Music · 1942–2018Aretha Franklinsinger, songwriter, pianistThe “Queen of Soul” grew up singing gospel in her father's Detroit church, spent most of her life in and around the city and is entombed at Woodlawn Cemetery.DETROIT / A living lexicon / ¼
Famous Detroiters
People who were born here, moved here or built their careers in Detroit: musicians, carmakers, athletes, writers, inventors, civil-rights leaders and a few notorious names. With their dates, their Detroit story and the places where they lived, worked and played, closed ones included.
- 1,940 famous people
- 366 Detroit places
- 5 fields
Hungarian ties 22 Detroiters with Hungarian ties →
Field
Connection
Born in
A–Z (family name)
10 people
Clear filtersMusic · 1942–2018Aretha Franklinsinger, songwriter, pianistThe “Queen of Soul” grew up singing gospel in her father's Detroit church, spent most of her life in and around the city and is entombed at Woodlawn Cemetery.
Music · 1948–2016Glenn Freysinger, songwriter, guitaristThe Eagles co-founder was born in Detroit, grew up in Royal Oak and cut his teeth in the mid-1960s Detroit rock scene before heading to Los Angeles.
Music · 1942–1995Melvin Franklinbass singerThe deep bass voice of the Temptations, a founding member who grew up in Detroit and sang with the group from 1961 until 1994.
Sports · 1941–2021Bill Freehanbaseball catcherDetroit-born catcher who spent his entire 15-year career with the Tigers, an 11-time All-Star who caught the final out of the 1968 World Series.
Theatre & dance · born 1940Garth Faganchoreographer, dancer, company directorJamaican-born choreographer who spent the 1960s dancing and studying in Detroit before founding Garth Fagan Dance and winning a Tony for The Lion King.
Sports · 1944–2015Mel FarrAmerican football running back, car dealerLions running back of 1967–1973 who became Detroit's famous caped TV car dealer, "Mel Farr Superstar", heading the nation's largest Black-owned business in the late 1990s.The lexicon keeps growing. Every entry lists its sources at the bottom. Dates were checked against Wikidata and Wikipedia. The texts are our own. Famous people's places among the sights ↗