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Individual musical biographies

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Roy Bittan

Roy Bittan, "The Professor," born 1949, is the E Street Band's pianist since August 1974, defining Born to Run, and a session keyboardist for Bowie, Meat Loaf, Dire Straits, and Celine Dion.

Roy Clark

Roy Clark (1933-2018), American country singer and virtuoso guitarist, banjoist, fiddler, and mandolinist; Hee Haw co-host with Buck Owens from 1969; CMA Entertainer of the Year 1973, Grammy 1983, Country Music Hall of Fame 2009, Branson theater pioneer.

Roy Harper (singer)

Roy Harper, English folk-rock singer-songwriter and guitarist born 1941 in Manchester; debut Sophisticated Beggar (1966), Stormcock (1971), sang Pink Floyd's Have a Cigar, honored by Led Zeppelin, comeback Man & Myth (2013).

Roy Orbison

Roy Orbison (1936-1988), American rock singer-songwriter from Vernon, Texas, known for operatic ballads like "Oh, Pretty Woman" and "Crying" on Monument Records, Sun Records beginnings, and the Traveling Wilburys.

Roy Rogers

Roy Rogers, born Leonard Franklin Slye, was an American singer and actor known as the "King of the Cowboys," the top Western box-office star from 1943.

Roy Thomas Baker

Roy Thomas Baker was a British record producer known for co-producing Queen's early albums, including A Night at the Opera, and the first four albums by The Cars.

Roy Wood

Roy Wood (born 1946, Birmingham) is the British rock multi-instrumentalist who founded The Move, co-founded Electric Light Orchestra, and led Wizzard, whose hits include See My Baby Jive and I Wish It Could Be Christmas Every Day; distinct from rapper Roy Woods and comedian Roy Wood Jr.

Royale Lynn

Royale Lynn is a Canadian singer-songwriter from Aylmer, Ontario, based in Nashville; after country singles from 2021 (Rocket Man), her 2023 punktry track Six Feet Deep topped Billboard's Hard Rock Digital Sales chart, leading to Epitaph Records and the 2025 Pandora's Box concept album BLACK MAGIC.

Rozonda Thomas

Rozonda "Chilli" Thomas (born 1971), American singer, dancer, and actress; member of TLC with T-Boz and Left Eye; four Grammys, 65 million records, RIAA diamond; later TV host of Second Chance Love.

Rozz Williams

Rozz Williams (Roger Alan Painter, 1963–1998), American singer and artist, founder of deathrock band Christian Death (Only Theatre of Pain, 1982), later Shadow Project, Premature Ejaculation, and solo spoken-word work; died by suicide at 34.

Ruban Nielson

Ruban Nielson is a New Zealand musician and guitarist known for the noise pop band The Mint Chicks and for founding the psych-rock collective Unknown Mortal Orchestra.

Rubén Gómez (singer)

Rubén Gómez (born Brooklyn, New York; 1974 or 1975, sources differ) is an American Latin pop singer of Puerto Rican heritage, a Menudo member 1987–1990, later a solo artist on Arista, Broadway actor, Evoluxion member, and 2026 Menudo reunion participant.

Ruben Studdard

Ruben Studdard (Christopher Ruben Studdard), the "Velvet Teddy Bear," is an American R&B and gospel singer who won American Idol season 2 in 2003, beating Clay Aiken, and recorded Soulful and I Need an Angel.

Rudolf Schenker

Rudolf Schenker (born 1948, Sarstedt, Germany) founded the Scorpions in Hannover in 1965 at 17. Rhythm guitarist, Flying V player, and chief composer; with Klaus Meine led the band to 100 million records.

Rudolph Isley

Rudolph Bernard Isley (April 1, 1939 – October 11, 2023), American singer-songwriter, founding member of the Isley Brothers, sang on "Shout," left in 1989 for the ministry, later sued brother Ronald over the band trademark.

Rudy Sarzo

Rudy Sarzo, Cuban-born hard rock and metal bassist (full name Rodolfo Maximiliano Sarzo Lavielle Grande Ruiz Payret y Chaumont), played with Ozzy Osbourne 1981-1982, Quiet Riot (Metal Health, No. 1 in 1983), Whitesnake, Dio, Blue Oyster Cult, Animetal USA, and The Guess Who.

Rudy Vallée

Rudy Vallée (Hubert Prior Vallée, 1901–1986), American crooner, bandleader, and radio host of the Connecticut Yankees and NBC's Fleischmann's Yeast Hour; first radio-created pop star, hitmaker of "Stein Song", later Broadway's J.B. Biggley.

Ruel (singer)

Ruel (Ruel Vincent van Dijk, born 2002, Isleworth, London) is an Australian pop and soul singer-songwriter; youngest ARIA Breakthrough Artist winner, 3 billion streams, albums 4th Wall and Kicking My Feet.

Rufus Tiger Taylor

Rufus Tiger Taylor, also Rufus Taylor, British drummer born 1991, son of Queen's Roger Taylor; drummer of The Darkness since 2015, former Jeff Beck band and Queen + Adam Lambert touring drummer, godson of Taylor Hawkins.

Rufus Wainwright

Rufus Wainwright (born 1973, Rhinebeck, New York) is a Canadian-American singer-songwriter and composer, son of Kate McGarrigle and Loudon Wainwright III, known for Poses, Release the Stars, the operas Prima Donna and Hadrian, Dream Requiem, and his Grammy-nominated Judy Garland tribute.

Ruggero Leoncavallo

Ruggero Leoncavallo (1857-1919), Italian verismo opera composer, librettist, and pianist from Naples, wrote Pagliacci (1892), paired with Mascagni's Cavalleria rusticana; also Zazà, La Bohème, operettas, and the song Mattinata for Caruso.

Rupert Holmes

Rupert Holmes (David Goldstein, born 1947, Cheshire, England) is a composer-lyricist, playwright, and singer-songwriter; his "Escape (The Pina Colada Song)" hit number one, and his audience-voting musical The Mystery of Edwin Drood won three Tonys.

Russ Ballard

Russ Ballard (Russell Glyn Ballard, born 1945, Waltham Cross) is an English rock singer-songwriter, Argent frontman 1969-1974, and writer of hits recorded by Rainbow, Hot Chocolate, Kiss, Santana, and America; solo albums since 1974.

Russ Kunkel

Russ Kunkel (Russell Kunkel, born 1948, Pittsburgh) is an American session drummer, songwriter, and producer, the rhythmic anchor of 1970s LA singer-songwriter records (Sweet Baby James, Tapestry, Blue), member of The Section and The Immediate Family.

Russell Hitchcock

Russell Hitchcock (born 1949) is the Australian lead vocalist of soft rock duo Air Supply, formed with Graham Russell in 1975 after meeting in Jesus Christ Superstar; seven straight US top five hits, 6,000+ concerts, Nashville solo album. Not the Robyn Hitchcock of the Soft Boys.

Russell Lissack

Russell Lissack, born 1981 in Chingford, London, is the lead guitarist of Bloc Party and of Pin Me Down; known for an effects-pedal-driven Telecaster sound, Novacub, the 2022 solo EP Algorhythms, and Ash touring work.

Russell Mael

Russell Mael, younger brother of Ron Mael, is the American lead vocalist of the art-pop duo Sparks, known for falsetto vocals on "This Town Ain't Big Enough for the Both of Us", the Giorgio Moroder album No. 1 in Heaven, and the film musical Annette.

Russell Watson

Russell Watson (born 1966, Salford) is an English classical crossover tenor, nicknamed the People's Tenor. Debut album The Voice (2000) topped UK and US classical charts; four Classical BRITs, 7m+ albums, two brain tumors survived.

Ruston Kelly

Ruston Kelly (born 1988, Georgetown, SC) is a Nashville-based singer-songwriter known for "dirt emo," his blend of alt-country, Americana, and emo. Albums: Dying Star (2018), Shape & Destroy, The Weakness, Pale, Through the Window (2025).

Ruth B.

Ruth B. (Ruth Berhe) is a Canadian singer-songwriter from Edmonton, Alberta, whose six-second Vine snippet of "Lost Boy" (2015) went viral, leading to Columbia Records, a No. 33 Billboard Hot 100 hit, a 2017 Juno Breakthrough Artist award, and albums Safe Haven, Moments in Between, and Peace to Make.