Title: List of people from Memphis, Tennessee Content: This is a list of notable people who were born in, residents of, or otherwise closely connected with Memphis, Tennessee. This list is in alphabetical order by last name. ==A== * Johnny Ace (1929–1954) — rhythm and blues singer * Heather Armstrong (born 1975) — author and blogger, Dooce.com * Kristin Armstrong (born 1973) — professional road bicycle racer and three-time Olympic gold medalist * George Awsumb (1880–1959) — Norwegian-American architect * Gwen Robinson Awsumb (1915–2003) — first woman elected to Memphis City Council * Estelle Axton (1918–2004) — co-founder of Stax Records == B == thumb|90px|Kathy Bates thumb|90px|Bobby "Blue" Bland thumb|90px|Ben Browder * Julien Baker (born 1995) — singer, songwriter, and guitarist * Michael A. Baker (born 1953) — astronaut *Adrian Banks (born 1986) — American-Israeli basketball player, 2011-12 top scorer in the Israel Basketball Premier League * The Bar-Kays (formed in 1966) — music band * Lloyd Barbee (1925–2002) — Wisconsin legislator and civil rights activist * Marion Barry (1936–2014) — mayor of Washington, D.C. * Charles Bartliff (1886–1962) — soccer player * Kathy Bates (born 1948) — Academy Award-winning actress * Kenneth Lawrence Beaudoin (1913–1995) — poet * Michael Beck (born 1949) — actor, best known for The Warriors and Xanadu * Reginald Becton (born 1991) — basketball player * 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 (1927–2015) — businessman and Arkansas politician, died in Memphis in 2015 * Big Star (formed in 1971) — rock band * Blac Youngsta (born 1990) — rapper; born Samuel Marquez Benson * Greg Bird — Major League Baseball first baseman * Tarik Black (born 1991) — basketball player * James Blackwood (1919–2002) — gospel singer, founding member of quartet The Blackwood Brothers * BlocBoy JB — rapper * Bobby "Blue" Bland (1930–2013) — musician * Elizabeth Bolden (1890–2006) — oldest person in the world during most of 2006 * Charles Boyce (born 1949) — syndicated cartoonist * Cory Branan (born 1974) — singer/songwriter * Craig Brewer (born 1971) — movie director * Ben Browder (born 1962) — actor, best known for Farscape 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 (born 1980) — former basketball player * Dorsey Burnette (1932–1979) — rockabilly pioneer, singer-songwriter * Johnny Burnette (1934–1964) — rockabilly pioneer, singer-songwriter * Leonard Burton (born 1964) — NFL player * Mike Butler (1946–2018) — basketball player * Derrick Byars (born 1984) — basketball player * Latasha Byears (born 1973) — basketball player ==C== thumb|120px|Alex Chilton thumb|120px|Edward H. Crump * Herman Cain (1945–2020) — businessman, talk show host, and candidate for the 2012 Republican presidential nomination * Tyrone Calico (born 1980) — NFL player for the Tennessee Titans * Dixie Carter (1939–2010) — actress known for Designing Women and Desperate Housewives * Lorenzo Carter (born 1995) — linebacker for the Atlanta Falcons * Bob Caruthers (1864–1911) — Major League Baseball player * Kellye Cash (born 1965) — Miss America 1987 * Rosanne Cash (born 1955) — singer-songwriter * Cy Casper (1912–1968) — NFL player for the Green Bay Packers, St. Louis Gunners, and Pittsburgh Pirates * Dave Catching (born 1961) — musician * Alex Chilton (1950–2010) — musician * NLE Choppa — rapper * Mary Church Terrell – civil and women's rights activist * Robert Reed Church, Sr. (1839–1912) — entrepreneur and philanthropist * Ian Clark (born 1991) — basketball player * Philip Claypool — musician * Jack Clement — singer, songwriter, and record/movie producer * Lashundra Trenyce Cobbin (born 1980) — American Idol contestant * Steve Cohen (born 1949) — politician * Richard Colbert — rapper also known as iLoveMemphis or iHeartMemphis * Olivia Cole (1942–2018) — actress * George Coleman (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 — baseball shortstop and third baseman for the San Francisco Giants * Hank Crawford (1934–2009) — musician * Steve Cropper (born 1941) — musician, Booker T. and the M.G.'s and The Blues Brothers * Edward H. Crump (1874–1954) — political boss and U.S. Representative * Randy Culpepper (born 1989) — basketball player ==D== thumb|120px|Shannen Doherty thumb|120px|Donald "Duck" Dunn * Chastity Daniels (born 1978) — musician * Janette Davis (1916–2005) — singer * Rick Dees (born 1950) — radio personality * Nancy Denson — mayor of Athens, Georgia * Duke Deuce — rapper * Eric Jerome Dickey (1961–2021) — author * Jim Dickinson (1941–2009) — musician; producer * Peter C. Doherty (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 (born 1948) — musician * Marcia Van Dresser (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 (1941–2012) — musician in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame == E == * Johanna Edwards (born 1978) — author * William Eggleston (born 1939) — photographer * Egypt Central (2002–2014) — band * Eightball & MJG (established in 1991) — musicians ==F== thumb|120px|Aretha Franklin * Ben Ferguson — nationally syndicated talk radio host * Paul Finebaum — television and radio sports-talk host * Marjorie Finlay — opera singer and television personality * Veronica Finn — pop singer of now- disbanded group Innosense * Ric Flair — professional wrestler (adopted at six weeks; raised in Minnesota) * Rey Flemings — music commissioner * Avron Fogelman — former owner of Kansas City Royals and various Memphis-based sports teams; namesake of southeastern leg of Interstate 240 * Shelby Foote — author * George L. Forbes — Cleveland City Council President, President of the Cleveland NAACP * Clementine Ford — actress * Harold Ford, Jr. — politician * Jacob Ford — NFL player, Tennessee Titans * Abe Fortas — politician and U.S. Supreme Court justice * Cary Fowler — agriculturalist, established the Svalbard Global Seed Vault * Morgan Jon Fox — movie director * Aretha Franklin (1942–2018) — singer in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame * Frayser Boy — Academy Award-winning rapper * Nelson Frazier, Jr. — wrestler * Morgan Freeman — Academy Award-winning actor * Judy Freudberg — writer * John Fry — music producer, engineer, founder of Ardent Studios * Charlie Feathers, rockabilly musician ==G== thumb|60px|Al Green thumb|60px|Logan Guleff * David Galloway (writer) — novelist, international art curator, journalist and academic * Gangsta Boo — rapper * TM Garret — author, producer, filmmaker, radio personality, activist * The Gentrys — 1960s rock band with Larry Raspberry and Larry Wall * Cassietta George — gospel singer and composer * David Gest — event and concert producer * Lee Giles — academic and computer scientist * Key Glock — rapper * Ginnifer Goodwin — actress * Robert Gordon — filmmaker and writer * Clare Grant — actress * Al Green — singer, musician in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame * Larkin Grimm — folk singer * Logan Guleff — MasterChef Junior Season 2 winner * Gyft — rapper signed to E1 Music ==H== thumb|90px|W.C. Handy thumb|90px|Chris Hardwick * Lucy Hale — singer and actress * Richard Halliburton — explorer and author * George Hamilton — Golden Globe Award-winning actor * Anne Haney — actress * W.C. Handy — musician * Rebecca Hanover — (B.A. English/creative writing 2001), television writer, winner of Daytime Emmy Award for her work on Guiding Light * Anfernee "Penny" Hardaway — former NBA player, NCAA Basketball coach * E. Hunter Harrison — CEO of Canadian Pacific Railway * Jimmy Hart — singer, pro wrestling personality * Jon Hassell — musician * Isaac Hayes — actor and Academy Award-winning musician * Olivia Holt — singer and actress * John Lee Hooker — blues 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 — college professor * Andy Hummel — musician * Alberta Hunter — singer ==I== * Ingram Hill — band ==J== thumb|120px|Mother Jones * Al Jackson, Jr. — musician * Quinton "Rampage" Jackson — mixed martial arts fighter * Raji Jallepalli — Indian-born chef and restaurateur * Antonio D. James (born 1985) — filmmaker; producer * Jimi Jamison — singer, songwriter * Roland Janes — musician, producer * Josh Jasper — All-American college football placekicker * John Wayles Jefferson — mixed-race grandson of Thomas Jefferson and Sally Hemings, colonel in the Union Army, 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 Jones — prominent labor and community organizer * Rich Jones (born 1946) — basketball player * Juicy J — rapper, producer; member of Three 6 Mafia * Rob Jungklas — musician ==K== * The Kat — professional wrestler * K. Michelle — singer * Florence Kahn — early Ibsen actress and wife of Max Beerbohm * Francis M. Kneeland — early African American physician who located her practice on Beale Street. * Tay Keith — record producer * Key Glock — rapper, cousin to Young Dolph * George "Machine Gun" Kelly — Great Depression- era bank robber and kidnapper * Larry Kenon — basketball player, led Memphis State to 1973 NCAA title game * Carlton W. Kent — Sergeant Major of the Marine Corps * Albert King — blues musician * B.B. King — blues musician, Rock and Roll Hall of Fame * Betty Klepper - scientist ==L== thumb|120px|Jerry Lee Lewis * Linda Thompson — singer, lyricist * Snooky Lanson — singer and television personality * Chuck Lanza — NFL player * Brian Lawler — professional wrestler * Jerry Lawler — professional wrestler * Arthur Lee (1945–2006) — singer-songwriter * Fannie Lewis — Cleveland Ohio's longest serving councilwoman * Furry Lewis — blues musician * Jerry Lee Lewis — musician in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame * Eddie Lightfoot — minstrel dancer * Alan Lightman — novelist and physicist * Lil Wyte — rap singer * Booker Little — musician * Charles Lloyd — musician * Andre Lott — football player * Lord T & Eloise — Memphis based Aristocrunk rappers and intergalactic travelers * Matt Lucas — singer-songwriter, drummer * Jimmie Lunceford — musician * Herb Lusk - NFL player and clergyman ==M== thumb|120px|Wink Martindale thumb|120px|Willie Mitchell * Jim Mabry — Arkansas Razorbacks football All-American * Bill Madlock (born 1951) — Major League Baseball player * Terry Manning — music producer, photographer * Nick Marable — freestyle wrestler who competed for USA's national teamNick Marable - Team USA. Retrieved November 9, 2020. * The Mar-Keys — musicians * Wink Martindale — radio and television personality * Tim McCarver — professional baseball player and broadcaster * Hilton McConnico — designer and artist * Kenneth D. McKellar — long-serving U.S. Senator * The Memphis Horns — musicians * Memphis Minnie — blues singer * Memphis Slim — musician * Shaun Micheel — professional golfer * Cary Middlecoff — professional golfer, Masters and U.S. Open champion * Ryan Miller — professional hockey player * Lola Mitchell — musician * Willie Mitchell — musician and music producer * Chips Moman — music producer * Sputnik Monroe — professional wrestler * Lecrae Moore — musician and music executive * Scotty Moore — guitarist * Allen B. Morgan, Jr. — businessman, founded Morgan Keegan * Haley Morris-Cafiero — photographer * Wendy Moten — singer * Steven J. Mulroy — District Attorney General, law professor * David W. Mullins, Jr. — former Vice Chairman of the Federal Reserve * Charlie Musselwhite — blues musician * Zach Myers — lead guitarist for rock band Shinedown ==N== thumb|120px|Elise Neal * 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 (1950–2019) — basketball player and coach * Phineas Newborn Jr. (1931–1989) — jazz musician * Nights Like These — Victory Records metalcore band ==O== * Michael Oher — NFL player, subject of The Blind Side * Roy Orbison — singer ==P== * Woody Paige (born 1946) — sportswriter, panelist on ESPN's Around the Horn * Hermes Pan (1909–1990) — dancer and choreographer * Cindy Parlow Cone (born 1978) — athlete * Chris Parnell (born 1967) — actor, known for Saturday Night Live * Gilbert E. Patterson (1939–2007) — bishop of Church of God in Christ * DJ Paul — rapper * Ann Peebles (born 1947) — singer * Paul Penczner (1916–2010) — Hungarian-born artist * Carl Perkins (1932–1998) — musician * Luther Perkins (1928–1968) — musician * Elliot Perry (born 1969) — professional basketball player * Dewey Phillips (1926–1968) — early rock 'n' roll disc jockey * Sam Phillips (1923–2003) — founder of Sun Records * Marguerite Piazza (1920–2012) — opera singer * Danny Pittman (born 1958) — athlete * David Porter (born 1941) — musician * Lisa Marie Presley (born 1968) — singer-songwriter; child of singer and actor Elvis Presley * Project Pat (born 1973) — rapper * Tommy Prothro (1920–1995) — football coach, UCLA and Los Angeles Rams * Missi Pyle (born 1972) — actress and singer ==Q== * Lisa Quinn (born 1967) — actress, author, designer ==R== thumb|120px|Otis Redding * Michael Ramirez (born 1961) — Pulitzer Prize-winning editorial cartoonist * Jay Reatard (1980–2010) — musician * Otis Redding — musician in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame * Brent Renaud (1971-2011) - journalist and writer * Charlie Rich — Grammy Award-winning musician * Austin Riley — MLB Player * Loren Roberts — professional golfer * Russell Roberts — economist * Claire Robinson — television host, author and cook * Kali Rocha (born 1971) — actress * Adrian Rogers — former pastor of Bellevue Baptist Church and president of the Southern Baptist Convention * Joe Russell — former world backgammon champion * Lance Russell — pro wrestling announcer ==S== thumb|120px|Sam and Dave thumb|120px|Cybill Shepherd thumb|120px|Stella Stevens * Saliva — musical group * Sam and Dave (Sam Moore and David Prater) — musicians in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame * Sam the Sham — musician, leader of Sam the Sham and the Pharaohs * William Sanderson — actor known for Newhart and Blade Runner * J. Peter Sartain — Archbishop of Seattle * Clarence Saunders — founder of the world's first self-service supermarket, Piggly Wiggly * Jerry Schilling — associate of Elvis Presley, The Beach Boys * Dan Schneider — actor * Josey Scott — musician * Will Shade — musician * Gwen Shamblin — 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 and Cybill * George Sherrill — MLB player * Lee Shippey — journalist * Hampton Sides — author * McKinley Singleton — NBA player, New York Knicks * Arthur Smith head coach of the Atlanta Falcons * Bingo Smith (born 1946) — basketball player * Fred Smith — founder and chairman of FedEx * Lane Smith — actor known for My Cousin Vinny and The Final Days * George W. Snedecor (1881–1974) — mathematician and statistician * Bobby Sowell — musician * Ben Spies (born 1984) — motorcycle road racer * Marvin Stamm — musician * Kay Starr — singer * Ricky Stenhouse Jr. — NASCAR driver * Jody Stephens — musician * Andrew Stevens — actor and producer * Stella Stevens — Golden Globe Award-winning actress * Jim Stewart — record producer and co- founder of Stax Records * Frank Stokes — blues musician * Jarnell Stokes (born 1994) — basketball player * Lewis Ossie Swingler — editor of Memphis World, editor and publisher of Tri-State Defender * Pooh Shiesty (born 1999) — rapper ==T== * Gary Talley — musician and singer of The Box Tops thumb|120px|Carla Thomas * Cliff Taylor — football player * Raymond Taylor — catcher in Negro league baseball * Lloyd Thaxton — television personality * Carla Thomas — musician and daughter of Rufus Thomas * Danny Thomas — entertainer, actor and founder of St. Jude Children's Research Hospital * Rufus Thomas — musician * Fred Thompson — actor and U.S. Senator (alumnus of the University of Memphis) * Harry Thompson — football player * Linda Thompson — songwriter and actress * Three 6 Mafia — Academy Award-winning rap musicians * Justin Timberlake — Grammy Award-winning musician, actor and record producer * London on da Track — record producer * Don Trip — rapper * Leigh Anne Tuohy — businesswoman and interior designer * Ike Turner — Grammy Award-winning musician ==V== * Guillaume de Van (1906–1949) — Franco–American musicologist *Andrew VanWyngarden — musician of psychedelic rock group MGMT * Alexey Vermeulen (born 1994) — cyclist ==W== thumb|120px|Ida B. Wells thumb|120px|Junior Wells * Sam Walton — football player * Teddy Walton — composer, producer, writer and DJ * Garrett Wang — 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 (December 16, 1920 – October 15, 2011), former U.S. Army Air Force officer and prolific Tuskegee Airmen * Ida B. Wells — civil rights advocate and women's rights advocate * Junior Wells — musician * David West — baseball player * Red West — actor * Kirk Whalum — musician * Maurice White — 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 — rapper/singer * John Shelton Wilder — politician * Elliot Williams — NBA player * LaNell Williams — American physicist and virologist * Louis Williams — NBA player * Tennessee Williams — playwright * Kemmons Wilson — businessman, founder of Holiday Inn * Mike Wilson — NBA player * Jesse Winchester — singer/songwriter * Francis Winkler — NFL player * Ernest Withers — photojournalist * Lorenzen Wright — NBA player ==Y== * Roy Yeager — musician * Yo Gotti (born 1981) — rapper; born Mario Mims * Thaddeus Young — NBA player (grew up in Memphis) * Moneybagg Yo (born 1991) — rapper