Match The Musical Nicknames Trivia Quiz

Answer: Roy Acuff

Born in Maynardville, Tennessee, in September 1903, Acuff died in Nashville, Tennessee, in November 1992.
His major musical genres were country and gospel and he has been credited for moving country music from its early 'backwoods' image to a more professional footing.
A kingpin of the "Grand Ol Opry" from 1938, he toured extensively and also appeared in movies.
By the mid-1960s, some say his star had waned, but there was to be a revival in the 1970s and he was still performing daily into the 1980s.

Answer: Chet Atkins

Also known as "the country gentleman", Chet Atkins was born in Luttrell, Tennessee, in June 1924 and died in Nashville, Tennessee, in June 2001.
He was among those who helped develop the "Nashville sound" of country music.
Atkins was influenced by some of the greatest guitarist around and developed a distinctive style of his own.
As well as a sterling performing career of his own, he became a noted producer of other musicians. Atkins won 15 Grammys, including a 'Lifetime Achievement' award.

Answer: Joan Baez

Joan Baez was born in Staten Island, New York, in January 1941.
She has credited developing a love for folk music after seeing Pete Seeger play when she was aged 13.
By the age of 17, she was performing in folk clubs in Boston. Bob Gibson, who was then at the height of his folk music career, invited her to sing with him at the 1959 Newport Folk Festival.
Soon after, she recorded the first of many albums. As well as her music, Baez was noted for social activism. She campaigned for Civil Rights for all in the US, was opposed to America's involvement in the Vietnam War, and was involved in many other campaigns thereafter.

Answer: David Bowie

David Bowie was born in January 1947 in Brixton, London, and died in January 2016 in New York City.
He formed his first band in 1962 and over the following 50-odd years, became one of the most successful musicians of his time.
He sold more than 140 million records and 11 of his albums were chart-toppers.
Bowie's career involved periods of continuous development and re-invention that covered a number of musical genres.
"Glam Rock" gave him his first real taste of fame in the early 1970s, and he was to embrace electronic music and pure pop.
His first UK number one single was "Space Oddity" in 1975 and "Ashes to Ashes"
was a 1980 number one. He also topped the charts in conjunction with Queen and with Mick Jagger.
Summing up Bowie's legacy is no simple task. The Guardian newspaper called him "a trailblazer of musical trends and pop fashion". The Daily Telegraph said he was "a rock musician of rare originality and talent". The New York Times described him as "...infinitely changeable, fiercely forward-looking songwriter who taught generations of musicians about the power of drama, images and persona."

Answer: James Brown

James Joseph Brown, Jr. was born in May 1933 in Barnwell, South Carolina, and died on Christmas Day, 2006 in Atlanta, Georgia.
Initially a gospel singer, his repertoire was to embrace several genres and as a singer, writer and producer, he was to be an influence on many other artists.
Brown's life, though, could have turned out quite differently. At the age of 16 he was convicted of armed robbery and served a three-year sentence. He met soul singer Bobby Byrd while serving that sentence and became a member of the Gospel/R&B band The Famous Flames.
Noted for a dynamic, some would say frenetic, stage presence, stardom beckoned. He also popularised funk music.
Brown was also political, and supported Martin Luther King Jr. and ultimately the Black Power movement.

Answer: Elvis Presley

Elvis Aron Presley was born in January 1935 in Tupelo, Mississippi, and died in August 1977 in Memphis, Tennessee.
Presley's story is too well known and his place in 20th Century music too well established to précis in a few sentences.
However, a few factoids: in 1947, a radio show offered 12-year-old Elvis a chance to sing live on air, but he was too shy to take up the offer. He actually bought his first guitar at the age of 11 - he had wanted a rifle but his mother insisted on the guitar. When he was 21, he auditioned for a gospel quartet named The Songfellows, but was turned down. Although he became loved and lauded throughout the world, he only ever played five concerts outwith the USA, all in Canada.
The nickname, incidently, is thought to come from Robert Johnson, entertainment reporter at the "Memphis Press Scimitar", who called Elvis "the fledgling king of rock'n'roll" in an article in May 1956.

Answer: Eric Clapton

Eric Clapton was born in March 1945 in Surrey, England.
By 1963 he was part of The Yardbirds, a hugely inventive and influential rock band.
He went on to perform with some of Britain's best rock bands, including John Mayall & The Bluesbreakers, Blind Faith, Derek & The Dominoes, and Cream.
An electric guitar virtuoso, for a large part of his early career Clapton personally believed that he was a poor singer.
By the early 1970s, Clapton was well into a solo career, although was always accompanied by some of the finest musicians around. Not noted as a singles artist, his albums sold well, virtually all making the top 20 in the UK and US.

Answer: Ella Fitzgerald

Ella Jane Fitzgerald was born in April 1917 in Newport News, Virginia, and died in June 1996 in Beverly Hills, California.
Her singing career began in 1934, though Fitzgerald had thought of herself as a dancer.
Jazz was to be her early forte and she excelled at all styles during a period that jazz was continuously being reinvented by its practitioners.
She was the first African American woman to win a Grammy, in 1958, and 13 more were to follow during a busy career.

Answer: Gloria Gaynor

Gloria Gaynor was born in September 1949 in Newark, New Jersey.
She came from a musical family and showed her own prowess at a young age. She sang jazz and R&B through much of the 1960s but it was in 1975 that she was to make her breakthrough on a main record label. Her first number one (on the Billboard Dance Charts) was "Never Can Say Goodbye".
Gaynor caught the mid 1970s mood for disco music and in 1978 hit the top of the Hot 100 with "I Will Survive" - a song that was to go on to become a karaoke mainstay.
Her career fluctuated, but she maintained a busy touring schedule.

Answer: Joan Jett

Joan Jett (Joan Marie Larkin) was born in September 1958 in Wynnewood, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Her first singing experience was in a band called The Runaways, which released five albums.
By the late 1970s, Jett had embarked on a solo career, but was soon to form a new band. 'Joan Jet & The Blackhearts" went on to achieve some notable prominence.
In 1981, "I Love Rock 'n' Roll" was her first number one single on the Billboard charts. An album of the same name reached number two on the Billboard charts.
She was inducted into the 'Rock and Roll Hall of Fame' in 2015.