Music

Elvis could not have come from humbler origins: Born in Tupelo, Mississippi, during the Depression, he grew up with the blues music of the rural South, the gospel music of local churches, and the country-western classics. Listen to learn more about Elvis....

Leonardo da Vinci was a gifted painter, talented musician, and dedicated scientist and inventor, designing flying machines, submarines, and even helicopters. Yet he had a hard time finishing things, a problem anyone can relate to....

This audiobook spotlights Dolly Parton, known for her beloved country songs, who has also sent over 150 million free books to children through her Imagination Library....

Born in a little cabin in Tennessee, Dolly Parton always dreamed big, and she was right to! She wrote her first song at age five and became a country music star....

Ella Fitzgerald began her life as a singer on the stage of the Apollo Theater when she was just 17 years old....

From the moment Evelyn Glennie heard her first note, music held her heart. She played the piano by ear at age eight, and the clarinet by age ten....

Geoff Edgers, a Boston Globe reporter and hard-core Beatles fan, brings the Fab Four to life in this Who Was...? book. Listeners will learn about their childhoods in Liverpool, their first forays into rock music, what Beatlemania was like, and why they broke up....

How did a working-class girl from Cuba become a symbol of artistic freedom for Cuban Americans and the "Queen of Salsa"? Find out in this addition to the Who HQ library....

From the New York Times best-selling author of Little Leaders: Bold Women in Black History comes the highly anticipated follow-up, a beautifully illustrated collectible detailing the lives of women creators around the world....

Want to know more about the life of this talented celebrity? Listen on to learn all about Katy's childhood, career, favorite things, love life, future goals, and more....

Bruce Springsteen grew up in a blue-collar New Jersey town where his parents struggled to make ends meet. Bruce didn't fit in at school but found solace in rock and roll....

Learn about the early lives and exciting careers of the Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Elvis Presley, Aretha Franklin, Bob Dylan, Stevie Wonder, Elton John, Bob Marley, Bruce Springsteen, and Bono....

If not for a stint in reform school, young Louis Armstrong might never have become a musician. It was a teacher at the Colored Waifs' Home who gave him a cornet, promoted him to band leader, and saw talent in the tough kid from the even tougher New Orleans neighborhood called Storyville....

In the 1930s, Black singer Marian Anderson was not allowed to perform at Constitution Hall. With help from Eleanor Roosevelt, she did just that and became an activist for civil rights....

Born in Austria in 1756, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart composed his first piece of music, a minuet, when he was just five years old! Soon after, he was performing for kings and emperors. Although he died at the young age of 35 Mozart left a legacy of more than 600 works....

Starting out over 50 years ago, the Rolling Stones took the music of the blues and blended it into rock and roll to create their own unique sound....

The moving true story of how young Ukrainian Jewish piano prodigies Zhanna (alias “Anna”) and her sister, Frina, outplayed their pursuers while hiding in plain sight during the Holocaust.... 

Como era la vida diaria de ese niño, Mozart, que a los cinco años tocaba ante los reyes y componía sinfonías, es la base de esta dramatización....

Stevie Wonder is one of the most successful singer-songwriter-musicians of our time....

Girls cannot be drummers. Long ago on an island filled with music, no one questioned that rule - until the drum dream girl....

Adored for his music, dancing, and performing - and known for his highly publicized personal life - Michael Jackson remains the ultimate music legend....

This Chelsea House’s Galaxy of Superstars book features the young diva who has taken the country by storm with a dynamic singing voice and notable acting credits....

Born Eunice Kathleen Waymon in small-town North Carolina, Nina Simone was a musical child. She sang before she talked and learned to play piano at a very young age....

As a little girl, Teresa Carreño loved to let her hands dance across the beautiful keys of the piano. If she felt sad, music cheered her up, and when she was happy, the piano helped her share that joy. Soon she was writing her own songs and performing in grand cathedrals....

How did an Irish schoolboy become the lead singer of a world-famous rock band and the founder of several humanitarian groups? Track Bono's rise to fame in this exciting addition to the Who Was? series....

This audiobook spotlights Dolly Parton, known for her beloved country songs, who has also sent over 150 million free books to children through her Imagination Library. 

Due to his wide range of musical talent and an incomparable career spanning forty-nine years, Johnny Cash has been inducted into the Country, Rock and Roll, Rockabilly, and Gospel Halls of Fame. He also won 18 Grammys and 9 Country Music Association Awards. Who Was Johnny Cash? lets young listeners learn about every step in Johnny Cash's groundbreaking musical career. As one of the best-selling American musicians of all time, Cash, born JR Carter, was known for his rich, deep voice and musical style that featured a chugging, train-like beat. 

When renowned classical singer Marian Anderson wasn't allowed to sing at a theater in Washington, DC, because she was Black, First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt invited her to sing at the Lincoln Memorial, at a concert attended by thousands of people. Marian went on to sing around the world on behalf of the UN and the US State Department, and as a part of the Civil Rights Movement, she also performed at the March on Washington. She went on to win many awards, including the Presidential Medal of Freedom and a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award—and she inspired countless people along the way.

How did Yo-Yo Ma become a world-renowned cellist? Listeners will learn all about this musician and the significant events in his life in this low-leveled biography. 

Elvis Presley was the King of Rock ‘n’ Roll. But his career was not all glitter and glory. The hip-shaking stardom of the 1950s sank into an embarrassing string of bad movies in the 1960s. Could Elvis kick-start his career and reconnect with his audience? Join him on his ’68 Comeback Special and witness the King rise again.