Music · 1948–2020Ivan Králguitarist, bassist, songwriter, producer, filmmakerPrague-born guitarist of the Patti Smith Group and Iggy Pop, co-writer of “Dancing Barefoot,” who spent his final years recording in Ann Arbor and Detroit.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.
- 1,743 famous people
- 96 Detroit places
- 22 fields
Hungarian ties 21 Detroiters with Hungarian ties →
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A–Z (family name)
648 people · 3/14 page
Clear filtersMusic · 1948–2020Ivan Králguitarist, bassist, songwriter, producer, filmmakerPrague-born guitarist of the Patti Smith Group and Iggy Pop, co-writer of “Dancing Barefoot,” who spent his final years recording in Ann Arbor and Detroit.
Music · born 1942Freda Paynesinger, actressDetroit-born singer of the 1970 smash “Band of Gold”, recorded for Invictus, the label her hometown friends Holland–Dozier–Holland founded after leaving Motown.
Music · born 1952Don Wasbassist, record producer, label executiveDetroit-born producer of Bonnie Raitt and the Rolling Stones, co-founder of Was (Not Was) and president of Blue Note Records, who still champions the Detroit music scene.
Music · 1930–1986Pepper Adamsjazz baritone saxophonist, composerHighland Park-born baritone saxophonist who came of age in Detroit's 1950s bebop clubs, running the bandstand at the Blue Bird Inn before a career in New York.
Music · 1927–2003Hank Ballardsinger, songwriterDetroit-born leader of the Midnighters, a Ford assembly-line worker turned rock and roll pioneer who wrote and first recorded “The Twist.”
Music · born 1976BizarrerapperDetroit rapper and founding member of D12, recruited by Proof in 1995, who still lives and makes music in his hometown.
Music · born 1991Angel Hazerapper, singerDetroit-born rapper and singer (now performing as ROES) known for the album Dirty Gold and raw, confessional verses; they grew up in the city before moving to New York at 15.
Music · 1937–1968Little Willie Johnsinger, songwriterDetroit-raised R&B singer who first recorded “Fever” and “Need Your Love So Bad,” and is buried at Detroit Memorial Park East in Warren.
Music · born 1963Jeff MillsDJ, record producer, composerDetroit-born techno DJ and producer, "The Wizard" of WJLB radio, who co-founded Underground Resistance before taking Detroit techno to Berlin and the world.
Music · 1941–1991David RuffinsingerThe raspy lead voice of the Temptations' “My Girl,” who helped build Hitsville U.S.A. as a teenager and is buried at Detroit's Woodlawn Cemetery.
Music · born 1974Mark Tremontiguitarist, singer, songwriterDetroit-born guitarist of Creed and Alter Bridge who spent most of his childhood in suburban Grosse Pointe.
Music · 1931–2010Shirley Verrettopera singer (mezzo-soprano and soprano), voice teacherCelebrated Verdi and Donizetti star who spent her final 14 years teaching voice at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, where she died in 2010.
Music · 1943–1992Mary Wellssinger, songwriterDetroit-born "Queen of Motown" who pitched her first song to Berry Gordy in a nightclub at 17 and topped the Hot 100 with "My Guy" in 1964.
Music · born 1997Bazzisinger-songwriter, record producerCanton-born, Dearborn-raised Lebanese-American pop singer whose 2017 song “Mine” went viral and reached the Billboard top 20.
Music · 1932–2021Curtis Fullerjazz trombonist, composerDetroit-born hard-bop trombonist who played on John Coltrane's Blue Train and in Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers, and who died in his hometown in 2021.
Music · born 1960Kenny Garrettjazz alto and soprano saxophonist, flutist, composerDetroit-born alto saxophonist who went straight from Mackenzie High School into the Duke Ellington Orchestra and later played in Miles Davis's band.
Music · born 1952Kim Kashkashianviolist, teacherDetroit-born Armenian-American violist, one of the world's leading players of her instrument and a Grammy winner for music by Hungarian composers.
Music · 1939–1992Eddie Kendrickssinger, songwriterFalsetto lead of the Temptations who came to Detroit with the Primes, sang "Just My Imagination" and later topped the charts solo with "Keep On Truckin'."
Music · born 1944Leonard Slatkinconductor, composer, authorAmerican conductor who led the Detroit Symphony Orchestra from 2008 to 2018, through the city's financial crisis and a six-month strike, and became its first music director laureate.
Music · 1924–2011Margaret WhitingsingerDetroit-born pop singer of the 1940s and 1950s, daughter of songwriter Richard A. Whiting, who began his career writing for a Detroit music publisher.
Music · 1918–2014Gerald Wilsonjazz trumpeter, bandleader, composer, arranger, educatorBig-band leader and arranger for Ellington, Ella and Billie Holiday, who came to Detroit at 16, graduated from Cass Tech, and returned in 2009 with a suite named “Detroit.”
Music · born 1952Marcella Detroitsinger, songwriter, guitaristDetroit-born singer who co-wrote Eric Clapton's “Lay Down Sally” and sang lead on Shakespears Sister's “Stay,” later taking her hometown's name as her own.
Music · 1941–2022Lamont Doziersongwriter, record producer, singerThe Dozier of Holland–Dozier–Holland, the Detroit songwriting team that wrote and produced dozens of Motown hits for the Supremes, Four Tops and Martha and the Vandellas.
Film & TV · 1934–1973Michael Dunnactor, singerOscar-nominated actor and singer with dwarfism, raised in Dearborn and schooled in Detroit, best remembered as Dr. Loveless in The Wild Wild West.
Music · born 1956Greg Phillinganeskeyboardist, singer, arrangerDetroit-born keyboard ace who went from classical lessons with a Detroit Symphony pianist to Stevie Wonder's band and musical director for Michael Jackson.
Music · born 1978Denaun Porterrapper, record producerD12 founding member who grew up in Detroit and became one of Eminem's closest production partners and a sought-after hip-hop producer.
Music · born 1941Martha Reevessinger, former Detroit City Council memberLead singer of Martha and the Vandellas, who went from Motown secretary to star with “Heat Wave” and “Dancing in the Street”, and later served on the Detroit City Council.
Music · 1945–2024J. D. Southersinger, songwriter, actorDetroit-born songwriter behind Eagles hits like “Best of My Love” and “New Kid in Town”, and early duo partner of fellow Detroit native Glenn Frey.
Music · 1941–2023Barrett Strongsinger, songwriterSinger of "Money (That's What I Want)," Motown's first hit, who became the lyricist behind "I Heard It Through the Grapevine" and "Papa Was a Rollin' Stone."
Music · 1936–2008Levi Stubbssinger, voice actorLifelong Detroiter and lead voice of the Four Tops, formed with Pershing High School friends, who sang “Reach Out I'll Be There” and is buried at Woodlawn Cemetery.
Music · born 1973Trick-Trickrapper, record producerDetroit rapper and producer of the Goon Sqwad, best known for the civic-pride anthem “Welcome 2 Detroit” with Eminem.
Music · born 1970Brendan Bensonsinger-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, producerPower-pop songwriter born in Royal Oak whose Detroit attic was where he and Jack White wrote the first song of the Raconteurs in 2005.
Music · 1929–2021Barry Harrisjazz pianist, composer, educatorDetroit bebop pianist whose family home was a jam-session school for a generation of the city's jazz musicians, and who became one of jazz's great teachers.
Music · 1936–2014Jimmy Ruffinsoul singerMotown singer of “What Becomes of the Brokenhearted”, older brother of Temptations lead David Ruffin, who built his career at Hitsville in Detroit.
Film & TV · born 1958Ellen Sandweissactress, singerCheryl in The Evil Dead, a Detroit-born high school friend of Sam Raimi and Bruce Campbell whose film premiered at Detroit's Redford Theatre in 1981.
Music · born 1949Garry Tallentbassist, record producerFounding bassist of Bruce Springsteen's E Street Band, born in Detroit before his family moved to the Jersey Shore.
Music · 1924–2005Lucky Thompsonjazz tenor and soprano saxophonistDetroit-raised tenor and soprano saxophonist, a Cass Tech graduate who played with Basie, Charlie Parker and Miles Davis and was an early modern master of the soprano sax.
Music · born 1951Kim Wilsonblues singer, harmonica playerDetroit-born blues harmonica player and frontman of the Fabulous Thunderbirds, known for the 1986 hit “Tuff Enuff”.
Music · born 1964CeCe Winansgospel singer, songwriterDetroit-born member of the Winans gospel family who became the most awarded female gospel singer, with 18 Grammy Awards.
Music · 1917–2014Alberta Adamsblues singer“Detroit's Queen of the Blues,” who began as a tap dancer in the Hastings Street clubs of the 1930s and was still recording in her nineties.
Music · 1932–1986Dorothy Ashbyjazz harpist, pianist, singer, composerDetroit-born pioneer who made the harp a bebop instrument, a product of Paradise Valley, Cass Tech and Wayne State who also ran a Black theater company in the city.The lexicon keeps growing. Every entry lists its sources at the bottom. Dates were checked against Wikidata and Wikipedia. The texts are our own.