blues originated with African American former slaves in the deep South.
1901: Louis Armstrong was born and is credited with the growth of Jazz throughout much of the century.
1920: The first licensed commercial radio broadcast was aired in the United States. Photo courtesy of Library of Congress
1932: Electric guitars were invented and quickly grew in popularity throughout the 30s and 40s, and were chosen as favorite instruments of the Beatles.
1933: Folk music rises is prominence with the burgeoning collection of American folk music by John Lomax.
1940: The roots of country music began with the first major commercial success for Appalachian folk.
1950: This year saw the widespread popularization of gospel music, with origins from the Southeastern United States.
1955: Elvis Presley is regarded as one of the most influential cultural forces of the 20th century.
1959: Berry Gordy Jr. created Motown, the first African American-owned record label, to promote the music of African American artists and musicians.
1978: Hip hop was developed in the Bronx in New York City and spread from urban to suburban communities throughout the 1980’s.
1999: The creation of the Internet lead to the creation of many music sharing sites and music software.
2012-Present: With DJs like Calvin Harris, David Guetta and Tiësto leading the pack, the popularity electronic music has ballooned in the past decade.
Discover the cities that have shaped America’s music.
Chicago
Home of the Blues
Spiked with steely skyscrapers, lined with plaza after plaza of outdoor art, possessed of vibrant ethnic neighborhoods and ringing with the history of jazz, blues and house music, the Windy City is one of the nation’s most alluring cultural powerhouses.
MIAMI
Feel the Salsa Beat
Situated on Florida’s tropical southeastern shore, Miami’s sun-kissed beaches and ice-cream colored landscape are world-famed, but also a backdrop to an equally eye-popping cultural life – one rife with influences ranging from Cuba to the Caribbean and with music spanning from conga to salsa to Latin rock and electronica.
MEMPHIS
Rock ‘n’ Roll All Night
Memphis is both the place from which W.C. Handy spread the Delta Blues at the turn of the century and where, 50 years later, Sun Studio churned out Elvis Presley’s world-altering hits. But that is truly just the tip of Memphis’ multilayered musical history.
NEW YORK
Empire of Music
The quintessential American metropolis of Manhattan, bristling with live-wire energy 24/7, is in a constant state of change and flux, making it a magnet for arts and artists of all kinds. The city is not just one of America’s great cultural powerhouses; it is a global epicenter of music, art, film, theater, dance, multimedia and new forms of entertainment just being born.
NASHVILLE
Cradle of Country
No film about American music could be complete without touching down in Tennessee, home to Nashville – aka “Music City, U.S.A.” Early settlers in rural Tennessee brought their Scottish and Irish folk songs with them and by the 19th Century, the city was world already attracting musicians from around the world.
New Orleans
All That Jazz
Few cities are as synonymous with music as New Orleans, home to a perpetual jubilee and to original musical forms ranging from brass bands and ragtime to Dixieland jazz, Cajun music, zydeco and bounce rap.
