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W. C. Handy
Sign in to saveAlso known as W.C. Handy, W C Handy, WC Handy, Father of the Blues, William C. Handy, William Christopher Handy
American blues composer and musician (1873–1958)
OverviewAI-generated
W. C. Handy, born William Christopher Handy on November 16, 1873, in Florence, Alabama, was an American trumpeter, composer, songwriter, and autobiographer. He worked in the genres of blues, ragtime, and jazz, with his career beginning in 1893. Handy played the trumpet, guitar, and piano, and was a member of the African American ethnic group. He wrote in English and received the Grammy Trustees Award.
He died of pneumonia due to natural causes on March 28, 1958, in New York City, and is buried at Woodlawn Cemetery. Handy suffered from blindness later in life. His notable works include "St. Louis blues" and "Blues," as well as "Louis Armstrong plays W.C. Handy" and "Two rags for saxophone (soprano, alto, or tenor) or clarinet and piano."
Synthesized by Vinony from 36 facts across 5 sources: Wikidata, Open Library, MusicBrainz, Last.fm, TMDb. Generated from structured data (not the Wikipedia text) and checked against those facts — may still contain errors.
Person · Open Library
- Born
- 1873
- Died
- 1958
- Works
- 9
Top works
- Louis Armstrong plays W.C. Handy
- Two rags for saxophone (soprano, alto, or tenor) or clarinet and piano
- W.C. Handy
- St. Louis blues
- Blues
via Open Library + Wikidata
Film & TV
Florence, Alabama, USA
Known for
- Bluesland: A Portrait in American Music — Self1993
- The Ed Sullivan Show — Self1948
- The Negro Soldier — Self (archive footage)1944
via TMDB
Music · MusicBrainz
- Type
- Person
- Gender
- Male
- Country
- United States
- Active from
- 1873
- Active to
- 1958
Discography
via MusicBrainz · CC0
Listeners · Last.fm
- Listeners
- 17,217
- Total plays
- 53,019
Tags
William Christopher Handy (November 16, 1873 – March 28, 1958) was a blues composer and musician. He was widely known as the "Father of the Blues". Handy remains among the most influential of American songwriters. Though he was one of many musicians who played the distinctively American form of music known as the blues, he is credited with giving it its contemporary form. While Handy was not the first to publish music in the blues form, he took <a href="https://www.last.fm/music/W.C.+Handy">Rea
Key facts
- Also known as
- Father of the Blues
- Born
- William Christopher Handy , ( 1873-11-16 ) November 16, 1873, Florence, Alabama , U.S.
- Origin
- Memphis, Tennessee , U.S.
- Died
- March 28, 1958 (1958-03-28) (aged 84), New York City , U.S.
- Genres
- Blues jazz
- Occupations
- Composer musician bandleader
- Instrument
- Trumpet
- Years active
- 1893–1948
via Wikipedia infobox
Wikidata facts
- Instance of
- human
- Given name
- Christopher
- Gender
- male
- Citizenship
- United States
- Place of birth
- Florence
- Place of death
- New York City
- Occupation
- music journalist
- Languages spoken
- English language
- Notable work
- Beale Street Blues
- Field of work
- jazz
- Genre
- blues
- Instrument
- piano
- Image
- W. C. Handy (1941 Van Vechten portrait).jpg
Show 15 more facts
- place of burial
- Woodlawn Cemetery
- Commons category
- W. C. Handy
- date of birth
- 1873-11-16
- date of death
- 1958-03-29
- medical condition
- blindness
- ethnic group
- African Americans
- manner of death
- natural causes
- cause of death
- pneumonia
- writing language
- English language
- start of work period
- 1893-00-00
- birth name
- William Christopher Handy
- P8168
- Afifabad Garden
- name in native language
- William C. Handy
- copyright representative
- American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers
- Commons Creator page
- W. C. Handy
Sources (10)
via Wikidata · CC0
~25 min read
Encyclopedic overview
William Christopher Handy (November 16, 1873 – March 28, 1958) was an American composer and musician who referred to himself as the Father of the Blues. He was one of the most influential songwriters in the United States. One of many musicians who played the distinctively American blues music, Handy did not create the blues genre but was one of the first to publish music in the blues form, thereby taking the blues from a regional music style (Delta blues) with a limited audience to a new level of popularity.
Handy used elements of folk music in his compositions. He was scrupulous in documenting the sources of his works, which frequently combined stylistic influences from various performers.
Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “W. C. Handy” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.