Musicians From Texas – While Austin’s musical reputation is not lacking, there is no doubt that many of the most famous musical figures have roots in Dallas. From blueliner Robert Johnson, who spent one of two seasons in the city, to Erykah Badu, the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex has produced a variety of musicians of various styles.
Scroll through the gallery below to see artists who were born, raised or lived in Dallas, and don’t be surprised if a few names on this list shock you.
Musicians From Texas
Founded in 2000 by bandleader Tim DeLaughter, Polyphonic Spree is one of the most innovative bands in music history. An extensive lineup that has released five full-length albums, the band’s sound combines instrumentals with pop influences for a very unique sound.
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A former member of Polyphonic Spree, Annie Clark, better known to fans as St. Known for songs like “Digital Witness” and “Love This Giant,” his collaborations with artist David Byrne, Clark moved to Dallas as a child and lived there until moving to Boston to attend Berklee College of Music.
The stage name of ’90s rapper Robert Van Winkle, Vanilla Ice was born in Dallas and bounced between the city of Carrollton and Miami in his youth. Van Winkle first started out as a rapper, participating in open mics at the Dallas nightclub City Lights before the release of his “Ice Ice Baby” in 1990.
Formed by bassist Laura Lynch, guitarists Robin Macy and Martie and Emily Erwin, the Dixie Chicks began in Dallas in 1989. Together, the Lubbock native and the powerful vocals of Natalie Maines joined the group in 1995 after Lynch and Macy left, and the rest . history.
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Demi Lovato was born in New Mexico but raised in Dallas. He appeared on the Dallas-based children’s show Barney & Friends as a child before landing his breakout role in Disney’s Camp Rock in 2008. Since then, she has grown into a full-fledged pop star with seven full-length albums under her belt.
One of the most famous names in Texas music history, Stevie Ray Vaughan grew up in the town of Oak Cliff. The guitar virtuoso moved to Austin in 1972, where he became a fixture in the city’s popular music scene, recording hits like “Texas Flood” with his band Double Trouble. In 1990, Vaughan died at the young age of 35 in a helicopter crash in Wisconsin.
New pop-country star Maren Morris was born in the Dallas suburb of Arlington and got her start as a performer in the town’s Johnnie High’s Country Music Revue. From there he moved to Nashville where he worked as a songwriter before releasing his popular EP in 2015 which became a top-10 hit “My Church”.
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Born in New York and raised in Dallas’ Grapevine School, Jones attended Booker T. Washington High School for the Performing and Visual Arts in Dallas in high school, after which he attended the equally prestigious jazz program at the University of North Texas. . From there he moved to New York and started his music career. In 2002, Jones released his breakout album Come Away With Me, a #1 hit that was certified platinum by the RIAA 10 times.
This great country group, fronted by Rhett Miller, was founded in Dallas in the early 90s and has been going strong ever since. The band released their 12th studio album, Twelve, in August 2020, amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
Selena Gomez was born outside of Dallas in Grand Prairie in 1992 and was named after her famous Texan friend Selena Quintanilla-Perez. Like her character Demi Lovato, Gomez appeared on the Dallas-born series Barney & Friend before launching her television and music career as a Disney Channel star in the mid-2000s.
Texas: A Blues State
Born Austin Richard Post, rapper Post Malone moved to the Dallas suburb of Grapevine at the age of 9, where he lived and shared his first mixtapes with his high school friends. Post later moved to Los Angeles, where he gained fame by independently releasing songs like “White Iverson,” an underground hit, before signing to a record label in 2015. Since then, he’s developed a cult following and sold millions of albums. .
Born south of Dallas in Waxahachie, R&B singer Tevin Campbell first began singing gospel music in his family church. From there he became involved with popular actor Quincy Jones and released his first #1 hit, “Tomorrow”, in 1990. Campbell went on to star in the Broadway musical Hairspray and continued to release songs.
Born in Dallas and a graduate of Thomas Jefferson High School, Michael “Meat Loaf” Aday’s early roles came in high school musicals such as “The Music Man.” Aday moved to Los Angeles in the late 1960s, where he made his first documentary and went on to film programs such as the “Rocky Horror Picture Show” and record hits including the hits “I Would Do Anything” and “Two Out of Three. Not bad”. .
Notable Musicians And Bands From Dallas, Texas
Born on the other side of McKinney, Markies “Yella Beezy” Conway first started rapping at 13 years old. He later moved to the city’s Oak Cliff neighborhood and began releasing mixtapes. His breakout came in 2017 with the hit “That’s On Me”, which peaked at #37 on the Billboard Hot 100.
An Oak Cliff native who attended Booker T. Washington High School, Edie Brickell also attended Southern Methodist University in Dallas. He joined New Bohemians in 1985 and the group’s first album “Shooting Rubberbands at the Stars” brought great success. In 1992, Brickell married singer-songwriter Paul Simon, and they live in Connecticut.
A thrash metal band fronted by the late Riley Gale, Power Trip formed in Dallas in the mid-2000s. The band has enjoyed critical success and a cult following, and received a 2021 Grammy Award nomination for Best Metal Performance for their live performance of “Executioner’s Tax”.
Musicians In The Texas Music Collection
Formed in Fort Worth in the late ’80s, those not from North Texas are familiar with Possum Kingdom Lake thanks to the Toadies’ 1994 classic “Possum Kingdom.”
A gospel icon with 16 Grammy Awards under his belt, Kirk Franklin is a Fort Worth native who attended Oscar Dean Wyatt High School. A singer and songwriter, Franklin’s songs have been performed by artists such as Tamela Mann, Whitney Houston, Shirley Caesar and CeCe Winans, among other vocal legends.
Born in Fort Worth and raised in nearby Burleson, where she attended high school, Kelly Clarkson rose to superstardom after winning the first season of the reality singing competition American Idol. Since then, she’s grown into a full-fledged pop sensation, selling millions of albums and recording hits like “Miss Independent” and “Whole Lotta Woman.”
Country Singers Who Were Born In Texas
Born in Mississippi but raised in Texas, LeAnn Rimes first came to prominence in her youth as a performer in the Johnnie High Country Music Revue in Arlington and by singing the National Anthem at Dallas Cowboys football games. At age 13, in 1994, Rimes recorded “Blue,” a song originally written for Patsy Cline that launched Rimes into the country music scene when it was released in 1996.
Dallas native Erykah Badu continues to call the city her home. He attended the city’s prestigious Booker T. Washington High School and danced at the Dallas Theater before attending Grambling State University in Louisiana.
A bluesman shrouded in mystery, one of Robert Johnson’s two recording sessions was held in Dallas in 1937. More than half of Johnson’s music was recorded in Dallas. , the city would become an important part of Mississippi’s music history. With today’s evolving lifestyle, there is certainly a strong demand for matching female and male artists in radio play, recording and festival lineups. Music industry experts and artists have given various reasons for the lack of representation of women on a wider scale, all of which are partial truths. More people should go to women’s shows. More people should flock to female artists. More people need to put numbers behind these female powerhouses. However, we are not here to argue
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Women’s struggle, but it will enlighten you for future artists to look at and help in the future. Here are 10 female Americana/Red Dirty/Country singers to follow.
This Rockwall native just released her first single “Patsy Kind of Night” which we’ve added to our TMP playlist. It’s a Texas Country artist coming out of the old country with a bit of rock sprinkled in. He has opened for TMP favorites such as Chris Colston, Tanner Usrey, Lucas Jagneaux and Jordan Nix. York’s inspirations include Kaitlin Butts, Patsy Cline, Chris Stapleton, Miranda Lambert and “anyone who smokes and drinks whiskey.”
I want people to experience old soul with a mix of modern Texas country, I love what I do – because I really do. I like