List of people from Memphis, Tennessee

This is a list of notable people who were born in, residents of, or otherwise closely associated with Memphis, Tennessee, and its surrounding metropolitan statistical area, including Crittenden County, Arkansas; DeSoto County, Mississippi; Marshall County, Mississippi; Tate County, Mississippi; Tunica County, Mississippi; Fayette County, Tennessee; Shelby County, Tennessee; and Tipton County, Tennessee.

This list is in alphabetical order by last name.

A

• Johnny Ace — rhythm and blues singer
• Kristin Armstrong — professional road bicycle racer and three-time Olympic gold medalist
• Estelle Axton — co-founder of Stax Records

B

Kathy Bates

Bobby "Blue" Bland

Ben Browder

• Archbishop LeRoy Bailey — Senior Pastor of The First Cathedral, a megachurch in Bloomfield, Connecticut; clergy
• Julien Baker — singer, songwriter, and guitarist
• The Bar-Kays — musicians
• Lloyd Barbee — Wisconsin legislator and civil rights activist
• Marion Barry — mayor of Washington, D.C.
• Kathy Bates — Academy Award-winning actress
• Kenneth Lawrence Beaudoin — poet
• Michael Beck — actor, best known for The Warriors and Xanadu
• Reginald Becton — basketball player who currently plays for Maccabi Haifa of the Israeli Basketball Premier League
• Diane Meredith Belcher — concert organist, teacher, and church musician
• Chris Bell — musician
• Charles T. Bernard - businessman and Arkansas politician, died in Memphis in 2015
• James Blackwood — gospel singer, founding member of quartet The Blackwood Brothers
• Bobby "Blue" Bland — musician
• Elizabeth Bolden — oldest person in the world during most of 2006
• Charles Boyce — syndicated cartoonist
• Cory Branan — singer/songwriter
• Craig Brewer — film director
• Ben Browder — actor, best known for Farscape and Stargate SG-1
• Joe Brown — politician
• Isaac Bruce — NFL player for the St. Louis Rams
• Dorsey Burnette — rockabilly pioneer, singer-songwriter
• Johnny Burnette — rockabilly pioneer, singer-songwriter
• Leonard Burton — NFL player

C

Alex Chilton

Edward H. Crump

• Tyrone Calico — NFL player for the Tennessee Titans
• Dixie Carter — actress known for Designing Women and Desperate Housewives
• Bob Caruthers — Major League Baseball player^[1]
• Kellye Cash — Miss America 1987
• Cy Casper — NFL player for the Green Bay Packers, St. Louis Gunners, and Pittsburgh Pirates
• David Catching — musician
• Alex Chilton — musician
• Robert Reed Church, Sr. — entrepreneur and philanthropist
• Philip Claypool — musician
• Lashundra Trenyce Cobbin — American Idol contestant
• Steve Cohen — politician
• Richard Colbert — rapper known as iLoveMemphis or iHeartMemphis
• George Coleman — musician
• Barron Collier — businessman
• John Cooper — musician, Skillet
• Hank Crawford — musician
• Steve Cropper — musician, Booker T. and the M.G.'s and The Blues Brothers
• Edward H. Crump — political boss and U.S. Representative

D

Donald "Duck" Dunn

• Chastity Daniels — musician
• Janette Davis — singer
• Rick Dees — radio personality
• Nancy Denson — mayor of Athens, Georgia
• Peter C. Doherty — Nobel laureate; scientist at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital
• Shannen Doherty — actress known for Beverly Hills, 90210
• Young Dolph — rapper (grew up in Memphis)
• Vol Dooley — Louisiana sheriff
• Johnny Dowd — musician
• Drumma Boy — hip hop music producer
• William B. Dunavant — businessman, CEO of Dunavant Enterprises
• Donald "Duck" Dunn — musician in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame

E

• Johanna Edwards — author
• William Eggleston — photographer
• Egypt Central — band
• Eightball & MJG — musicians

F

Aretha Franklin

• Ben Ferguson — nationally syndicated talk radio host
• Paul Finebaum — television and radio sports-talk host
• 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
• Harold Ford, Jr. — politician
• Jacob Ford — NFL player, Tennessee Titans
• Abe Fortas — politician and U.S. Supreme Court justice
• Morgan Jon Fox — film director
• Aretha Franklin — 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

G

Al Green

Logan Guleff

• 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
• Ginnifer Goodwin — actress
• Robert Gordon — filmmaker and writer
• 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, known for his single "They Just Don't Know"

H

W.C. Handy

Chris Hardwick

• Lucy Hale — singer and actress
• Richard Halliburton — explorer and author
• George Hamilton — Golden Globe Award-winning actor
• W.C. Handy — musician
• Anfernee "Penny" Hardaway — professional basketball player
• Chris Hardwick — comedian and actor, best known for Talking Dead and The Nerdist Podcast
• 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
• Howlin' Wolf — blues musician in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
• John Hulse — college professor
• Andy Hummel — musician

I

• Ingram Hill — band

J

Mother Jones

• Al Jackson, Jr. — musician
• Quinton "Rampage" Jackson — mixed martial arts fighter
• Jimi Jamison — singer, songwriter
• 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 "Mother" Jones — prominent labor and community organizer
• Juicy J — rapper
• Rob Jungklas — musician

K

K. Michelle

• K. Michelle — musician
• Florence Kahn — early Ibsen actress and wife of Max Beerbohm
• 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

L

Jerry Lee Lewis

• Snooky Lanson — singer and television personality
• Chuck Lanza — NFL player
• Brian Lawler — professional wrestler
• Jerry Lawler — professional wrestler
• Jerry Lee Lewis — musician in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
• Alan Lightman — novelist and physicist
• Lil Wyte — rapper
• Booker Little — musician
• Charles Lloyd — musician
• Andre Lott — football player
• Matt Lucas — singer, drummer, songwriter
• Jimmie Lunceford — musician

M

Wink Martindale

Willie Mitchell

• Jim Mabry — Arkansas Razorbacks football All-American
• Terry Manning — music producer, photographer
• The Mar-Keys — musicians
• Roy O. Martin, Jr. — timber businessman and philanthropist; born in Memphis
• 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
• Edward J. Meeman — journalist with the former Memphis Press-Scimitar
• The Memphis Horns — musicians
• 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
• Allen B. Morgan, Jr. — businessman, founded Morgan Keegan
• Haley Morris-Cafiero — photographer^[2]
• Wendy Moten — singer
• Steven J. Mulroy — singer
• David W. Mullins, Jr. — former Vice Chairman of the Federal Reserve
• Charlie Musselwhite — blues musician
• Zach Myers — lead guitarist for rock band Shinedown

N

Elise Neal

• Elise Neal — actress
• Pat and Gina Neely — celebrity chefs on Food Network
• Latrivia S. Nelson — author
• Phineas Newborn, Jr. — jazz musician
• Nights Like These — Victory Records metalcore band

O

• Michael Oher — NFL player, subject of The Blind Side

P

• Woody Paige — sportswriter, panelist on ESPN's Around the Horn
• Cindy Parlow — athlete
• Chris Parnell — actor, known for Saturday Night Live
• Gilbert E. Patterson — bishop of Church of God in Christ
• Luther Perkins — musician
• Elliot Perry — professional basketball player
• Dewey Phillips — early rock 'n' roll disc jockey
• Sam Phillips — founder of Sun Records
• Danny Pittman — athlete
• David Porter — musician
• Elvis Presley — iconic singer, musician and actor, lived in Graceland
• Project Pat — rapper
• Tommy Prothro — football coach, UCLA and Los Angeles Rams
• Missi Pyle — actress and singer

Q

• Lisa Quinn — actress, author, designer

R

Otis Redding

• Michael Ramirez — Pulitzer Prize-winning editorial cartoonist
• Jay Reatard — musician
• Otis Redding — musician in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
• Charlie Rich — Grammy Award-winning musician
• Loren Roberts — professional golfer
• Russell Roberts — economist
• Claire Robinson — television host, author and cook
• 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

Sam and Dave

Cybill Shepherd

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
• Fred Smith — founder and chairman of FedEx
• Lane Smith — actor known for My Cousin Vinny and The Final Days
• Bobby Sowell — musician
• Marvin Stamm — musician
• 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
• Lewis Ossie Swingler — editor of Memphis World, editor and publisher of Tri-State Defender

T

• Gary Talley — musician and singer of The Box Tops

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 D. Thompson — actor and U.S. Senator (alumnus of the University of Memphis)
• Harry Thompson — football player
• Three 6 Mafia — Academy Award-winning rap musicians
• Justin Timberlake — Grammy Award-winning musician, actor and record producer
• Ike Turner — Grammy Award-winning musician

V

• Andrew VanWyngarden — musician of psychedelic rock group MGMT
• Guillaume de Van (1906–1949) – Franco–American musicologist

W

Ida B. Wells

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
• 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
• John Shelton Wilder — politician
• Elliot Williams — NBA player
• Louis Williams — NBA player
• Tennessee Williams — playwright
• Kemmons Wilson — businessman, founder of Holiday Inn
• Mike Wilson — NBA player
• Francis Winkler — NFL player
• Lorenzen Wright — NBA player

Y

• Roy Yeager — musician
• Yo Gotti — rapper; born Mario Mims
• Thaddeus Young — NBA player (grew up in Memphis)

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to People of Memphis, Tennessee.

1. ↑ Reichler, Joseph L., ed. (1979) [1969]. The Baseball Encyclopedia (4th ed.). New York: Macmillan Publishing. ISBN 0-02-578970-8. 
2. ↑ Clark, Kym (2013-04-26). "Photographer's social experiment gains exposure". WXIX-TV. Retrieved 2014-11-20.