List of people from Memphis, Tennessee

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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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.