Jack Scottsinger, songwriterRockabilly and ballad singer of “My True Love” and “What in the World's Come Over You,” who grew up in Hazel Park and lived in the Detroit suburbs all his life.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.
- 1,949 famous people
- 516 Detroit places
- 22 fields
Hungarian ties 31 Detroiters with Hungarian ties →
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1568 people · 17/33 page
Clear filtersJack Scottsinger, songwriterRockabilly and ballad singer of “My True Love” and “What in the World's Come Over You,” who grew up in Hazel Park and lived in the Detroit suburbs all his life.
Music · 1948–1994Fred "Sonic" Smithguitarist, songwriterMC5 guitarist who led Sonic's Rendezvous Band, met Patti Smith at Detroit's Lafayette Coney Island in 1976, and spent his life in metro Detroit.
Music · 1944–1991Rob TynersingerDetroit-born lead singer of the MC5, whose incendiary live album Kick Out the Jams was recorded at the Grande Ballroom in October 1968.Edward WeisenburgerCatholic Archbishop of Detroit (since 2025)Illinois-born prelate, former bishop of Salina and Tucson, installed as Archbishop of Detroit on March 18, 2025.
Science & invention · 1915–1994Jerome Wiesnerelectrical engineer, science adviser, university presidentPresident John F. Kennedy's science adviser and later president of MIT, born in Detroit and raised in Dearborn, where he attended Fordson High School.
Music · born 1962BeBe Winanssinger, songwriter, producerDetroit-born gospel and R&B singer, half of the duo BeBe & CeCe Winans, and a close friend of Whitney Houston.
Music · born 2000BabyTronrapper, songwriterYpsilanti rapper of the ShittyBoyz whose joke-dense, pop-culture-packed bars made him a breakout star of the Detroit rap scene and an Eminem collaborator.
Politics · 1814–1892Henry P. Baldwinshoe merchant, banker, governor of Michigan, U.S. senatorDetroit boot and shoe wholesaler and banker who built St. John's Episcopal Church on Woodward, served as governor (1869–1873) and gave Hazen Pingree his first Detroit job.
Visual art · 1915–1978
Harry Bertoiasculptor, furniture and jewelry designerItalian-born artist who grew up in Detroit, studied at Cass Tech and Cranbrook, and later created the Diamond Chair and sounding sculptures.
Politics · born 1945David Boniorpolitician, labor advocateDetroit-born Macomb County congressman (1977–2003) who rose to House Democratic whip and led labor's fight against NAFTA.
Science & invention · born 1944Larry Brilliantepidemiologist, technologist, philanthropistDetroit-born epidemiologist and Wayne State medical graduate who helped the World Health Organization eradicate smallpox and later led Google.org.Johnny Bristolsongwriter, producer, singerMotown producer and writer of "Someday We'll Be Together" who began in the Detroit duo Johnny & Jackey and later scored "Hang On in There Baby".
Music · 1938–2005Roy Brooksjazz drummer, percussionist, bandleaderDetroit drummer who played on Horace Silver's Song for My Father, joined Max Roach's M'Boom, and after returning home in 1975 became a pillar and teacher of the city's jazz scene.BugzrapperFounding member of D12, a gifted Detroit freestyler who was shot and killed in 1999, just before the group's breakthrough.Solanus CaseyCapuchin friar and priest, beatifiedCapuchin friar revered as a healer and counselor at Detroit's St. Bonaventure Monastery, co-founder of the Capuchin Soup Kitchen, beatified at Ford Field in 2017.
Business & brands · 1872–1936James CouzensFord Motor Company co-founder and business manager, mayor of Detroit, U.S. senatorCanadian-born railroad clerk who became Ford's hard-driving business manager, then mayor of Detroit and a U.S. senator.
Architecture & design · 1876–1945
Paul Philippe CretarchitectFrench-born Philadelphia architect who designed the Detroit Institute of Arts' Beaux-Arts museum building on Woodward Avenue (1927).
Sports · 1957–2024Earl Curetonbasketball forward and centerDetroit native who played for the University of Detroit and his hometown Pistons and won NBA titles with Philadelphia and Houston.
Politics · born 1958Mike Dugganlawyer, hospital executive, mayor of DetroitDetroit-born Wayne County prosecutor and Detroit Medical Center chief who won the mayoralty as a write-in in 2013 and led the city's post-bankruptcy recovery for three terms (2014–2025).
Music · 1918–2005
Sixten Ehrlingconductor, pianistSwedish conductor who led the Detroit Symphony Orchestra from 1963 to 1973, premiered 24 works with it and helped found its summer festival at Meadow Brook.
Günther HerbigconductorGerman conductor who left East Germany and led the Detroit Symphony Orchestra from 1984 to 1990, as it moved back into the restored Orchestra Hall.
Literature · 1927–1993James Leo Herlihynovelist, playwright, actorDetroit-born author of Midnight Cowboy, whose novel became the only X-rated film to win the Oscar for Best Picture.
Military · 1819–1889Henry Jackson HuntUnion general, chief of artilleryDetroit-born chief of artillery of the Army of the Potomac, whose placement of guns at Gettysburg helped shatter Pickett's Charge.
Music · born 1948Steve HunterguitaristGuitarist who drove eight hours to audition for Mitch Ryder's band Detroit, a move that launched his career with Lou Reed, Alice Cooper and producer Bob Ezrin.
Music · born 1972Violent Jrapper, record label co-founder, wrestling promoterCo-founder of Insane Clown Posse and Psychopathic Records, the face-painted horrorcore act that built a national cult following out of metro Detroit.
Literature · born 1960Kathe Kojanovelist, short-story writer, theatre directorDetroit-born author of the Bram Stoker Award–winning horror novel The Cipher who still lives in metro Detroit and directs the immersive theatre company nerve.
Sports · 1928–2002Dick "Night Train" LaneAmerican football cornerback, youth-sports directorHall of Fame cornerback, one of the fiercest tacklers in NFL history, who played for the Lions and then ran Detroit's Police Athletic League for 17 years.Earle S. MacPhersonautomotive engineer, inventor of the MacPherson strutGM and Ford engineer whose MacPherson strut suspension, developed in Detroit in the 1940s, is now used on most of the world's cars.
Music · born 1940Bennie Maupinjazz saxophonist, bass clarinetist, flutistDetroit-born reed player whose bass clarinet is heard on Miles Davis's Bitches Brew and in Herbie Hancock's Mwandishi and Headhunters bands.
Science & invention · 1844–1929
Elijah McCoyengineer and inventor of automatic lubricatorsCanadian-born Black engineer whose automatic lubricators kept North America's locomotives running; he spent his last decades inventing in Detroit.Swifty McVayrapperDetroit rapper and longtime member of D12, the group that grew out of the city's 1990s battle scene and went multi-platinum alongside Eminem.
Sports · 1893–1962Tommy Miltonracing driver, automotive engineerFirst driver to win the Indianapolis 500 twice (1921 and 1923), despite having sight in only one eye; he spent his later years in the Detroit area auto industry.
Music · 1949–2022Barbara Morrisonjazz and blues singer, educatorYpsilanti-born, Romulus-raised jazz and blues singer who first sang on Detroit radio at ten and became a mainstay of the Los Angeles jazz scene.
Sports · 1921–1998Hal Newhouserbaseball pitcherDetroit-born left-hander who won back-to-back MVP awards for his hometown Tigers in 1944 and 1945; his No. 16 is retired and his statue stands at Comerica Park.John Portmanarchitect, developerAtlanta architect who designed Detroit's Renaissance Center, the riverfront cluster of glass towers that has defined the skyline since 1977.Bob Probertice hockey forward, enforcerOne of the most feared and beloved enforcers in NHL history, a Red Wing from 1985 to 1994 whose talent, toughness and public struggles made him a legendary and tragic Detroit sports figure.
Music · 1942–2002Barbara Randolphsinger, actressDetroit-born singer and actress, adopted by actress Lillian Randolph, who recorded the northern soul favorite "I Got a Feeling" for Motown and toured with Marvin Gaye.
Music · born 1934Roger ReynoldscomposerDetroit-born composer, trained first as an engineer, who pioneered computer and spatial music and won the 1989 Pulitzer Prize for Whispers Out of Time.
Music · 1940–2013Bobby Rogerssinger, songwriterDetroit-born founding member of the Miracles (1956–2013) who co-wrote the Temptations' first hit, "The Way You Do the Things You Do".Doctor Rossblues one-man band: singer, guitarist, harmonica player, drummerMississippi one-man blues band who moved to Michigan in 1954 to work for General Motors and recorded his best-known sides for Detroit's Fortune Records.Lightnin' Slimblues singer, guitaristLouisiana swamp-blues star of Excello Records who later worked in a Pontiac foundry, was rediscovered there in 1970, and died in Detroit in 1974.
Sports · 1860–1922Sam Thompsonbaseball player, right fielderHall of Fame slugger of the 1887 champion Detroit Wolverines who later settled in Detroit, played briefly for the Tigers at 46 and is buried at Elmwood Cemetery.
Music · 1872–1946Harry Von Tilzersongwriter, composer, music publisher, vaudeville performerDetroit-born son of Polish Jewish immigrants who became one of Tin Pan Alley's biggest hitmakers, with A Bird in a Gilded Cage and Wait 'Til the Sun Shines, Nellie.
Politics · 1911–1988G. Mennen Williamsgovernor of Michigan, diplomat, chief justiceDetroit-born heir to the Mennen toiletries fortune ('Soapy') who as six-term governor (1949–1961) forged Michigan's Democratic alliance of labor, Black voters and liberals.
Politics · 1918–1997Coleman Younglabor organizer, state senator, mayor of DetroitDetroit's first Black mayor (1974–1994), a Tuskegee Airman and fiery labor radical who reshaped the city with the Renaissance Center, the People Mover and new auto plants.
Music · born 1959Joseph Alessiclassical trombonistDetroit-born trombonist who has been principal trombone of the New York Philharmonic since 1985 and is one of the most influential orchestral trombonists of his time.
Politics · born 1942Dennis Archerlawyer, Michigan Supreme Court justice, mayor of DetroitEast Side-born special-education teacher turned lawyer and state Supreme Court justice who as mayor (1994–2001) brought casinos, Comerica Park and Ford Field to Detroit, then led the American Bar Association.
Zora Arkus-Duntovautomotive engineer, Corvette chief engineerBelgian-born, Russian-raised engineer who came to Detroit in 1953 and turned the Corvette into a genuine performance car.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 ↗
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