Notable institutions
The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame is located in Cleveland, Ohio. Ohio musicians inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame include The Isley Brothers (from Cincinnati) in 1992, Bootsy Collins (from Cincinnati) in 1997, The Moonglows (from Cleveland) in 2000, The O'Jays (from Canton) in 2005, Chrissie Hynde (from Akron) of The Pretenders in 2005, and Bobby Womack (from Cleveland) in 2009. This state is also the home of four major symphony orchestras which are located in Cleveland, Akron, Cincinnati, and Dayton as well as a "pops" orchestra, the Cincinnati Pops. Columbus has hosted the annual three-day hard rock Rock on the Range festival each May since 2007 until 2018, and has hosted the Sonic Temple Music Festival from 2019 to the present.
Notable musicians
Popular musicians from Ohio include Neil Giraldo, Trippie Redd, Mamie Smith, Dean Martin, Dave Grohl, Tyler Joseph and Josh Dun of Twenty One Pilots, Frankie Yankovic, Doris Day, The McGuire Sisters, The Isley Brothers, Bobby Womack, Howard Hewett, Shirley Murdock, Boz Scaggs, John Legend, Marilyn Manson, Dan Auerbach and Patrick Carney of The Black Keys, Griffin Layne, Joe Dolce, Benjamin Orr of The Cars, Chrissie Hynde of The Pretenders, William "Bootsy" Collins, Stefanie Eulinberg of Kid Rock's Twisted Brown Trucker Band and Devo.
Doris Day (from Cincinnati; d.2019) had a number one Billboard Hot 100 hit in 1945 with "Sentimental Journey". Dean Martin had a number one Billboard Hot 100 hit with "Everybody Loves Somebody" in 1964. The O'Jays had a number one Hot 100 hit with "Love Train" in 1972. The Ohio Players had two number one Hot 100 hits, including the funk song "Love Rollercoaster" in 1976. Wild Cherry had a number one Hot 100 hit with "Play That Funky Music" also in 1976. Bone Thugs-n-Harmony had a number one Hot 100 hit with "Tha Crossroads" in 1996. John Legend had a number one Hot 100 hit with "All of Me" in 2014. Bo Donaldson and The Heywoods had a number one Hot 100 hit with "Billy Don't Be A Hero" in 1974. In addition, Ohio musicians with a number one album on the Billboard 200 include the R&B group The Isley Brothers (from Cincinnati) with two number one albums, including The Heat is On in 1975, folk singer Tracy Chapman with her Tracy Chapman album in 1988, Nine Inch Nails with two number one albums including With Teeth in 2005, Marilyn Manson with two including Mechanical Animals in 1998, The Black Keys with Turn Blue in 2014, and Twenty One Pilots (from Columbus) with Blurryface in 2015 and Breach in 2025. Country group Rascal Flatts (from Columbus) has had four number one albums including Me and My Gang in 2006. 98 Degrees (from Cincinnati) had a number two album on the Billboard 200 with Revelation in 2000.
Indigenous music
Blues
Blues singer Mamie Smith is thought to have been born in Cincinnati. Singer and saxophonist Bull Moose Jackson was born in Cleveland. Robert Lockwood Jr., born in Arkansas, moved to Cleveland in 1960, where he lived the later half of his life. Pianist Barrelhouse Chuck was born in Columbus. Organist Mike Finnigan was born in Troy. Singer-songwriter and pianist Tommy Tucker was born in Springfield. Jump blues singer H-Bomb Ferguson was from Cincinnati. Guitarist Sonny Moorman was born in Cincinnati. Singer Bessie Brown was born in Marysville.
Jazz Art Tatum, widely acknowledged as one of the greatest and most influential jazz pianists of all time, was born in Toledo. Double bassist Gene Taylor, singer Teresa Brewer, and pianists Stanley Cowell and Larry Fuller were also born in "The Glass City".
Cleveland has an important place in jazz as a stop on the club circuit. Artists from Cleveland include Freddie Webster, a trumpeter cited by Miles Davis as an early influence, and Tadd Dameron, a prominent pianist, composer, and arranger of the bop era. Benny Bailey was a trumpeter who followed Dameron and in turn influenced Cleveland jazz musicians in his wake, including Albert Ayler, avant-garde jazz saxophonist, who was born in Cleveland Heights. Also from Cleveland are vocalist Jimmy Scott, pianist Bobby Few, saxophonist Ernie Krivda, saxophonist Joe Lovano, guitarist Bill DeArango, pianist Shelly Berg, bassists Ike Isaacs and Albert Stinson, pianist and composer Hale Smith, cellist Abdul Wadud, trombonist and bandleader John Fedchock, saxophonist Rich Perry, trumpeter Frances Klein, and trumpeter and flugelhornist Bill Hardman. The Jazz Temple was an important jazz venue in Cleveland from 1962-63.
Columbus-born jazz musicians include multi-instrumentalist Rahsaan Roland Kirk, bandleader and trombonist Bobby Byrne, trumpeter Harry Edison, organist and pianist Hank Marr, organist Don Patterson, pianist John Sheridan, saxophonist Steve Potts, and bassist and composer Foley.
Zanesville jazz artists include singer and pianist Una Mae Carlisle, ragtime composer Harry P. Guy, and trumpeter Andy Gibson.
Springfield has produced pianist, organist, and arranger Charles Thompson, drummer Johnny Lytle, clarinetist Cecil Scott, pianist Call Cobbs, Jr., trombonist Quentin Jackson, multi-instrumentalist Garvin Bushell, saxophonist Earle Warren, and singer Ada Lee.
Dayton was the birthplace of trombonist Booty Wood, guitarist John Scofield, trumpeter Snooky Young, drummer J.C. Heard, alto saxophonist and flautist Bud Shank, and Billy Strayhorn, a close collaborator of Duke Ellington.
Cincinnati-born jazz musicians include pianist, composer, arranger, and theorist George Russell, saxophonist and bandleader Frank Foster, pianist and composer Mike Longo, guitarist Kenny Poole, tenor saxophonist Don Braden, singer Amy London, alto saxophonist Sonny Cox, pianist and composer Fred Hersch, and saxophonist and arranger Jimmy Mundy.
Youngstown has produced guitarist James Emery, singer, dancer, and drummer Sonny Parker, and avant-garde singer Jay Clayton.
Pianist Dave Burrell and singer/bassist Virtue Hampton Whitted were born in Middletown. Trumpeters, and brothers, Russell Smith and Joe Smith were born in Ripley. Pianist Dorothy Sloop was born in Steubenville. Bandleader Ted Lewis was born in Circleville. Singer Jon Hendricks was born in Newark. Trombonist Vic Dickenson was born in Xenia. Cornet player Bill Davison was born in Defiance. Tenor saxophonist Joe Henderson was born in Lima. Trombonist, vocalist, and bandleader Pee Wee Hunt was born in Mount Healthy. Bandleader Sammy Kaye was born in Lakewood. Violinist Stuff Smith was born in Portsmouth. Bassist Michael Moore was born in Glen Este. Drummer Nick Ceroli was born in Niles. Flautist and saxophonist Norris Turney was born in Wilmington. The Mills Brothers vocal group were from Piqua. Pianist Terry Waldo was born in Ironton. Singer Nancy Wilson was born in Chillicothe. Saxophonist Mark Turner was born in Fairborn.
Classical Composers Hale Smith and H. Leslie Adams were born in Cleveland. Operatic soprano Kathleen Battle was born in Portsmouth. Cincinnati is home to the American Classical Music Hall of Fame and Museum.
Modernism Ruth Crawford Seeger, influential modernist composer, was born in East Liverpool, Ohio. As a composer, Seeger was active primarily during the 1920s and 1930s, then became an American folk music specialist from the late 1930s until her death in 1953.
Folk
In 1937-38, John, Alan, and Elizabeth Lomax made field recordings in Ohio for the Archive of American Folk Song, Library of Congress, including songs of Captain Pearl R. Nye about life on the Ohio and Erie Canal and recordings at the Ohio Valley Folk Festival at Cincinnati Music Hall.
Ohio folksinger and scholar Anne Grimes recorded Ohio State Ballads for Folkways Records, released in 1957.
Jim Glover of Jim and Jean is from Cleveland. Glover attended Ohio State University, where in 1959 he met and mentored Phil Ochs, who grew up in Columbus.
Singer-songwriter Fred Neil was born in Cleveland.
Bluegrass Bluegrass singer and guitarist Larry Sparks was born and raised in Lebanon. Jerry Douglas, lap steel and resonator guitar player, was born in Warren. Singer and guitarist Harley Allen was born in Dayton. Banjo player John Hickman was born in Hilliard and grew up in Columbus. Banjo player Tom Hanway was born in Cleveland. Hotmud Family were from Dayton. The Rarely Herd are from Athens County.
Country
Bobby Bare is from Ironton. Lionel Cartwright is from Gallipolis. David Allan Coe is from Akron. Earl Thomas Conley is from West Portsmouth. Cowboy Copas is from Blue Creek. Griffin Layne was born in Kettering. Buddy Miller is from Fairborn. Mark Miller, the lead singer of Sawyer Brown, is from Dayton. Johnny Paycheck is from Greefield. Pure Prairie League from Waverly. ("Amie" 1975) Rascal Flatts was formed in Columbus. Lead singer Gary LeVox is an alumnus of Ohio State University. Marty Roe, the lead singer of Diamond Rio, is from Lebanon. Roy Rogers is from Portsmouth. Kim Taylor is from Cincinnati. Dwight Yoakam was raised in Columbus.
Polka Cleveland is home to the Polka Hall of Fame in Euclid.
Accordion player and polka musician Frankie Yankovic grew-up in Cleveland's Collinwood neighborhood, known for its large Slovenian population. Yankovic popularized Slovenian style polka in the United States, with many hit songs including his recordings of "In Heaven There is No Beer" and "Who Stole the Kishka."
R&B, soul, and funk Tiny Bradshaw, rhythm and blues bandleader, singer, composer, pianist and drummer, was born in Youngstown.
Blues, R&B singer Screamin' Jay Hawkins gained R&B hit "I Put a Spell On You" in 1956. Hawkins is from Cleveland, Ohio. R&B singer Lula Reed was born in Port Clinton. She recorded for Cincinnati label King Records and its subsidiary Federal Records, among others, in the 1950s–60s.
Doo-wop, an influential vocal harmony-based R&B form popular in the 1950s and early 1960s, was well-represented in Ohio. Groups from the state include The Students, The Valentinos, The Casinos, The Moonglows (from Cleveland), The Stereos, The Edsels, Mills Brothers, and The Constellations.
Ruby & the Romantics were an Akron-based R&B group in the 1960s. The Hesitations were an R&B group from Cleveland formed in 1965. Motown artist Sandra Tilley was born in Cleveland. Soul singer Ruby Winters was raised in Cincinnati.
During the 1970s, southwest Ohio, and Dayton in particular, was known for its stable of funk bands, including Bootsy's Rubber Band,Planer, Lindsay. "Stretchin' Out in Bootsy's Rubber Band – Bootsy's Rubber Band". AllMusic. Retrieved 11 September 2020 The Ohio Players, Lakeside, Slave, Aurra, Sun, Dayton, Faze O, and Zapp featuring Roger Troutman.
Walter "Junie" Morrison, is a musician and producer born in Dayton. Morrison was a producer, writer, keyboardist and vocalist for the funk band the Ohio Players in the early 1970s, where he wrote and produced their first major hits, "Pain", "Pleasure", "Ecstasy" and "Funky Worm" (1971–1972). He left the band in 1974 to release three solo albums on Westbound Records (When We Do, Freeze, and Suzie Supergroupie). In 1977 Morrison joined George Clinton's P-Funk (Parliament-Funkadelic) where he became musical director. He brought a unique sound to P-Funk and played a key role during the time of their greatest popularity from 1978 through 1980. In particular, he made prominent contributions to the platinum-selling Funkadelic album One Nation Under a Groove, the single "(Not Just) Knee Deep" (a number one hit on the U.S. R&B charts in 1979) and the gold-selling Parliament albums Motor Booty Affair, and Gloryhallastoopid. Morrison also played on and produced some P-Funk material under the pseudonym J.S. Theracon, apparently to avoid contractual difficulties. Morrison is a member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, inducted in 1997 with fifteen other members of Parliament-Funkadelic, including lead guitarist Michael "Kid Funkadelic" Hampton, from Cleveland, and Bootsy Collins, from Cincinnati.