This is a list of notable people who were born in, residents of, or otherwise closely associated with

Memphis, Tennessee Memphis is a city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the seat of Shelby County in the southwest part of the state; it is situated along the Mississippi River. With a population of 633,104 at the 2020 U.S. census, Memphis is the second-mos ...

. This list is in alphabetical order by last name.

A

* Johnny Ace (1929–1954) — rhythm and blues singer * Mo Alexander (born 1970), comedian * Heather Armstrong (1975-2023)— author and blogger,

Dooce Heather B. Armstrong (''née'' Hamilton, born July 19, 1975) is an American blogger who resides in Salt Lake City, Utah. She writes under the pseudonym of Dooce, a pseudonym that came from her inability to quickly spell "dude" during online chats ...

.com *

Kristin Armstrong Kristin Armstrong Savola (; born August 11, 1973) is a former professional road bicycle racer and three-time Olympic gold medalist, the winner of the women's individual time trial in 2008, 2012, and 2016. Before temporarily retiring to start a ...

(born 1973) — professional road bicycle racer and three-time Olympic gold medalist *

George Awsumb George Awsumb (20 July 1880 – 24 November 1959) was a prominent Norwegian-American architect in the first half of the 20th century. Awsumb defined architecture as “frozen music” designed for the “man on the street.” He was influenced by ...

(1880–1959) — Norwegian-American architect *

Gwen Robinson Awsumb Gwen Robinson Awsumb (25 September 1915 – 16 January 2003) was an American politician and social activist. In 1967, she became the first woman to be elected to the city council in Memphis, Tennessee, United States. Her legacy is of challenging ...

(1915–2003) — first woman elected to Memphis City Council *

Estelle Axton Estelle Axton (September 11, 1918 – February 24, 2004) was an American record executive and co-founder of Stax Records, along with her brother Jim Stewart. Biography Born in Middleton, Tennessee, Estelle Stewart grew up on a farm. She move ...

(1918–2004) — co-founder of Stax Records

B

* Julien Baker (born 1995) — singer, songwriter, and guitarist * Michael A. Baker (born 1953) — astronaut *

Adrian Banks Adrian Gerard Banks (born February 9, 1986) is an American-Israeli professional basketball player for Treviso Basket of the Lega Basket Serie A (LBA). He played college basketball for Northwest Mississippi Community College and Arkansas State Uni ...

(born 1986) — American-Israeli basketball player *

The Bar-Kays The Bar-Kays are an American funk band formed in 1964. The band had dozens of record chart, charting single (music), singles from the 1960s to the 1980s, including "Soul Finger" (US Billboard Hot 100, ''Billboard'' Hot 100 number 17, Hot R&B/Hip ...

(formed in 1966) — musicians *

Lloyd Barbee Lloyd Augustus Barbee (August 17, 1925 – December 29, 2002) was an American lawyer and politician who worked for civil rights. He led the effort to integrate the Milwaukee Public School system. He was a Democrat. Early life and education ...

(1925–2002) — Wisconsin legislator and civil rights activist * Marion Barry (1936–2014) — mayor of Washington, D.C. *

Charles Bartliff Charles Albert Bartliff (18 August 1886 – 15 March 1962) was an American amateur soccer player who competed in the 1904 Summer Olympics. He was born in Memphis, Tennessee Memphis is a city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the seat ...

(1886–1962) — soccer player *

Daren Bates Daren Weston Bates (born November 27, 1990) is a former American football linebacker. He played college football for Auburn Tigers football, Auburn and was signed by the Los Angeles Rams as an undrafted free agent in 2013. He has also played for ...

(born 1990) —

NFL The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the major ...

player * Kathy Bates (born 1948) — Academy Award-winning actress * Kenneth Lawrence Beaudoin (1913–1995) — poet *

Michael Beck John Michael Beck Taylor (born February 4, 1949), commonly known as Michael Beck, is an American actor. He is known for his roles as Swan in '' The Warriors'' (1979) and Sonny Malone in '' Xanadu'' (1980). Early life Beck was born in Memphis, T ...

(born 1949) — actor, best known for '' The Warriors'' and ''

Xanadu Xanadu may refer to: * Shangdu, the ancient summer capital of Kublai Khan's empire in China * a metaphor for opulence or an idyllic place, based upon Coleridge's description of Shangdu in his poem ''Kubla Khan'' Other places * Xanadu (Titan), ...

'' * Reginald Becton (born 1991) — basketball player who currently plays for Yokohama B-Corsairs of the

B. League The B.League is a professional men's basketball league that began in Japan in September 2016. The league is operated by the Japan Professional Basketball League and was formed as a result of a merger between the National Basketball League that ...

* William Bedford (born 1963) — basketball player * Diane Meredith Belcher (born 1960) — concert organist, teacher, and church musician * Chris Bell (1951–1978) — musician * William Bell (born 1939) — singer *

Charles T. Bernard Charles Taylor Bernard Sr. (September 10, 1927 – June 27, 2015) was an American businessman and politician originally from Earle, Arkansas. He is best known as the 1968 Republican nominee for the United States Senate seat held by long-time ...

(1927–2015) — businessman and Arkansas politician, died in Memphis in 2015 * Big Star (formed in 1971) — rock band *

Blac Youngsta Sammie Marquez Benson (born April 8, 1990), professionally known as Blac Youngsta, is an American rapper from Memphis, Tennessee. He is signed to Yo Gotti's label Collective Music Group (CMG) and Epic Records. After a series of mixtapes upon bei ...

(born 1990) — rapper; born Samuel Marquez Benson * Greg Bird — Major League Baseball first baseman * Big30 — rapper *

Tarik Black Tarik Bernard Black (; born November 22, 1991) is an American professional basketball player for Olympiacos of the Greek Basket League and the EuroLeague. He has previously played for the Los Angeles Lakers and the Houston Rockets in the Nation ...

(born 1991) — basketball player *

James Blackwood James Webre Blackwood (August 4, 1919 – February 3, 2002) was an American gospel singer and one of the founding members of legendary Southern gospel quartet The Blackwood Brothers. He is the only person in any field of music to have been nomin ...

(1919–2002) — gospel singer, founding member of quartet The Blackwood Brothers * BlocBoy JB — rapper *

Bobby "Blue" Bland Robert Calvin Bland (born Robert Calvin Brooks; January 27, 1930 – June 23, 2013), known professionally as Bobby "Blue" Bland, was an American blues singer. Bland developed a sound that mixed gospel with the blues and R&B. He was descr ...

(1930–2013) — musician *

Elizabeth Bolden Elizabeth Bolden (née Jones; August 15, 1890 – December 11, 2006) was an American supercentenarian who, at the time of her death at age 116 years, 118 days, was recognized by Guinness World Records as the then- world's oldest living person.< ...

(1890–2006) — oldest person in the world during most of 2006 *

Charles Boyce Charles Boyce (born 1949 in Olive Branch, Mississippi), is an American cartoonist known for his syndicated comic panel ''Compu-toon''. Boyce is also known for creating the KeyPad Kid, a cartoon character used in public affairs awareness programs ...

(born 1949) — syndicated

cartoonist A cartoonist is a visual artist who specializes in both drawing and writing cartoons (individual images) or comics (sequential images). Cartoonists differ from comics writers or comic book illustrators in that they produce both the literary and ...

Cory Branan Cory Branan (born December 15, 1974) is an American singer-songwriter from Mississippi. Early life Branan was born in Memphis, Tennessee, to parents Dallas Lee Branan, a jet mechanic at FedEx, and Peggy Branan (née Rhodes). He grew up in ...

(born 1974) — singer/songwriter * Craig Brewer (born 1971) — film director * Ben Browder (born 1962) — actor, best known for ''

Farscape ''Farscape'' is an Australian-American science fiction television series, produced originally for the Nine Network. It premiered in the US on Sci-Fi Channel's SciFi Friday, 19 March 1999, at 8:00 pm EST as their anchor series. The series was c ...

'' and '' Stargate SG-1'' * Dave Brown (born 1946) — TV meteorologist, professional wrestling announcer * Joe Brown (born 1947) — politician * Isaac Bruce (born 1972) — former NFL player *

Antonio Burks Antonio Burks may refer to: * Antonio Burks (basketball, born 1980), American former NBA player * Antonio Burks (basketball, born 1982) Antonio Burks (born 30 May 1982) is an American professional basketball player who played for the Saint John ...

(born 1980) — former basketball player * Dorsey Burnette (1932–1979) — rockabilly pioneer, singer-songwriter * Johnny Burnette (1934–1964) — rockabilly pioneer, singer-songwriter *

Leonard Burton Leonard Bernard Burton (born June 18, 1964) is a former American football Center (American football), center who played five seasons in the National Football League (NFL) with the Buffalo Bills and Detroit Lions. He was drafted by the Bills in th ...

(born 1964) — NFL player * Mike Butler (1946–2018) — basketball player *

Derrick Byars Derrick JaVaughn Byars (born April 25, 1984) is an American professional basketball player and entrepreneur. Collegiately, he played for Virginia, and later for Vanderbilt. He was drafted 42nd overall in the 2007 NBA draft. High school career B ...

(born 1984) — basketball player *

Latasha Byears Latasha Nashay Byears (born August 12, 1973) is a former American professional women's basketball player. She played in the WNBA for the Sacramento Monarchs, the Los Angeles Sparks, the Washington Mystics, and for the Houston Comets. Byears r ...

(born 1973) — basketball player * Big Scarr (born 2000) - rapper

C

Herman Cain Herman Cain (December 13, 1945July 30, 2020) was an American businessman and Tea Party movement activist within the Republican Party. Born in Memphis, Tennessee, Cain grew up in Georgia and graduated from Morehouse College with a bachelor's d ...

(1945–2020) — businessman, talk show host, and candidate for the 2012 Republican presidential nomination *

Tyrone Calico Tyrone Bernard Calico (born November 9, 1980) is a former American football wide receiver in the National Football League. In college, he was the starting receiver for Middle Tennessee State University. College career Calico made 65 receptions ...

(born 1980) — NFL player for the Tennessee Titans * Dixie Carter (1939–2010) — actress known for ''

Designing Women ''Designing Women'' is an American television sitcom created by Linda Bloodworth-Thomason that aired on CBS from September 29, 1986, to May 24, 1993, producing seven seasons and 163 episodes. It was a joint production of Bloodworth/Thomason M ...

'' and ''

Desperate Housewives ''Desperate Housewives'' is an American comedy-drama soap opera television series created by Marc Cherry and produced by ABC Studios and Marc Cherry, Cherry Productions. It aired for eight seasons on American Broadcasting Company, ABC from Octobe ...

'' *

Lorenzo Carter Major Lorenzo Carter was the first permanent settler in Cleveland, Ohio, United States. Born in 1767, Carter spent his early years in Warren, Connecticut, where he visited the local library frequently and developed an appreciation of books. Wh ...

(born 1995) — linebacker for the

Atlanta Falcons The Atlanta Falcons are a professional American football team based in Atlanta. The Falcons compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. The Falcons joined th ...

Bob Caruthers Robert Lee Caruthers (January 5, 1864 – August 5, 1911), nicknamed "Parisian Bob", was an American right-handed pitcher and right fielder in Major League Baseball who played primarily for the St. Louis Browns and Brooklyn Bridegrooms. The star p ...

(1864–1911) —

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

player *

Kellye Cash Kellye Cash-Sheppard (born February 2, 1965) is an American musician and beauty pageant titleholder. Early life Cash was born in Memphis, Tennessee. Pageantry Cash was crowned Miss Tennessee 1986 and later Miss America 1987, capturing prelimin ...

(born 1965) —

Miss America Miss America is an annual competition that is open to women from the United States between the ages of 17 and 25. Originating in 1921 as a "bathing beauty revue", the contest is now judged on competitors' talent performances and interviews. As ...

1987 * Rosanne Cash (born 1955) — singer-songwriter *

Cy Casper Charles Andrew "Cy" Casper (May 28, 1912 – March 7, 1968) was an American football back for the Green Bay Packers, St. Louis Gunners, and Pittsburgh Pirates of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for TCU. Biogr ...

(1912–1968) — NFL player for the

Green Bay Packers The Green Bay Packers are a professional American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The Packers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. It ...

St. Louis Gunners The St. Louis Gunners were an independent professional football team based in St. Louis, Missouri, that played the last three games of the 1934 National Football League season, replacing the Cincinnati Reds on the league schedule after the Reds' ...

, and

Pittsburgh Pirates The Pittsburgh Pirates are an American professional baseball team based in Pittsburgh. The Pirates compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) Central division. Founded as part of the American Associati ...

Dave Catching David Catching (born June 7, 1961) is an American musician from Memphis, Tennessee. He is a founding member of the California stoner rock band earthlings?, a touring member of Eagles of Death Metal and the co-founder of the Rancho De La Luna re ...

(born 1961) — musician
Kacy Chambers
(born 1979) — children's author * Alex Chilton (1950–2010) — musician *

NLE Choppa Bryson Lashun Potts (born November 1, 2002), known professionally as NLE Choppa (previously YNR Choppa), is an American rapper from Memphis, Tennessee. He rose to fame with his 2019 single " Shotta Flow", which was certified platinum by the RIAA ...

— rapper *

Mary Church Terrell Mary Church Terrell (born Mary Eliza Church; September 23, 1863 – July 24, 1954) was one of the first African-American women to earn a college degree, and became known as a national activist for civil rights and suffrage. She taught in the Lati ...

– civil and women's rights activist * Robert Reed Church Sr. (1839–1912) — entrepreneur and philanthropist * Ian Clark (born 1991) — basketball player *

Philip Claypool Philip Kennard Claypool (born in Memphis, Tennessee) is an American country music artist. Between 1995 and 1999, he recorded two studio albums for the Curb Records label (1995's ''A Circus Leaving Town'' and 1999's ''Perfect World''), in additio ...

— musician * Jack Clement — singer, songwriter, and record and film producer *

Antonius Cleveland Antonius Cleveland (born February 2, 1994) is an American professional basketball player for the Hapoel Eilat of the Israeli Basketball Premier League. He played college basketball at Southeast Missouri State University. Early life and high s ...

(born 1994) - basketball player in the

Israeli Basketball Premier League Ligat HaAl ( he, ליגת העל, lit., ''Supreme League or Premier League''), or the Israeli Basketball Premier League, is the top-tier level league of professional sports, professional competition in Israeli sports club, club basketball, making ...

* Lashundra Trenyce Cobbin (born 1980) — ''

American Idol ''American Idol'' is an American singing competition television series created by Simon Fuller, produced by Fremantle North America and 19 Entertainment, and distributed by Fremantle North America. It aired on Fox from June 11, 2002, to Ap ...

'' contestant *

Steve Cohen Steve, Steven or Stephen Cohen may refer to: Sportspeople * Stephan Cohen (born 1971), French pocket billiards player * Steve Cohen (gymnast) (born 1946), American Olympic gymnast *Steve Cohen (judoka) (born 1955), American judoka and Olympian *Ste ...

(born 1949) — politician *

Richard Colbert Richard Colbert is an American former prolific Email spam, spammer based in Miami, Florida, Miami, Florida, in an area known as "Spam Beach". He would obtain clients' email addresses by searching AOL member profiles for any including phrases su ...

— rapper known as

iLoveMemphis Richard Maurice Colbert (born March 29, 1993), better known by his stage name iLoveMemphis, or iHeartMemphis, is an American rapper from Memphis, Tennessee. He is best known for his debut single "Hit the Quan" which peaked at number 15 on the Bi ...

or iHeartMemphis * Olivia Cole (1942–2018) — actress *

George Coleman George Edward Coleman (born March 8, 1935) is an American jazz saxophonist known for his work with Miles Davis and Herbie Hancock in the 1960s. In 2015, he was named an NEA Jazz Master. Early life Coleman was born in Memphis, Tennessee. He was ...

(born 1935) — musician * Barron Collier (1873–1939) — businessman * Jazzie Collins (1958–2013) — African American trans woman activist and community organizer * John Cooper (born 1975) — musician, Skillet *

Zack Cozart Zachary Warren Cozart (born August 12, 1985) is an American former professional baseball shortstop. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Cincinnati Reds and Los Angeles Angels. The Reds selected Cozart in the second round of the 200 ...

— baseball shortstop and third baseman for the San Francisco Giants *

Hank Crawford Bennie Ross "Hank" Crawford, Jr. (December 21, 1934 – January 29, 2009) was an American Alto saxophone, alto saxophonist, arranger and songwriter whose genres ranged from Rhythm and blues, R&B, hard bop, jazz-funk, and soul jazz. Crawford was ...

(1934–2009) — musician *

Steve Cropper Steven Lee Cropper (born October 21, 1941), sometimes known as "The Colonel", is an American guitarist, songwriter and record producer. He is the guitarist of the Stax Records house band, Booker T. & the M.G.'s, which backed artists such as Ot ...

(born 1941) — musician, Booker T. and the M.G.'s and

The Blues Brothers The Blues Brothers are an American blues and soul revivalist band founded in 1978 by comedians Dan Aykroyd and John Belushi as part of a musical sketch on ''Saturday Night Live''. Belushi and Aykroyd fronted the band, in character, respective ...

Edward H. Crump Edward Hull "Boss" Crump Jr. (October 2, 1874 – October 16, 1954) was an American politician from Memphis, Tennessee. Representing the Democratic Party, he was the dominant force in the city's politics for most of the first half of the 20th ...

(1874–1954) — political boss and

U.S. Representative The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they c ...

* Randy Culpepper (born 1989) — basketball player

D

* Chastity Daniels (born 1978) — musician *

Janette Davis Dorothy Janette Marguerite Davis (1916–2005) was a 20th-century American pop singer, noted particularly for her work for Arthur Godfrey. Biography Davis was born November 2, 1916, in Memphis, Tennessee, the eldest of eight children. Her full na ...

(1916–2005) — singer * Rick Dees (born 1950) — radio personality *

Nancy Denson Nancy Denson is an American politician who served as mayor of U.S. city of Athens, Georgia, from 2011 to 2019. First elected mayor in 2010 and re-elected in 2014, Denson has been in public service since 1980 starting as an Athens City Council memb ...

— mayor of

Athens, Georgia Athens, officially Athens–Clarke County, is a consolidated city-county and college town in the U.S. state of Georgia. Athens lies about northeast of downtown Atlanta, and is a satellite city of the capital. The University of Georgia, the sta ...

Duke Deuce Patavious Lashun Isom (born May 1, 1992), better known by his stage name Duke Deuce, is an American rapper from Memphis, Tennessee. Currently signed to Quality Control Music, he is best known for his song "Crunk Ain't Dead", which received a remix ...

— rapper *

Eric Jerome Dickey Eric Jerome Dickey (July 7, 1961January 3, 2021) was an American author. He wrote several crime novels involving grifters, ex cons, and assassins, the latter novels having more diverse settings, moving from Los Angeles to the United Kingdom to ...

(1961–2021) — author * Jim Dickinson (1941–2009) — musician; producer *

Peter C. Doherty Peter Charles Doherty (born 15 October 1940) is an Australian immunologist and Nobel laureate. He received the Albert Lasker Award for Basic Medical Research in 1995, the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine jointly with Rolf M. Zinkerna ...

(born 1940) — Nobel laureate; scientist at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital * Shannen Doherty (born 1971) — actress known for '' Beverly Hills, 90210'' * Young Dolph (1985-2021) — rapper (grew up in Memphis) *

Johnny Dowd Johnny Dowd (born March 29, 1948, in Fort Worth, Texas) is an American alternative country musician from Ithaca, New York. Typical of his style are experimental, noisy breaks in his songs and strong gothic (in the sense of dark and gloomy) elem ...

(born 1948) — musician *

Marcia Van Dresser Marcia Van Dresser (1877 – July 11, 1937) was an American operatic soprano, recitalist and actress. She was sometimes referred to as a mezzo-soprano. Biography Van Dresser spent her early life in Memphis and later studied for opera with Hermine ...

(1877–1937) — operatic soprano, recitalist and actress * Drumma Boy (born 1983) — hip hop music producer * William B. Dunavant (born 1932) — businessman, CEO of Dunavant Enterprises *

Donald "Duck" Dunn Donald "Duck" Dunn (November 24, 1941 – May 13, 2012) was an American bass guitarist, session musician, record producer, and songwriter. Dunn was notable for his 1960s recordings with Booker T. & the M.G.'s and as a session bassist for Stax Rec ...

(1941–2012) — musician in the

Rock and Roll Hall of Fame The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (RRHOF), sometimes simply referred to as the Rock Hall, is a museum A museum ( ; plural museums or, rarely, musea) is a building or institution that cares for and displays a collection of artifacts and othe ...

E

Johanna Edwards Johanna Edwards (born February 27, 1978) is a bestselling American novelist and award-winning entertainment journalist. Her books have been translated into various languages, and are sold all over the world. Biography Born in Memphis, Tenness ...

(born 1978) — author *

William Eggleston William Eggleston (born July 27, 1939) is an American photographer. He is widely credited with increasing recognition for color photography as a legitimate artistic medium. Eggleston's books include ''William Eggleston's Guide'' (1976) and ''The ...

(born 1939) — photographer *

Egypt Central Egypt Central is an American alternative metal band from Memphis, Tennessee. History Formation and debut album (2002–2010) Egypt Central was formed on October 2, 2002. Based in Memphis and named after one of its roads. They wrote and record ...

(2002–2014) — band * Eightball & MJG (established in 1991) — musicians

F

Ben Ferguson Benjamin Grant Ferguson (born August 28, 1981) is an American cable television talk show host and a radio talk show host on 600WREC/Memphis, TN. His radio show originates from his home in Texas. His nationally syndicated radio show, ''The Ben F ...

— nationally syndicated

talk radio Talk radio is a radio format containing discussion about topical issues and consisting entirely or almost entirely of original spoken word content rather than outside music. Most shows are regularly hosted by a single individual, and often featur ...

host *

Paul Finebaum Paul Finebaum is an American sports author, former columnist, and television-radio personality. His primary focus is sports, particularly those in the Southeast. After many years as a reporter, columnist, and sports-talk radio host in the Birmin ...

— television and radio sports-talk host * Finesse2tymes — rapper * Marjorie Finlay — opera singer and television personality * Veronica Finn — pop singer of now-disbanded group

Innosense Innosense was an American girl group that were together from 1997 to 2003. History The band was managed by Lou Pearlman and Lynn Harless (mother of Justin Timberlake). The original members were Danay Ferrer, Britney Spears, Mandy Ashford, Nikki ...

Ric Flair Richard Morgan Fliehr (born February 25, 1949), known professionally as Ric Flair, is an American professional wrestler. Regarded by multiple peers and journalists as the greatest professional wrestler of all time, Flair has had a career spanni ...

— professional wrestler (adopted at six weeks; raised in

Minnesota Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minnesota is home to western prairies, now given over to ...

) * Rey Flemings — music

commissioner A commissioner (commonly abbreviated as Comm'r) is, in principle, a member of a commission or an individual who has been given a commission (official charge or authority to do something). In practice, the title of commissioner has evolved to in ...

Avron Fogelman Avron B. Fogelman (born March 1, 1940) is an American businessman and real estate developer. He was a former part owner of the Major League Baseball's Kansas City Royals as well as several Memphis-based sports teams.Jim MasilaFogelman boxes up sp ...

— former owner of

Kansas City Royals The Kansas City Royals are an American professional baseball team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Royals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. The team was founded as an expans ...

and various Memphis-based sports teams; namesake of southeastern leg of Interstate 240 * Shelby Foote — author *

George L. Forbes George Lawrence Forbes (born April 4, 1931) is an American politician of the Democratic Party. From 1974 to 1989, Forbes served as president of the Cleveland City Council. He is the former President of the Cleveland NAACP and is semi-retired fr ...

— Cleveland City Council President, President of the Cleveland

NAACP The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) is a civil rights organization in the United States, formed in 1909 as an interracial endeavor to advance justice for African Americans by a group including W. E.&nb ...

* Clementine Ford — actress *

Harold Ford Jr. Harold Eugene Ford Jr. (born May 11, 1970) is an American financial managing director, pundit, author, and former U.S. Congressman who served from 1997–2007 in the United States House of Representatives as a member of the Democratic Party f ...

— politician * Jacob Ford — NFL player, Tennessee Titans * Abe Fortas — politician and

U.S. Supreme Court The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that involve a point o ...

justice * Cary Fowler — agriculturalist, established the Svalbard Global Seed Vault *

Morgan Jon Fox Morgan Jon Fox (born June 19, 1979) is an American film director and screenwriter from Memphis, Tennessee. Named one of the "25 new faces of Independent Film” by Filmmaker Magazine, he has directed four feature films, ''Blue Citrus Hearts'' (2 ...

— film director *

Aretha Franklin Aretha Louise Franklin ( ; March 25, 1942 – August 16, 2018) was an American singer, songwriter and pianist. Referred to as the " Queen of Soul", she has twice been placed ninth in ''Rolling Stone''s "100 Greatest Artists of All Time". With ...

(1942–2018) — singer in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame * Frayser Boy — Academy Award-winning rapper * Nelson Frazier Jr. — wrestler *

Morgan Freeman Morgan Freeman (born June 1, 1937) is an American actor, director, and narrator. He is known for his distinctive deep voice and various roles in a wide variety of film genres. Throughout his career spanning over five decades, he has received ...

— Academy Award-winning actor *

Judy Freudberg Judith Freudberg (July 12, 1949 – June 10, 2012) was an American TV and film writer. She was born in Memphis, Tennessee, and graduated from Syracuse University with a degree in speech and dramatic arts. In 1971, she started working on ''Sesame ...

— writer * John Fry — music producer, engineer, founder of

Ardent Studios Ardent Studios is an American recording studio located in Memphis, Tennessee, United States. History Ardent Studios was founded by John Fry and were initially a studio in his family's garage, where he recorded his first 45s for the Arden ...

Charlie Feathers Charles Arthur Feathers (June 12, 1932 – August 29, 1998) was an American musician most associated with the rockabilly scene of the 1950s. Although not initially recognized for his contributions to rockabilly, over time his presence would bec ...

, rockabilly musician, died here in 1998

G

David Galloway (writer) David Darryl Galloway (born 5 May 1937 – 28 December 2019) was an American novelist, curator, journalist and academic. A graduate of Harvard University, he was the founding curator of the Tehran Museum of Contemporary Art, a longtime contribu ...

— novelist, international art curator, journalist and academic * Gangsta Boo(Born: August 7,1979-January 1,2023) — rapper *

TM Garret TM Garret Schmid (born September 28, 1975 as Achim Schmid) publicly known as TM Garret, is a German-American author, producer, filmmaker, marketing expert, radio personality, human rights activist and founder of C.H.A.N.G.E, a Memphis-based non-p ...

— author, producer, filmmaker, radio personality, activist *

The Gentrys The Gentrys were an American band of the 1960s and early 1970s, best known for their 1965 hit " Keep on Dancing". A cover by the Bay City Rollers charted No. 9 in the UK in 1971. Follow-up singles charted outside of the Top 40: " Every Day I ...

— 1960s rock band with Larry Raspberry and Larry Wall *

Cassietta George Cassietta George (January 23, 1929 – January 3, 1995) was an American gospel vocalist, and composer for many of the songs sung by The Caravans. George was a member of Queen of Gospel Albertina Walker's The Caravans, the most popular touring gos ...

— gospel singer and composer *

David Gest David Alan Gest (May 11, 1953 – April 12, 2016) was an American producer and television personality. Gest founded the American Cinema Awards Foundation in 1983. He produced the television special '' Michael Jackson: 30th Anniversary Celebrati ...

— event and concert producer *

Lee Giles Clyde Lee Giles is an American computer scientist and the David Reese Professor at the College of Information Sciences and Technology at the Pennsylvania State University. He is also Graduate Faculty Professor of Computer Science and Engineering, ...

— academic and computer scientist *

Key Glock Markeyvius LaShun Cathey (born August 3, 1997), better known by his stage name Key Glock, is an American rapper and songwriter from Memphis, Tennessee. A protégé of Young Dolph, he rose to fame in 2017 with his mixtape ''Glock Season''. He is s ...

— rapper *

GloRilla Gloria Hallelujah Woods (born July 28, 1999), known professionally as GloRilla, is an American rapper from Memphis, Tennessee. She rose to prominence after releasing her 2022 song " F.N.F. (Let's Go)" (with Hitkidd), which was nominated for Best ...

— rapper *

Ginnifer Goodwin Jennifer Michelle "Ginnifer" Goodwin (born May 22, 1978) is an American actress. She is known for her starring role as Margene Heffman in the HBO drama series ''Big Love'' (2006–2011) and Snow White / Mary Margaret Blanchard in the ABC fanta ...

— actress *

Robert Gordon Robert Gordon may refer to: Entertainment * Robert Gordon (actor) (1895–1971), silent-film actor * Robert Gordon (director) (1913–1990), American director * Robert Gordon (singer) (1947–2022), American rockabilly singer * Robert Gordon (scr ...

— filmmaker and writer *

Clare Grant Clare Camille Johnson (born August 23, 1979), known professionally as Clare Grant, is an American actress, model and producer. She co-founded Team Unicorn, which has produced several web series and music video parodies including " Geek and Gamer ...

— actress *

Al Green Albert Leornes Greene (born April 13, 1946), better known as Al Green, is an American singer, songwriter, pastor and record producer best known for recording a series of soul hit singles in the early 1970s, including " Take Me to the River", ...

— singer, musician in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame *

Larkin Grimm Larkin Grimm (born September 18, 1981) is an American singer-songwriter and musician based in New York City. She was born in Memphis, Tennessee. Early life and career At age 20 Grimm dropped out of Yale University and moved to Alaska, where sh ...

— folk singer * Logan Guleff — ''

MasterChef Junior ''MasterChef Junior'' is an American cooking competition involving children from the ages of 8–13 that premiered on Fox on September 27, 2013. It is based on the format of the British series '' Junior MasterChef''. On March 5, 2014, ''Maste ...

'' Season 2 winner * Gyft — rapper signed to E1 Music, known for his single "They Just Don't Know"

H

Lucy Hale Karen Lucille Hale (born June 14, 1989) is an American actress, singer, and television personality. She has received various accolades, including seven Teen Choice Awards (the most for any actress in a single series), a Gracie Award, a People's ...

— singer and actress *

Richard Halliburton Richard Halliburton (January 9, 1900 – Declared death in absentia, presumed dead after March 24, 1939) was an American travel writing, travel writer and adventurer who swam the length of the Panama Canal and paid the lowest toll in its hi ...

— explorer and author * George Hamilton — Golden Globe Award-winning actor *

Anne Haney Anne Ryan Haney ( Thomas; March 4, 1934 – May 26, 2001) was an American stage and screen actress. She was best known for her roles in ''Mrs. Doubtfire'' and ''Liar Liar'', as well as Alberta Meechum on the sitcom ''Mama's Family''. Early yea ...

— actress *

W.C. Handy William Christopher Handy (November 16, 1873 – March 28, 1958) was an American composer and musician who referred to himself as the Father of the Blues. Handy was one of the most influential songwriters in the United States. One of many musici ...

— musician * Rebecca Hanover — (B.A. English/creative writing 2001), television writer, winner of

Daytime Emmy Award The Daytime Emmy Awards, or Daytime Emmys, are part of the extensive range of Emmy Awards for artistic and technical merit for the American television industry. Bestowed by the New York–based National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences ...

for her work on

Guiding Light ''Guiding Light'' (known as ''The Guiding Light'' before 1975) is an American radio and television soap opera. It is listed in ''Guinness World Records'' as the third longest-running drama in television in American history. ''Guiding Light'' a ...

Anfernee "Penny" Hardaway Anfernee Deon "Penny" Hardaway (born July 18, 1971) is an American college basketball coach and former professional player who is the head coach of the Memphis Tigers men's basketball team in the American Athletic Conference (AAC). Hardaway pla ...

— former NBA player, NCAA Basketball coach *

E. Hunter Harrison Ewing Hunter Harrison (November 7, 1944 – December 16, 2017) was a railway executive who served as the CEO of Illinois Central Railroad (IC), Canadian National Railway (CN), Canadian Pacific Railway (CP), and CSX Corporation. He died on Decemb ...

— CEO of

Canadian Pacific Railway The Canadian Pacific Railway (french: Chemin de fer Canadien Pacifique) , also known simply as CPR or Canadian Pacific and formerly as CP Rail (1968–1996), is a Canadian Class I railway incorporated in 1881. The railway is owned by Canadi ...

Jimmy Hart James Ray Hart (born January 1, 1944) is an American professional wrestling manager, executive, composer, and musician currently signed with WWE in a Legends deal. He is best known for his work in the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) and World ...

— singer,

pro wrestling Professional wrestling is a form of theater that revolves around staged wrestling matches. The mock combat is performed in a ring similar to the kind used in boxing, and the dramatic aspects of pro wrestling may be performed both in the ring o ...

personality *

Lori Harvey Lori Harvey (born January 13, 1997) is an American model, entrepreneur, and socialite. She is the daughter of Marjorie Harvey (née Bridges) and the adoptive daughter of comedian Steve Harvey. She was signed to IMG Models Management agency in the ...

— model * Jon Hassell — musician *

Isaac Hayes Isaac Lee Hayes Jr. (August 20, 1942 – August 10, 2008) was an American singer, actor, songwriter, and composer. He was one of the creative forces behind the Southern soul music label Stax Records, where he served both as an in-house songwri ...

— actor and

Academy Award The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...

-winning musician *

Austin Hollins Austin Hollins (born November 8, 1991) is an American professional basketball player for Maccabi Tel Aviv of the Israeli Basketball Premier League and the EuroLeague. He played college basketball for the University of Minnesota. Early life and h ...

(born 1991) - basketball player for Maccabi Tel Aviv of the

Olivia Holt Olivia Hastings Holt (born August 5, 1997) is an American actress and singer. She starred in the Disney XD series ''Kickin' It'', Disney Channel Original Movie '' Girl vs. Monster'', and the Disney Channel Original Series '' I Didn't Do It''. Fr ...

— singer and actress *

John Lee Hooker John Lee Hooker (August 22, 1912 or 1917 – June 21, 2001) was an American blues singer, songwriter, and guitarist. The son of a sharecropper, he rose to prominence performing an electric guitar-style adaptation of Delta blues. Hooker often ...

—

blues Blues is a music genre and musical form which originated in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues incorporated spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts, chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads from the Afr ...

musician * Benjamin L. Hooks – civil rights activist and executive director of the NAACP * Julia Britton Hooks – musician and civil rights activist * Howlin' Wolf — blues musician in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame * Lewis C. Hudson — brigadier general in the Marine Corps, Navy Cross recipient *

John Hulse John Hulse (15 March 1708 – 14 December 1790) was an English clergyman. He is now known mainly as the founder of the series of Hulsean Lectures at the University of Cambridge. Early life John Hulse was born at Middlewich, in Cheshire, the elde ...

— college professor *

Andy Hummel John Andrew Hummel (January 26, 1951 – July 19, 2010) was an American bassist and singer-songwriter best known as the bass player of Big Star.

— musician *

Alberta Hunter Alberta Hunter (April 1, 1895 – October 17, 1984) was an American jazz and blues singer and songwriter from the early 1920s to the late 1950s. After twenty years of working as a nurse, Hunter resumed her singing career in 1977. Early life Hu ...

— singer

I

Ingram Hill Ingram Hill is an American rock music, rock band from Memphis, Tennessee, Memphis, Tennessee, United States. History In the summer of 2000, after attending the University of Memphis, childhood friends Justin Moore (lead vocals, rhythm guitar) an ...

— band

J

Al Jackson Jr. Albert J. Jackson Jr. (November 27, 1935 – October 1, 1975) was an American drummer, producer, and songwriter. He was a founding member of Booker T. & the M.G.'s, a group of session musicians who worked for Stax Records and produced their ...

— musician *

Quinton "Rampage" Jackson Quinton "Rampage" Jackson (born June 20, 1978) is an American mixed martial artist, actor and former professional wrestler, who most recently fought in the Bellator MMA. He is a former UFC Light Heavyweight Champion and unified the Pride Middle ...

—

mixed martial arts Mixed martial arts (MMA), sometimes referred to as cage fighting, no holds barred (NHB), and ultimate fighting, and originally referred to as Vale Tudo is a full-contact combat sport based on striking, grappling and ground fighting, inc ...

fighter * Raji Jallepalli — Indian-born chef and restaurateur * Antonio D. James (born 1985) — filmmaker; producer * Jimi Jamison — singer, songwriter *

Roland Janes Roland E. Janes (August 20, 1933 – October 18, 2013) was an American rockabilly guitarist and record producer, who was active at Sun Records between 1956 and 1963. Biography He was born in Brookings, Clay County, Arkansas, the second youngest in ...

— musician; producer * Josh Jasper — All-American college football

placekicker Placekicker, or simply kicker (PK or K), is the player in gridiron football who is responsible for the kicking duties of field goals and extra points. In many cases, the placekicker also serves as the team's kickoff specialist or punter. Spe ...

John Wayles Jefferson John Wayles Jefferson (born John Wayles Hemings; May 8, 1835June 12, 1892), was an American businessman and Union Army officer in the American Civil War. He is believed to be a grandson of Thomas Jefferson; his paternal grandmother is Sarah (Sa ...

— mixed-race grandson of

Thomas Jefferson Thomas Jefferson (April 13, 1743 – July 4, 1826) was an American statesman, diplomat, lawyer, architect, philosopher, and Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father who served as the third president of the United States from 18 ...

and Sally Hemings, colonel in the

Union Army During the American Civil War, the Union Army, also known as the Federal Army and the Northern Army, referring to the United States Army, was the land force that fought to preserve the Union (American Civil War), Union of the collective U.S. st ...

, cotton broker in Memphis after the Civil War * Michael Jeter — actor * Ashley Jones — actress * Booker T. Jones — musician * Leslie Jones — actress known for ''Saturday Night Live'' and ''Ghostbusters'' *

Mary Harris "Mother" Jones Mary G. Harris Jones (1837 (baptized) – November 30, 1930), known as Mother Jones from 1897 onwards, was an Irish-born American schoolteacher and dressmaker who became a prominent union organizer, community organizer, and activist. She h ...

— prominent labor and community organizer * Rich Jones (born 1946) — basketball player * Juicy J — rapper *

Rob Jungklas Rob Jungklas is an American, Memphis, Tennessee-based musician, singer and songwriter. Jungklas worked in the Memphis-based music circuit for 15 years before signing a deal with Manhattan Records and releasing the album ''Closer to the Flame'' ...

— musician

K

The Kat Stacy Lee Carter (born September 29, 1970) is an American retired professional wrestling valet and professional wrestler. She is best known for her tenure in the World Wrestling Federation from August 1999 to February 2001 under the ring names ...

— professional wrestler *

K. Michelle Kimberly Michelle Pate (born March 4, 1982) is an American singer, actress, and television personality. She is most known from VH1's '' Love & Hip Hop: Atlanta'' and after appearing as a regular cast member for two seasons on the reality televi ...

— musician * Florence Kahn — early

Ibsen Henrik Johan Ibsen (; ; 20 March 1828 – 23 May 1906) was a Norwegian playwright and theatre director. As one of the founders of modernism in theatre, Ibsen is often referred to as "the father of realism" and one of the most influential playw ...

actress and wife of

Max Beerbohm Sir Henry Maximilian Beerbohm (24 August 1872 – 20 May 1956) was an English essayist, parodist and caricaturist under the signature Max. He first became known in the 1890s as a dandy and a humorist. He was the drama critic for the '' Saturday ...

* Francis M. Kneeland — early African American physician who located her practice on Beale Street. * Tay Keith — record producer *

— rapper, cousin to Young Dolph * George "Machine Gun" Kelly —

Great Depression The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...

-era bank robber and kidnapper * Larry Kenon — basketball player, led

Memphis State } The University of Memphis (UofM) is a public research university in Memphis, Tennessee. Founded in 1912, the university has an enrollment of more than 22,000 students. The university maintains the Herff College of Engineering, the Center for Ea ...

to 1973 NCAA title game * Carlton W. Kent — Sergeant Major of the Marine Corps * Albert King — blues musician *

B.B. King Riley B. King (September 16, 1925 – May 14, 2015), known professionally as B.B. King, was an American blues singer-songwriter, guitarist, and record producer. He introduced a sophisticated style of soloing based on fluid string bending, shimm ...

— blues musician, Rock and Roll Hall of Fame *

Betty Klepper Elizabeth Lee "Betty" Klepper (1936 – 2018) was an American agronomic scientist from Memphis, Tennessee. Life In 1954 Klepper began her university education at Vanderbilt University.Throughout her undergraduate years, she drifted from math ...

- scientist

L

Jerry Lee Lewis @ Credicard Hall 01 (cropped)

* Linda Thompson — singer, lyricist *

Snooky Lanson Roy Landman (March 27, 1914 – July 2, 1990),DeLong, Thomas A. (1996). ''Radio Stars: An Illustrated Biographical Dictionary of 953 Performers, 1920 through 1960''. McFarland & Company, Inc. . P. 159. better known as Snooky Lanson, was an Ame ...

— singer and television personality *

Chuck Lanza Charles Louis Lanza (born September 20, 1964) is a former American football Center (gridiron football), center who played two seasons with the Pittsburgh Steelers of the National Football League (NFL). He was drafted by the Pittsburgh Steelers in ...

—

player *

Brian Lawler Brian Christopher Lawler (January 10, 1972 – July 29, 2018) was an American professional wrestler. He is best remembered for his career in the World Wrestling Federation (now WWE), where he performed as "Too Sexy" Brian Christopher and Grand M ...

—

professional wrestler Professional wrestling is a form of theater that revolves around staged wrestling matches. The mock combat is performed in a ring similar to the kind used in boxing, and the dramatic aspects of pro wrestling may be performed both in the ring or ...

Jerry Lawler Jerry O'Neil Lawler (born November 29, 1949), better known as Jerry "The King" Lawler, is an American color commentator and professional wrestler. He is currently signed to WWE, although he has not performed as a full-time commentator since Apr ...

— professional wrestler * Arthur Lee (1945–2006) — singer-songwriter *

Fannie Lewis Fannie Lewis (June 6, 1926 – August 11, 2008) was Cleveland, Ohio's longest-serving councilwoman and civil rights activist, best known for the Fannie Lewis Law requiring government contracts in Cleveland provide for employment of local worke ...

— Cleveland Ohio's longest serving councilwoman * Furry Lewis — blues musician *

Jerry Lee Lewis Jerry Lee Lewis (September 29, 1935October 28, 2022) was an American singer, songwriter and pianist. Nicknamed "The Killer", he was described as "rock & roll's first great wild man". A pioneer of rock and roll and rockabilly music, Lewis made ...

— musician in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame * Eddie Lightfoot — American minstrel dancer * Alan Lightman — novelist and

physicist A physicist is a scientist who specializes in the field of physics, which encompasses the interactions of matter and energy at all length and time scales in the physical universe. Physicists generally are interested in the root or ultimate caus ...

Lil Wyte Patrick Dhane Lanshaw (born October 6, 1982), better known by his stage name Lil Wyte, is an American rapper. He is a member of the rap collective Hypnotize Minds and owner of the independent label Wyte Music. Early life Growing up in Frayse ...

— rapper * Booker Little — musician * Charles Lloyd — musician * Andre Lott — football player *

Lord T & Eloise Lord T & Eloise are a crunk rap group from Memphis, Tennessee. Lord T dresses as an 18th-century aristocrat, while Eloise wears a tuxedo and sported a "24-karat" gold skin. The self-proclaimed "intergalactic time travelers" and "horsemen of the ...

— musicians * Matt Lucas — singer-songwriter, drummer * Jimmie Lunceford — musician *

Herb Lusk Herbert H. Lusk (February 19, 1953 – September 19, 2022) was an American professional American football, football player who was a running back for three seasons in the National Football League (NFL). He played for the Philadelphia Eagles from ...

player and clergyman

M

Jim Mabry Jim Mabry (born 1966) is an American football player. He played on both offensive line and defensive line at Briarcrest Christian School in Memphis, Tennessee, from 1981-1985. He then attended the University of Arkansas and was an offensive linema ...

— Arkansas Razorbacks football All-American * Bill Madlock (born 1951) — Major League Baseball player * Terry Manning — music producer, photographer *

Nick Marable Nick Marable (born May 7, 1987) of Collierville, Tennessee, is an American former freestyle wrestler for Sunkist Kids Wrestling Club. He represented the United States at the 2014 World Wrestling Championships. Marable later served as the assistan ...

—

freestyle wrestler Freestyle wrestling is a style of wrestling originated from Great Britain and the United States. Along with Greco-Roman, it is one of the two styles of wrestling contested in the Olympic Games. American high school and men's college wrestling i ...

who competed for USA's national team * The Mar-Keys — musicians * Wink Martindale — radio and television personality * Tim McCarver — professional baseball player and broadcaster *

Hilton McConnico Joseph Hilton McConnico (13 May 1943 – 29 January 2018) was a designer and artist who was born in Memphis, Tennessee and lived and worked in Paris from 1965. Biography Hilton McConnico was a self-taught fashion designer. He officially launched h ...

— designer and artist *

Kenneth D. McKellar Kenneth Douglas McKellar (January 29, 1869October 25, 1957) was an American politician from Tennessee who served as a United States Representative from 1911 until 1917 and as a United States Senator from 1917 until 1953. A Democrat, he served lo ...

— long-serving

U.S. Senator The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and powe ...

The Memphis Horns The Memphis Horns were an American horn section, made famous by their many appearances on Stax Records. The duo consisted of Wayne Jackson (November 24, 1941 – June 21, 2016) on trumpet and Andrew Love (November 21, 1941 - April 12, 2012) on ...

— musicians * Memphis Minnie — blues singer *

Memphis Slim John Len Chatman (September 3, 1915 – February 24, 1988), known professionally as Memphis Slim, was an American blues pianist, singer, and composer. He led a series of bands that, reflecting the popular appeal of jump blues, included saxopho ...

— musician *

Shaun Micheel Shaun Carl Micheel (born January 5, 1969) is an American professional golfer who is best known for his surprise victory at the 2003 PGA Championship. Career Micheel was born in Orlando, Florida. He attended Christian Brothers High School in Memp ...

— professional golfer * Cary Middlecoff — professional golfer, Masters and U.S. Open champion *

Ryan Miller Ryan Dean Miller (born July 17, 1980) is an American former ice hockey goaltender who played 18 seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) mostly for the Buffalo Sabres. Miller was drafted 138th overall by the Buffalo Sabres in the 1999 NHL E ...

— professional hockey player * Lola Mitchell — musician * Willie Mitchell — musician and music producer *

Chips Moman Lincoln Wayne "Chips" Moman (June 12, 1937 – June 13, 2016) was an American record producer, guitarist, and songwriter. He is known for working in R&B, pop music and country music, operating American Sound Studios and producing hit albums lik ...

— music producer *

Sputnik Monroe Roscoe Monroe Brumbaugh (born Rosco Monroe Merrick; December 18, 1928 – November 3, 2006) better known by his ring name Sputnik Monroe, was an American professional wrestler and civil rights activist. He was a headliner in many territories, and ...

— professional wrestler * Lecrae Moore — musician and music executive * Scotty Moore — guitarist * Allen B. Morgan Jr. — businessman, founded

Morgan Keegan Raymond James , Morgan Keegan is the name of the former Morgan Keegan & Co. business units acquired by Raymond James Financial on April 2, 2012. The combined firms’ subsidiaries engage primarily in investment and financial planning, investment ...

* Haley Morris-Cafiero — photographer *

Wendy Moten Wendy Moten (born November 22, 1964) is an American jazz singer from Tennessee. Born in Memphis and based in Nashville, Moten has had a successful career in music, including several major-label solo records, some international hit songs, and a ...

— singer * Steven J. Mulroy — District Attorney General, law professor *

David W. Mullins Jr. David Wiley Mullins Jr. (April 28, 1946 - February 26, 2018) was an American economist who served as the 14th Vice Chair of the Federal Reserve from 1991 to 1994. He previously served as an Under Secretary of the Treasury for Domestic Finance in ...

— former Vice Chairman of the

Federal Reserve The Federal Reserve System (often shortened to the Federal Reserve, or simply the Fed) is the central banking system of the United States of America. It was created on December 23, 1913, with the enactment of the Federal Reserve Act, after a ...

Charlie Musselwhite Charles Douglas Musselwhite (born January 31, 1944) is an American electric blues harmonica player and bandleader, one of the white bluesmen who came to prominence, along with Mike Bloomfield, Paul Butterfield, and Elvin Bishop, as a pivotal f ...

— blues musician * Zach Myers — lead guitarist for rock band Shinedown

N

* Hal Needham (1931–2013) – stuntman, film director, actor and writer * Elise Neal (born 1966) — actress * Pat and Gina Neely — celebrity chefs on Food Network * Latrivia S. Nelson (born 1980) — author *

Johnny Neumann Carl John Neumann (September 11, 1950 – April 23, 2019), nicknamed "Johnny Reb", was an American professional basketball player and coach. At 6'6" and 200 pounds, he played at the shooting guard and small forward positions. High school and col ...

(1950–2019) — basketball player and coach *

Phineas Newborn Jr. Phineas Newborn Jr. (December 14, 1931 – May 26, 1989) was an American jazz pianist, whose principal influences were Art Tatum, Oscar Peterson, and Bud Powell. Biography Newborn was born in Whiteville, Tennessee, and came from a musical famil ...

(1931–1989) — jazz musician *

Nights Like These Nights Like These is an American heavy metal music, metal band from Memphis, Tennessee, Memphis, Tennessee, United States, heavily influenced by death metal and sludge metal. Biography In 2006, Nights Like These released their debut, ''The F ...

— Victory Records

metalcore Metalcore (also known as metallic hardcore) is a fusion music genre that combines elements of extreme metal and hardcore punk. As with other styles blending metal and hardcore, such as crust punk and grindcore, metalcore is noted for its use of ...

band

O

* Michael Oher — NFL player, subject of '' The Blind Side'' *

Roy Orbison Roy Kelton Orbison (April 23, 1936 – December 6, 1988) was an American singer, songwriter, and musician known for his impassioned singing style, complex song structures, and dark, emotional ballads. His music was described by critics as ...

— singer

P

Art Pennington Arthur David "Superman" Pennington (May 18, 1923 – January 4, 2017) was an all-star Negro league baseball player in the 1940s. Pennington played for the Chicago American Giants (1941–1945, 1950), the Birmingham Black Barons (1945), as well a ...

(born 1923-2017) — all-star negro league baseball player *

Woody Paige Woodrow Wilson Paige, Jr. (born June 27, 1946) is a sports columnist for '' The Gazette'', author, and a regular panelist on the ESPN sports- talk program ''Around the Horn''. He was a columnist for the ''Denver Post'' for 35 years, and co-host ...

(born 1946) — sportswriter, panelist on

ESPN ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). The ...

's '' Around the Horn'' *

Hermes Pan Hermes Pan (born Hermes Joseph Panagiotopoulos, December 10, 1909 – September 19, 1990) was an American dancer and choreographer, principally remembered as Fred Astaire's choreographic collaborator on the famous 1930s movie musicals starring A ...

(1909–1990) — dancer and choreographer *

Cindy Parlow Cone Cynthia Marie Parlow Cone (; born May 8, 1978) is an American soccer executive and president of the United States Soccer Federation. A former professional soccer player, she is a two-time Olympic Gold medalist and 1999 FIFA Women's World Cup ch ...

(born 1978) — athlete *

Chris Parnell Thomas Christopher Parnell (; born February 5, 1967) is an American actor and comedian. He was a cast member on ''Saturday Night Live'' from 1998 to 2006 and played the role of Dr. Leo Spaceman on ''30 Rock''. In animation, he voices Cyril Figgis ...

(born 1967) — actor, known for ''

Saturday Night Live ''Saturday Night Live'' (often abbreviated to ''SNL'') is an American late-night live television sketch comedy and variety show created by Lorne Michaels and developed by Dick Ebersol that airs on NBC and Peacock. Michaels currently serves a ...

'' * Gilbert E. Patterson (1939–2007) — bishop of

Church of God in Christ The Church of God in Christ (COGIC) is a Holiness–Pentecostal Christian denomination, and the largest Pentecostal denomination in the United States. Although an international and multi-ethnic religious organization, it has a predominantly Bl ...

* DJ Paul — rapper *

Ann Peebles Ann Lee Peebles (born April 27, 1947) is an American singer and songwriter who gained celebrity for her Memphis soul albums of the 1970s for Hi Records. Two of her most popular songs are " I Can't Stand the Rain", which she wrote with her husband ...

(born 1947) — singer * Paul Penczner (1916–2010) — Hungarian-born artist *

Carl Perkins Carl Lee Perkins (April 9, 1932 – January 19, 1998)#nytimesobit, Pareles. was an American guitarist, singer and songwriter. A rockabilly great and pioneer of rock and roll, he began his recording career at the Sun Studio, in Memphis, Tennes ...

(1932–1998) — musician * Luther Perkins (1928–1968) — musician *

Elliot Perry Elliot Lamonte Perry (born March 28, 1969) is an American former professional basketball player. The 6'0" (1.83 m) point guard from Memphis State University (now the University of Memphis), was selected with the tenth pick of the second round (3 ...

(born 1969) — professional basketball player *

Dewey Phillips Dewey Phillips (May 13, 1926 – September 28, 1968) was one of rock and roll's pioneering American disc jockeys, along the lines of Cleveland's Alan Freed, before Freed came along. Early life Phillips was born in Crump, Tennessee, but spent ...

(1926–1968) — early rock 'n' roll disc jockey * Sam Phillips (1923–2003) — founder of Sun Records *

Marguerite Piazza Marguerite Piazza (May 6, 1920 – August 2, 2012) was an American soprano, entertainer and philanthropist from New Orleans, Louisiana. Early life In 1920, Piazza was born as Marguerite Clair Lucille Luft. Piazza's parents were Albert William ...

(1920–2012) — opera singer *

Danny Pittman Danny Ray Pittman (born April 3, 1958) is a former American football wide receiver who played five seasons in the National Football League with the New York Giants and St. Louis Cardinals. He was drafted by the New York Giants in the fourth roun ...

(born 1958) — athlete * David Porter (born 1941) — musician *

Elvis Presley Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977), or simply Elvis, was an American singer and actor. Dubbed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, King of Rock and Roll", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Elvis Presley, one ...

(1935–1977) — singer and actor * Lisa Marie Presley (1968–2023) — singer-songwriter; child of singer and actor Elvis Presley * Project Pat (born 1973) — rapper * Tommy Prothro (1920–1995) — football coach,

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California St ...

and

Los Angeles Rams The Los Angeles Rams are a professional American football team based in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Rams compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) West division. The Rams play ...

Missi Pyle Missi Pyle (born November 16, 1972) is an American actress and singer. She has appeared in a number of successful films, including ''Galaxy Quest'' (1999), ''Big Fish'' (2003), ''Bringing Down the House'' (2003), '' Dodgeball: A True Underdog S ...

(born 1972) — actress and singer * Pooh Shiesty (born 1999) - rapper

Q

Lisa Quinn Lisa Pickens Quinn is an American artist, author, and television host. Biography Lisa Quinn was born in Memphis, Tennessee, where she attended Briarcrest High School. After graduating from the The Art Institute of Fort Lauderdale, Art Institute o ...

(born 1967) — actress, author, designer

R

Michael Ramirez Michael Patrick Ramirez (born May 11, 1961) is an American cartoonist for the ''Las Vegas Review-Journal''. His cartoons present mostly conservative viewpoints. He is a two-time Pulitzer Prize winner. Early life and education Ramirez was born i ...

(born 1961) —

Pulitzer Prize The Pulitzer Prize () is an award for achievements in newspaper, magazine, online journalism, literature, and musical composition within the United States. It was established in 1917 by provisions in the will of Joseph Pulitzer, who had made h ...

-winning editorial cartoonist *

Jay Reatard James Lee Lindsey Jr. (May 1, 1980 – January 13, 2010), known professionally as Jay Reatard, was an American musician from Memphis, Tennessee. He was signed to Matador Records. He released recordings as a solo artist and as a member of the Reat ...

(1980–2010) — musician * Otis Redding — musician in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame * Kennedy J. Reed (1944–2023) — theoretical atomic physicist * Brent Renaud (1971-2011) - journalist and writer *

Charlie Rich Charles Allan Rich (December 14, 1932July 25, 1995) was an American country music singer, songwriter, and musician. His eclectic style of music was often difficult to classify, encompassing the rockabilly, jazz, blues, country music, country, sou ...

— Grammy Award-winning musician *

Austin Riley Michael Austin Riley (born April 2, 1997) is an American professional baseball third baseman for the Atlanta Braves of Major League Baseball (MLB). The Braves selected him in the first round, 41st overall, of the 2015 MLB Draft. Born in Memphis ...

— MLB Player * Loren Roberts — professional golfer * Russell Roberts — economist * Claire Robinson — television host, author and cook *

Kali Rocha Kali Michele Rocha (born December 5, 1971) is an American actress. She is known for portraying Karen Rooney, the mother of four Rooney children and school's vice principal, in the Disney Channel sitcom ''Liv and Maddie''. She has also co-written f ...

(born 1971) — actress *

Adrian Rogers Adrian Pierce Rogers (September 12, 1931 – November 15, 2005) was an American Southern Baptist pastor and conservative author. He served three terms as president of the Southern Baptist Convention (1979–1980 and 1986–1988). Rogers was born ...

— former pastor of

Bellevue Baptist Church Bellevue Baptist Church is a Baptist megachurch in the Cordova, Tennessee, Cordova area of Memphis, Tennessee, United States. It is affiliated with the Southern Baptist Convention. Bellevue is the largest church in Memphis. Bellevue's goals are to ...

and president of the

Southern Baptist Convention The Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) is a Christian denomination based in the United States. It is the world's largest Baptist denomination, and the largest Protestant and second-largest Christian denomination in the United States. The wor ...

* Joe Russell — former world backgammon champion *

Lance Russell Lance Russell (March 18, 1926 – October 3, 2017) was an American Sports commentator, sports broadcaster and ring announcer, primarily serving as a professional wrestling announcer and Sports commentator, commentator in the Memphis, Tennessee, Mem ...

—

announcer

S

Saliva Saliva (commonly referred to as spit) is an extracellular fluid produced and secreted by salivary glands in the mouth. In humans, saliva is around 99% water, plus electrolytes, mucus, white blood cells, epithelial cells (from which DNA can be ...

— musical group * Sam and Dave (

Sam Moore Samuel David Moore (born October 12, 1935) is an American vocalist who was a member of the soul and R&B group, Sam & Dave, from 1961 to 1981. He is a member of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, the Grammy Hall of Fame (for " Soul Man"), and the Voc ...

and

David Prater David (; , "beloved one") (traditional spelling), , ''Dāwūd''; grc-koi, Δαυΐδ, Dauíd; la, Davidus, David; gez , ዳዊት, ''Dawit''; xcl, Դաւիթ, ''Dawitʿ''; cu, Давíдъ, ''Davidŭ''; possibly meaning "beloved one". w ...

) — musicians in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame * Sam the Sham — musician, leader of

Sam the Sham and the Pharaohs Domingo "Sam" Samudio (born February 28, 1937, in Dallas, Texas, United States), better known by his stage name Sam the Sham, is a retired American rock and roll singer. Sam the Sham was known for his camp robe and turban and hauling his equipme ...

William Sanderson William Sanderson (born January 10, 1944) is an American retired actor. He played J. F. Sebastian in the feature film ''Blade Runner'' (1982), and had regular roles on several television series such as Larry on ''Newhart'' (1982–1990), E. B. ...

— actor known for '' Newhart'' and ''

Blade Runner ''Blade Runner'' is a 1982 science fiction film directed by Ridley Scott, and written by Hampton Fancher and David Peoples. Starring Harrison Ford, Rutger Hauer, Sean Young, and Edward James Olmos, it is an adaptation of Philip K. Dick' ...

'' * J. Peter Sartain — Archbishop of Seattle * Clarence Saunders — founder of the world's first self-service supermarket,

Piggly Wiggly Piggly Wiggly is an American supermarket chain operating in the American Southern and Midwestern regions run by Piggly Wiggly, LLC, an affiliate of C&S Wholesale Grocers. Its first outlet opened in 1916 in Memphis, Tennessee, and is notable f ...

* Big Scarr — rapper *

Jerry Schilling Jerry Schilling (born February 6, 1942, in Memphis, Tennessee) is an American talent manager, best known for his association with Elvis Presley and as a member of Presley's Memphis Mafia from the latter part of the 1960s. His other clients ha ...

— associate of

The Beach Boys The Beach Boys are an American Rock music, rock band that formed in Hawthorne, California, in 1961. The group's original lineup consisted of brothers Brian Wilson, Brian, Dennis Wilson, Dennis, and Carl Wilson, their cousin Mike Love, and frie ...

Dan Schneider Daniel James Schneider (born January 14, 1966) is an American television producer, screenwriter, and actor. After appearing in mostly supporting roles in a number of 1980s and 1990s films and TV shows, Schneider devoted himself to behind-the-s ...

— actor * Josey Scott — musician *

Will Shade William Shade Jr. (February 5, 1898 – September 18, 1966), known as Will Shade, was a Memphis blues musician, best known for his leadership of the Memphis Jug Band. He was commonly called Son Brimmer, a nickname from his grandmother Annie Brimm ...

— musician *

Gwen Shamblin Gwen Shamblin Lara (February 18, 1955 – May 29, 2021) was an American author, founder of the Christian diet program ''The Weigh Down Workshop'' and founder of the Remnant Fellowship. She is the subject of the 2021 HBO Max docuseries, '' The W ...

— author and founder of the Weigh Down Workshop and Remnant Fellowship Church * Paul Shanklin — personality on Rush Limbaugh's radio program * Cybill Shepherd — actress known for ''

Moonlighting Moonlighting may refer to: * Side job, a job taken in addition to one's primary employment Entertainment * ''Moonlighting'' (film), a 1982 drama film by Jerzy Skolimowski * ''Moonlighting'' (TV series), 1985–1989 American television series, s ...

'' and '' Cybill'' *

George Sherrill George Friederich Sherrill (born April 19, 1977) is an American former professional baseball relief pitcher. Sherrill pitched in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Seattle Mariners, Baltimore Orioles, Los Angeles Dodgers, and Atlanta Braves from ...

—

MLB Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

player * Lee Shippey — journalist *

Hampton Sides Wade Hampton Sides (born 1962) is an American historian, author and journalist. He is the author of '' Hellhound on His Trail,'' ''Ghost Soldiers,'' '' Blood and Thunder'', ''On Desperate Ground'', and other bestselling works of narrative histor ...

— author * McKinley Singleton —

NBA The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United St ...

player,

New York Knicks The New York Knickerbockers, shortened and more commonly referred to as the New York Knicks, are an American professional basketball team based in the New York City borough of Manhattan. The Knicks compete in the National Basketball Associat ...

* Arthur Smith — head coach of the

Bingo Smith Robert "Bingo" Smith (born February 26, 1946) is an American retired professional basketball player. He played for the San Diego Rockets, the Cleveland Cavaliers, and the San Diego Clippers. College career Smith played for the Tulsa Golden Hurri ...

(born 1946) — basketball player *

Fred Smith Fred, Frederic, or Frederick Smith may refer to: In literature *Frederick Smith, 2nd Earl of Birkenhead (1907–1975), British peer and biographer *Frederick Smith, 3rd Earl of Birkenhead (1936–1985), British peer and author * Frederick E. Smith ...

— founder and chairman of

FedEx FedEx Corporation, formerly Federal Express Corporation and later FDX Corporation, is an American multinational conglomerate holding company focused on transportation, e-commerce and business services based in Memphis, Tennessee. The name "Fe ...

Lane Smith Walter Lane Smith III (April 29, 1936 – June 13, 2005) was an American actor. His well-known roles included newspaper editor Perry White in the ABC series '' Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman'', Walter Warner in ''Son in Law'', coll ...

— actor known for ''

My Cousin Vinny ''My Cousin Vinny'' is a 1992 American comedy film directed by Jonathan Lynn, and written by Dale Launer, who also produced with Paul Schiff. The film stars Joe Pesci, Ralph Macchio, Marisa Tomei, Mitchell Whitfield, Lane Smith, Bruce McGill, and ...

'' and ''

The Final Days ''The Final Days'' is a 1976 non-fiction book written by Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein about the Watergate scandal. A follow up to their 1974 book ''All the President's Men'', ''The Final Days'' concerns itself with the final months of the Pre ...

'' * George W. Snedecor (1881–1974) — mathematician and statistician *

Bobby Sowell Robert G. Lee Sowell (born July 8, 1947) is an American musician, pianist and composer. He spent much of his early years playing rockabilly piano in the late 1950s, playing organ in rock-and-roll bands in the 1960s and playing piano in numero ...

— musician * Ben Spies (born 1984) — motorcycle road racer * Marvin Stamm — musician *

Kay Starr Katherine Laverne Starks (July 21, 1922 – November 3, 2016), known professionally as Kay Starr, was an American singer who enjoyed considerable success in the late 1940s and 1950s. She was of Iroquois and Irish heritage. Starr performed multip ...

— singer *

Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Richard Lynn Stenhouse Jr. (born October 2, 1987) is an American professional stock car racing driver. He competes full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 47 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 for JTG Daugherty Racing. Stenhouse was the 2010 Nationw ...

— NASCAR driver * Jody Stephens — musician *

Andrew Stevens Herman Andrew Stevens (born June 10, 1955) is an American executive, film producer, director and actor. Early life Stevens was born in Memphis, Tennessee, the only child of actress Stella Stevens and her former husband Noble Herman Stephens. Ca ...

— actor and producer * Stella Stevens —

Golden Globe Award The Golden Globe Awards are accolades bestowed by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association beginning in January 1944, recognizing excellence in both American and international film and television. Beginning in 2022, there are 105 members of t ...

-winning actress * Jim Stewart — record producer and co-founder of Stax Records * Frank Stokes — blues musician *

Jarnell Stokes Jarnell D'Marcus Stokes (born January 7, 1994) is an American professional basketball player who last played for the Xinjiang Flying Tigers of the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA). He played college basketball at the University of Tennessee. ...

(born 1994) — basketball player * Lewis Ossie Swingler — editor of ''Memphis World'', editor and publisher of '' Tri-State Defender'' * Pooh Shiesty (born 1999) — rapper *

Speech Speech is a human vocal communication using language. Each language uses Phonetics, phonetic combinations of vowel and consonant sounds that form the sound of its words (that is, all English words sound different from all French words, even if ...

(born 1968) — rapper

T

Gary Talley Gary Talley (born August 17, 1947) is an American guitarist, singer, songwriter and author. He began his career as lead guitarist for the Grammy-nominated group The Box Tops who were famous for hits like "The Letter", and "Cry Like a Baby". Car ...

— musician and singer of

The Box Tops The Box Tops is an American rock band formed in Memphis in 1967. They are best known for the hits " The Letter", "Cry Like a Baby", "Choo Choo Train," and " Soul Deep" and are considered a major blue-eyed soul group of the period. They perform ...

* Cliff Taylor — football player * Raymond Taylor — catcher in

Negro league baseball The Negro leagues were United States professional baseball leagues comprising teams of African Americans and, to a lesser extent, Latin Americans. The term may be used broadly to include professional black teams outside the leagues and it may be ...

* Lloyd Thaxton — television personality * Adonis Thomas (born 1993) - basketball player in the

* Carla Thomas — musician and daughter of

Rufus Thomas Rufus C. Thomas, Jr. (March 26, 1917 – December 15, 2001) was an American rhythm-and-blues, funk, soul and blues singer, songwriter, dancer, DJ and comic entertainer from Memphis, Tennessee. He recorded for several labels, including Chess Rec ...

* Danny Thomas — entertainer, actor and founder of

St. Jude Children's Research Hospital St. Jude Children's Research Hospital is a pediatric treatment and research facility located in Memphis, Tennessee. Founded in 1962, it is a 501(c)(3) designated nonprofit medical corporation which focuses on children's catastrophic diseases, pa ...

— musician *

Fred Thompson Freddie Dalton Thompson (August 19, 1942 – November 1, 2015) was an American politician, attorney, lobbyist, columnist, actor, and radio personality. A member of the Republican Party, he served as a United States Senator from Tennessee f ...

— actor and

(alumnus of the

University of Memphis } The University of Memphis (UofM) is a public university, public research university in Memphis, Tennessee. Founded in 1912, the university has an enrollment of more than 22,000 students. The university maintains the Herff College of Engineering ...

) *

Harry Thompson Harry William Thompson (6 February 1960 – 7 November 2005) was an English radio and television producer, comedy writer, novelist and biographer. He was the creator of the dark humour television series ''Monkey Dust'', screened between 2003 a ...

— football player * Linda Thompson — songwriter and actress *

Three 6 Mafia Three 6 Mafia is an American Hip hop music, hip hop group from Memphis, Tennessee, formed in 1991. Emerging as a horror-themed underground hip hop group, they would eventually go on to enjoy mainstream success. The group's 1995 debut album ''Mys ...

— Academy Award-winning

rap Rapping (also rhyming, spitting, emceeing or MCing) is a musical form of vocal delivery that incorporates "rhyme, rhythmic speech, and street vernacular". It is performed or chanted, usually over a backing beat or musical accompaniment. The ...

musicians *

Justin Timberlake Justin Randall Timberlake (born January 31, 1981) is an American singer, songwriter, and actor. He is one of the world's best-selling music artists, with sales of over 88 million records. Timberlake is the recipient of numerous awards and ac ...

—

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pres ...

-winning musician, actor and record producer *

London on da Track London Tyler Holmes (born March 27, 1991), known professionally as London on da Track, is an American record producer, rapper, and songwriter. He is a frequent collaborator of fellow Atlanta rapper Young Thug and has also worked with Kodak Black, ...

— record producer * Don Trip — rapper *

Leigh Anne Tuohy Leigh Anne Tuohy (née Roberts; born August 9, 1960) is an American businesswoman and interior designer. She is the adoptive mother of Michael Oher. Their story was featured in the 2006 book '' The Blind Side: Evolution of a Game'' and its 2009 ...

— businesswoman and interior designer * Ike Turner — Grammy Award-winning musician

V

Guillaume de Van Guillaume de Van (2 July 1906 in Memphis – 2 July 1949 in Amalfi) real name William Carrolle Devan, was a French musicologist and choral conductor of American origin. A student at Princeton University, he then traveled to Rome to train in Gregoria ...

(1906–1949) — Franco–American musicologist *

Andrew VanWyngarden Andrew Wells VanWyngarden (born February 1, 1983) is an American musician. He is the lead vocalist, guitar player and songwriter for the band MGMT, praised for (according to ''Interview Magazine'') "an uncanny knack for producing pop music that s ...

— musician of psychedelic rock group

MGMT MGMT () is an American indie rock band formed in 2002 in Middletown, Connecticut. It was founded by multi-instrumentalists Andrew VanWyngarden and Ben Goldwasser. Alongside VanWyngarden and Goldwasser, MGMT's live lineup currently consists of ...

* Alexey Vermeulen (born 1994) — cyclist

W

Sam Walton Samuel Moore Walton (March 29, 1918 – April 5, 1992) was an American business magnate best known for founding the retailers Walmart and Sam's Club, which he started in 1962 and 1983 respectively. Wal-Mart Stores Inc. grew to be the world's l ...

— football player *

Teddy Walton Travis Darelle "Teddy" Walton (born July 30, 1992, in Memphis, Tennessee) is an American record producer, songwriter and DJ. He began music production by creating songs with his older brother, June, which gained traction on SoundCloud. Teddy has ...

— composer, producer, writer and DJ *

Garrett Wang Garrett Richard Wang () (; born December 15, 1968) is an American actor. Wang is known for his role in '' Star Trek: Voyager'' as Ensign Harry Kim. Early life Wang was born in Riverside, California, to Taiwanese immigrant parents. He has one si ...

— actor * Anita Ward — singer and schoolteacher; 1979 number one ''Billboard'' Hot 100 single " Ring My Bell" * Thomas Waterson — police officer who captured Machine Gun Kelly in a Memphis raid in 1933 *

Luke J. Weathers Luke Joseph Weathers, Jr., (December 16, 1920 – October 15, 2011) was a U.S. Army Air Force officer, historic African American air traffic controller and prolific World War II combat fighter pilot with the prodigious 332nd Fighter Group's 302 ...

(December 16, 1920 – October 15, 2011), former

U.S. Army Air Force The United States Army Air Forces (USAAF or AAF) was the major land-based aerial warfare service component of the United States Army and ''de facto'' aerial warfare service branch of the United States during and immediately after World War II ...

officer and prolific

Tuskegee Airmen The Tuskegee Airmen were a group of primarily African American military pilots (fighter and bomber) and airmen who fought in World War II. They formed the 332d Fighter Group and the 477th Fighter Group, 477th Bombardment Group (Medium) of the ...

Ida B. Wells Ida B. Wells (full name: Ida Bell Wells-Barnett) (July 16, 1862 – March 25, 1931) was an American investigative journalist, educator, and early leader in the civil rights movement. She was one of the founders of the National Association for ...

— civil rights advocate and women's rights advocate * Junior Wells — musician * David West — baseball player *

Red West Robert Gene "Red" West (March 8, 1936 – July 18, 2017) was an American actor, film stuntman and songwriter. He was known for being a close confidant and bodyguard for rock and roll singer Elvis Presley. Upon his firing, West wrote the contro ...

— actor * Kirk Whalum — musician *

Maurice White Maurice White (December 19, 1941 – February 4, 2016) was an American singer, musician, songwriter, and record producer. He was best known as the founder, leader, main songwriter, and producer of the band Earth, Wind & Fire, and served as the ...

— musician, lead singer of Earth, Wind & Fire * Reggie White — NFL player; began his career with the Memphis Showboats of the USFL * Bobby Whitlock — musician, keyboardist in Derek and the Dominos *

Snootie Wild LePreston Porter III (April 23, 1985 – February 26, 2022), better known by his stage name Snootie Wild, was an American rapper and singer. He was best known for his first single, " Yayo", which success helped launch his career. The song charted ...

— rapper *

John Shelton Wilder John Shelton Wilder (June 3, 1921 – January 1, 2010) was an American politician who was the 48th Lieutenant Governor of Tennessee for 36 years from January 1971 to January 2007, possibly the longest time anyone has served as Lieutenant Gove ...

— politician *

Elliot Williams Elliot Jerell Williams (born June 20, 1989) is an American former professional basketball player. He played college basketball for Duke and Memphis. He was selected with the 22nd overall pick in the 2010 NBA draft by the Portland Trail Blazers. ...

— NBA player * LaNell Williams — American physicist and virologist * Louis Williams —

player *

Tennessee Williams Thomas Lanier Williams III (March 26, 1911 – February 25, 1983), known by his pen name Tennessee Williams, was an American playwright and screenwriter. Along with contemporaries Eugene O'Neill and Arthur Miller, he is considered among the thre ...

— playwright *

Kemmons Wilson Charles Kemmons Wilson (January 5, 1913 – February 12, 2003) was an American hotelier. He is best known for founding the hotel chain Holiday Inn in the 1950s. Personal life He was born in Osceola, Arkansas, the only child of Kemmons and Ruby ...

— businessman, founder of Holiday Inn * Mike Wilson — NBA player * Jesse Winchester — singer/songwriter *

Francis Winkler Francis Michael Winkler (born October 20, 1946) is a former American football defensive end who played in the National Football League (NFL). Winkler was born on October 20, 1946, in Memphis, Tennessee, where he graduated from Memphis Catholic Hig ...

— NFL player *

Ernest Withers Ernest C. Withers (August 7, 1922 – October 15, 2007) was an African-American photojournalist. He documented over 60 years of African-American history in the segregated Southern United States, with iconic images of the Montgomery bus boyco ...

— photojournalist *

Lorenzen Wright Lorenzen Vern-Gagne Wright (November 4, 1975 – July 19, 2010) was an American professional basketball player for 13 seasons in the National Basketball Association. He was drafted seventh overall in the 1996 NBA draft by the Los Angeles Clippers ...

— NBA player

Y

* Roy Yeager — musician *

Yo Gotti Mario Sentell Giden Mims (born May 19, 1981), known professionally as Yo Gotti, is an American rapper, songwriter, and record executive. In 1996, Gotti released his debut album ''Youngsta's On a Come Up'' under the alias Lil Yo. He went on to re ...

(born 1981) — rapper; born Mario Mims * Thaddeus Young — NBA player (grew up in Memphis) *

Moneybagg Yo DeMario DeWayne White Jr. (born September 22, 1991), known professionally as Moneybagg Yo, is an American rapper. He is signed to fellow Memphis rapper Yo Gotti's record label, Collective Music Group (CMG), in a joint venture deal with Interscope ...

(born 1991) — rapper

References

{{Memphis, Tennessee * Memphis