7 Famous Musicians From St. Louis

My former home has produced some greats

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Back in 1995, a series of rejections resulted in an unexpected opportunity — thirty years later, I would be able to write a blog post about famous musicians from St. Louis.

It all started when the vast majority of East Coast universities were unimpressed with my video-game-playing and baseball-watching resume, leaving my fate up to admissions committees in the Midwest. One school in St. Louis, Missouri, said it would be happy to take my parents’ money, which it did.

Little did I know that the city on the Mississippi River would offer so much — striking population loss, numerous abandoned buildings, notoriously high crime, and a suboptimal national reputation.

Stated another way, it was my type of place.

In between meeting a wife and downing Anheuser-Busch products, I was introduced to a basic life truth: Beat-up towns make great art.

Let this list of famous musicians from St. Louis serve as proof.

Scott Joplin (1868–1917)

Ragtime, defined by its syncopated piano compositions, had its heyday at the turn of the 20th century, and Joplin was its master. Born in Texas to a former slave, the King of Ragtime spent some of his most…