Music of Mississippi

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Mississippi is best known as the home of the blues which developed among the freed African Americans in the latter half of the 19th century and beginning 20th century. The Delta blues is the style most closely associated with the state, and includes performers like Charley Patton, Robert Johnson (buried in Greenwood, MS), David "Honeyboy" Edwards, Willie Brown, Tommy Johnson, Ishmon Bracey, Bo Carter, Sam Chatmon, Mississippi John Hurt, Furry Lewis, Son House, Skip James, Muddy Waters, Howlin' Wolf, John Lee Hooker, Pinetop Perkins, and B.B. King.

The fiddle and banjo are common folk instruments in Mississippi, which has also seen some development as a gospel, country music, and Appalachian folk music center. Country blues artist Robert Wilkins and Songster Jim Jackson of Hernando made influential recordings in the late 1920s-1930s. The Leake County Revelers' brand of folk music saw some national popularity late in the 1930s, at around the same time as Mississippi native Jimmie Rodgers innovated modern country music. McComb was the birthplace of Bo Diddley (d.2008), a highly influential early rock and roll artist. R&B singer Rufus Thomas was born in Cayce. Electric blues singer and guitarist Little Milton was born in Inverness. Soul singer and songwriter Jerry Butler was born in Sunflower. Mississippi was also home to Malaco Records, a well-known indie R&B label. Jimmy Buffett was born in Pascagoula, MS and graduated from the University of Southern Mississippi in 1969. Southern rock band North Mississippi Allstars formed in Hernando in 1996. Alternative rock band 3 Doors Down, known for "Kryptonite" are from Escatawpa. They had two No. 1 albums on the Billboard 200 chart, such as 3 Doors Down in 2008. The post-grunge band Saving Abel, known for "Addicted", formed in Corinth. The trap duo Rae Sremmurd from Tupelo had a No. 1 Billboard Hot 100 hit with "Black Beatles" in 2016. Elvis Presley from Tupelo, had 18 No. 1 hits in the U.S. from 1956 to 1969. The Mississippi Coliseum in Jackson is one of the most famous music venues in the state, since it opened in 1962 and has hosted a few MS musicians from Presley to 3 Doors Down.