Name That Chicago Artist!

Larry "Mr. Fingers" Heard was born on the South Side of Chicago and was a key figure in the house music genre that came out of Chicago in the mid-1980s. "Can You Feel It?" is regarded as one of the first deep house records.

Although formed in Austin, TX, the band Jesus Lizard moved to Chicago early in their career and became one of the best known bands on the Chicago-based independent label Touch & Go. Several of their records, including Liar, were produced by Chicago legend Steve Albini.

Wesley Willis was a singer-songwriter from Chicago who gained an enormous cult following in the 1990s. He was also a visual artist, who produced hundreds of intricate, unusual, colored ink-pen drawings, mostly of Chicago streetscapes and CTA buses. "Rock N Roll McDonald's" is about the Rock N Roll McDonald's located in the River North area of Chicago.

Luther Allison was born in Widener, Arkansas, and moved with his family, at the age of twelve, to Chicago in 1951. He was one of the few blues artists signed to Motown Records.

The Bucktown Five was a white jazz group active in Chicago in the early 1920s. They recorded "Chicago Blues" with Bix Beiderbecke in 1924.

Earth, Wind & Fire was formed by Maurice White, who moved to Chicago as a teenager and later worked as a session drummer for Chess Records. "Shining Star" was Earth, Wind & Fire's first major hit, hitting No. 1 on Billboard chart in 1975.

"Your Love," a Chicago house classic, was originally released as a demo under Jamie Principle's name in 1984. It was later released as a single under Frankie Knuckles' name in 1987 on the legendary Chicago label Trax Records. Following Frankie's death on March 31, 2014, the song re-entered the UK Singles Chart at number 29.

Magic Sam moved from Mississippi to Chicago in 1950 and began playing at blues clubs on the West Side. This version of "Sweet Home Chicago" is from his classic 1967 album West Side Soul.

Fritz Reiner conducted the Chicago Symphony Orchestra from 1953–1962, which is widely considered to be the pinnacle of his career. This 1958 recording of Bela Bartok's Music for Strings, Percussion and Celesta is one of the defining recordings of that period.

The rapper/actor grew up on the South Side of Chicago. The D'Angelo Law Library owns a copy of his memoir One Day It'll All Make Sense at call number ML420.C656 A3 2011.

The Buckinghams' biggest hit "Kind of a Drag" spent two weeks at the top of the Billboard Hot 100 in February 1967. It sold over one million copies and was awarded a gold disc.

Sun Ra formed his Arkestra in Chicago in the 1950s. This version of "Interplanetary Music" was recorded in Chicago around 1960. The University of Chicago Library's Special Collections Research Center is home to the Alton Abraham Papers of Sun Ra collection.


 

Gastr del Sol member David Grubbs has a PhD in English literature from the University of Chicago. The song "Eight Corners" lists the names of several Chicago streets.

Chance the Rapper hails from the South Side Chicago neighborhood of Chatham. In 2014, he was named to the XXL Freshmen List of up and coming hip-hop artists.

Robert Sylvester Kelly was born and raised on the South Side of Chicago and attended Kenwood Academy in Hyde Park. "Ignition (Remix)" stayed at #2 on the Billboard Hot 100 for five consecutive weeks, one spot below 50 Cent's smash hit "In da Club."

"Home" is Kanye West's tribute to Chicago and is an extended metaphor using a woman to represent the city of Chicago, in the same vein as fellow Chicago rapper Common on his song "I Used to Love H.E.R.," where the woman symbolized hip hop music.

The cover art of Wilco's critically acclaimed album Yankee Hotel Foxtrot depicts the Marina City towers that sit on the north bank of the Chicago River in downtown Chicago.

Tortoise, who formed in Chicago in 1990, are credited as one of the originators of "post-rock." Original member Bundy K. Brown attended the University of Chicago before dropping out to pursue his music career.

"Spoonful," one of Howlin' Wolf's best known songs, was recorded in 1960 at Chicago's Chess Studios, then located at 2120 S. Michigan Avenue.

"Double Trouble," by Otis Rush, was first released as a single on Cobra Records in 1958. It has been covered by numerous other artists, including several versions by Eric Clapton. In 2008, Rush's original version was inducted into the Blues Foundation Hall of Fame.

Ramsey Lewis was born and raised in Chicago and continues to live in the city today. "Sun Goddess," the title track of the 1974 album, was written by Jon Lind and Maurice White of Earth, Wind & Fire.

This is cheating, since Cheap Trick are actually from Rockford, IL, but "Surrender"--what a song! In October 2007, the Illinois Senate passed a resolution designating April 1 as Cheap Trick Day. See S. Res. 255, 95th Gen. Assemb. (Ill. 2007).

The Art Ensemble of Chicago grew out of Chicago's Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians (AACM) in the late 1960s. This song, "Theme De Yoyo," features the vocals of R&B singer Fontella Bass, who was then married to trumpeter Lester Bowie.

Liz Phair was raised in the Chicago suburb of Winnetka and recorded her debut album Exile in Guyville at Chicago's Idful Studios. The album was ranked #15 in Spin's "100 Greatest Albums, 1985-2005". In 2012, the album was ranked number #327 on Rolling Stone's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time.

“The Percolator” by Cajmere, a.k.a. Chicago house icon Curtis Alan Jones, is one of the biggest electronic dance music songs of all time. Seriously, people go nuts when they hear it.

In 1950, Syl Johnson moved with his family from Mississippi to Chicago, where blues guitarist Magic Sam was his next-door neighbor. His 1968 hit "Different Strokes" has been sampled in over 200 hip-hop songs.

The Impressions were formed when a group from Chattanooga, Tennessee called The Roosters moved to Chicago and joined forces with Chicago natives Jerry Butler and Curtis Mayfield. Their song "People Get Ready" was named as one of the Top 10 Best Songs Of All Time by Mojo magazine.

Born as McKinley Morganfield, Muddy Waters is considered the "father of modern Chicago blues." This song, "I'm Ready," was recorded in 1953 with one of the most acclaimed blues groups in history: Little Walter Jacobs on harmonica, Jimmy Rogers on guitar, Elga Edmonds (a.k.a. Elgin Evans) on drums and Otis Spann on piano, and released on the legendary Chicago blues label Chess Records.

Curtis Mayfield was born and raised in Chicago and was a member of the group the Impressions. His hit "Move On Up" was later sampled by fellow Chicago artist Kanye West for "Touch the Sky" in 2005.

The Staple Singers were an American gospel, soul, and R&B singing group formed in Chicago in the late 1940s. I'll Take You There" spent a total of fifteen weeks on the charts and reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1972.

Dude 'n Nem's 2007 hit "Watch My Feet" was a breakout hit for the Chicago "footwork" or "juke" scene.