42°19′ N 83°02′ WINDEPENDENT CITY GUIDE · HU / ENDETROIT + MICHIGAN

EGY NEGYED
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
21 fields

Hungarian ties 21 Detroiters with Hungarian ties →

166 people · 4/4 page

Business & brandsArmen Boladianrecord label founder, music publisherFounder of Detroit's Westbound Records (1968), home of Funkadelic, the Ohio Players and the Detroit Emeralds, and of the publisher Bridgeport Music.Detroit career

MusicDJ Bonetechno DJ, producer, label ownerDetroit techno DJ famous for fierce, multi-deck sets, founder of the Subject Detroit label and a key resident at Motor in the late 1990s.Born hereGrew up here

Music · 1928–2011Bess Bonnierjazz pianist, composer, educatorDetroit jazz pianist, blind from birth, who recorded for Argo in 1958, taught generations of Detroit students and played the 1981 Detroit Piano Summit with Flanagan, Harris and Hanna.Born hereGrew up here

Music · 1932–1984Eddie "Bongo" BrownpercussionistFunk Brothers conga and bongo player, Motown's leading hand percussionist, heard on "I Second That Emotion" and "What's Going On".Moved hereDetroit career

MusicJohnny “Bee” Badanjekdrummer, singer, songwriter, painterDetroit drummer whose break on Mitch Ryder and the Detroit Wheels' “Devil with a Blue Dress On” is legendary, later co-founder of the Rockets and a drummer on Alice Cooper's Detroit Stories.Grew up hereDetroit career

Music · 1925–2016Harry Balkrecord producer, A&R executive, label founderDetroit-born producer who discovered Little Willie John and Rodriguez, co-produced Del Shannon's “Runaway,” and created Motown's rock label Rare Earth.Born hereGrew up here

MusicMark Bassrecord producer, label ownerDetroit producer who discovered Eminem on local radio in 1992, invited him into the studio and, with brother Jeff, released his first album.Grew up hereDetroit career

PoliticsBill Bazzipolitician, engineer, diplomatLebanese-born Marine veteran and Ford engineer who became mayor of Dearborn Heights in 2021 and was later appointed US ambassador to Tunisia.Moved hereDetroit career

Auto industry · 1892–1979Harry Bennetthead of Ford's Service Department, Henry Ford's enforcerAnn Arbor–born ex-boxer who ran Ford's feared Service Department, led violent anti-union actions at the Rouge and was fired by Henry Ford II in 1945.Born hereDetroit career

Music · 1912–2003Bernard Besmanrecord producer, distributor, bandleaderDetroit record distributor who founded Sensation Records and in 1948 produced John Lee Hooker's first session, which yielded "Boogie Chillen'".Grew up hereDetroit career

Music · born 1937Joe BillingsleasingerHamtramck-born founder of the Contours, whose "Do You Love Me" (1962) was the Gordy label's first million seller.Born hereGrew up here

Press & broadcasting · born 1945George Blahasports broadcasterDetroit-born play-by-play voice of the Detroit Pistons since 1976, the longest-serving broadcaster in the team's history.Born hereDetroit career

Music · 1941–2021Gil Bridgessaxophonist, flutist, singerDetroit-born founder of Rare Earth, the first all-white band signed to Motown, whose 1970 version of "Get Ready" reached No. 4 on the Hot 100.Born hereGrew up here

Press & broadcasting · 1891–1930Jerry Buckleyradio commentatorCorktown-born radio commentator who crusaded against crime and corruption and was shot dead in the LaSalle Hotel lobby hours after Detroit recalled its mayor in 1930.Born hereGrew up here

Business & brands · 1810–1894Christian H. Buhlindustrialist, banker, mayor of DetroitHatter and fur trader who became one of Detroit's leading industrialists and bankers and served as mayor at the outbreak of the Civil War (1860–1861).Moved hereDetroit career

Business & brands · 1806–1890Frederick Buhlfurrier, businessman, mayor of DetroitHatter-turned-fur-trader who with his brother Christian built one of Detroit's great fortunes and served as mayor in 1848.Moved hereDetroit career

Music · 1974–2009BaatinrapperSlum Village co-founder whose playful, spiritual verses helped define the group's sound alongside J Dilla and T3 in the 1990s.Born hereGrew up here

Business & brands · 1910–2003Clarence Bakerjazz club ownerOwner of Baker's Keyboard Lounge for 57 years, who turned his parents' Livernois Avenue sandwich shop into one of the world's oldest continuously operating jazz clubs.Detroit career

Music · 1951–2010Ron Bankssinger, songwriter, producerFounder and lead voice of the Dramatics, the Detroit soul group behind "Whatcha See Is Whatcha Get" and "In the Rain".Grew up hereDetroit career

Film & TV · 1925–2003Rita Belltelevision host, singerDetroit-born host of WXYZ-TV's weekday-morning Prize Movie (1960–1977), billed as the first woman television broadcaster in Michigan.Born hereGrew up here

MusicLawrence Burdentechno producer, live electronic musicianDetroit producer and co-founder of Octave One, the family act that took techno from a Transmat debut in 1989 to world stages with “Blackwater”.Born hereGrew up here

MusicLenny Burdentechno producer, live electronic musicianCo-founder of Octave One, the Detroit brothers' act behind the techno anthem “Blackwater” and the 430 West label.Born hereGrew up here

The lexicon keeps growing. Every entry lists its sources at the bottom. Dates were checked against Wikidata and Wikipedia. The texts are our own.