List of Jewish American musicians - Definition and Overview

This is a list of Jewish American musicians.

This page is part of the List of Jewish Americans series.

Solo musicians

• Paula Abdul, pop singer, dancer
• Herb Alpert, leader of Tijuana Brass
• Beck, singer/songwriter (Jewish mother)
• Dan Bern, singer/songwriter
• Hal Blaine, session drummer
• Michael Bolton, singer/songwriter
• Vanessa Carlton, singer/songwriter (Jewish mother)
• Eric Carmen, singer/songwriter
• Marc Cohn, singer/songwriter
• Joe Dassin, French-based singer
• Sammy Davis Jr, singer, entertainer (convert)
• Taylor Dayne, dance-pop singer
• Neil Diamond, singer/songwriter
• Ani DiFranco, singer/songwriter (Jewish mother) (unconfirmed)
• King Django, ska artist
• Alix Dobkin, folk singer
• Bob Dylan, singer/songwriter
• Kenny G, pop saxophonist
• Nina Gordon, singer
• Lesley Gore, pop singer
• Eydie Gorme, pop singer
• Josh Groban, pop singer (Jewish father)
• Stefan Grossman, guitarist, educator
• Arlo Guthrie, folk singer (Jewish mother)
• Larry Harlow, salsa musician
• Janis Ian, singer/songwriter
• Billy Joel, singer/songwriter
• Carol Kaye, bass player
• Carole King, singer/songwriter
• Lenny Kravitz, rock musician (Jewish father)
• Ben Kweller, singer/songwriter
• Tony Levin, bass player
• Lisa Loeb, singer/songwriter
• Barry Manilow, singer/songwriter
• Bette Midler, singer, actress
• Meredith Monk, vocalist, composer
• Laura Nyro, singer/songwriter (Jewish mother)
• Phil Ochs, protest singer
• Glen Phillips, singer/songwriter
• Phranc, folk singer
• Marvin Pontiac, R&B musician (Jewish mother)
• Lou Reed, singer/songwriter
• Jonathan Richman, proto-punk singer
• Rachael Sage, singer/songwriter
• Neil Sedaka, singer/songwriter
• Lhasa de Sela, singer/songwriter (Jewish mother)
• Dinah Shore, singer, actress
• Carly Simon, singer/songwriter (Jewish father)
• Paul Simon, singer/songwriter
• Jill Sobule, singer/songwriter
• Regina Spektor, singer/songwriter
• Brenda K. Starr, salsa singer (Jewish father)
• Barbra Streisand, singer, actress, director
• Princess Superstar, rapper
• Tiny Tim, singer (Jewish mother)
• Sophie Tucker, singer, entertainer
• Scott Walker, singer/songwriter (unconfirmed)
• Jackie Wilson, soul singer (convert)
• Steve Wynn, singer/songwriter
• Warren Zevon, singer/songwriter

Band musicians

Arranged by band name:

• 3rd Bass - MC Serch
• Aerosmith - Joey Kramer
• Anthrax - Scott Ian, Dan Lilker
• Asleep at the Wheel - Ray Benson, Lucky Oceans
• Bad Religion - Brett Gurewitz
• The Bangles - Susanna Hoffs
• The Beach Boys - David Marks (half Jewish)
• Beastie Boys - Michael Diamond, Adam Yauch, Adam Horovitz (Horovitz half Jewish)
• The Black Crowes - Chris & Rich Robinson (both half Jewish)
• Blondie - Chris Stein (half Jewish)
• Blood, Sweat & Tears - Al Kooper, Fred Lipsius, Randy Brecker, Jerry Weiss, Steve Katz, Bobby Colomby
• Blue Oyster Cult - Eric Bloom
• Bon Jovi - David Bryan
• The Cars - Elliot Easton
• Counting Crows - Adam Duritz
• Country Joe and the Fish - Joe McDonald, Barry Melton (both half Jewish)
• The Dictators - Andy Shernoff, Handsome Dick Manitoba, Ross Friedman, Scott Kempner
• Dixie Dregs - Rod Morgenstein
• The Doors - Robbie Krieger
• Dream Syndicate - Steve Wynn
• Dream Theater - Mike Portnoy, Jordan Rudess
• The E Street Band - Max Weinberg, Roy Bittan
• Fates Warning - Mark Zonder
• Fountains of Wayne - Adam Schlesinger
• The Fugs - Tuli Kupferberg
• Grateful Dead - Mickey Hart
• Guns N' Roses - Steven Adler
• Guster - Ryan Miller, Adam Gardner, Brian Rosenworcel
• Heartbreakers - Richard Hell
• The Hooters - Rob Hyman, Eric Bazilian
• Incubus - Mike Einziger
• J. Geils Band - Peter Wolf, Stephen Bladd, Magic Dick, Seth Justman, Danny Klein
• Jane's Addiction - Perry Farrell, Stephen Perkins
• Jefferson Airplane - Marty Balin, Jorma Kaukonen (both half Jewish)
• KISS - Gene Simmons, Paul Stanley, Bruce Kulick
• Letters to Cleo - Michael Eisenstein
• Linkin Park - Brad Delson, Rob Bourdon
• Liquid Tension Experiment - Mike Portnoy, Jordan Rudess
• Los Lobos - Steve Berlin
• The Mamas & the Papas - Cass Elliot
• Maroon 5 - Adam Levine
• Matchbox Twenty - Brian Yale, Adam Gaynor
• Megadeth - Marty Friedman
• The Mighty Mighty Bosstones - Joe Gittleman
• The Modern Lovers - Jonathan Richman
• Morphine - Mark Sandman
• Mothers of Invention - Howard Kaylan, Mark Volman (Volman half Jewish)
• Mountain - Leslie West (also Canadian Corky Laing)
• New York Dolls - Sylvain Sylvain
• NOFX - Fat Mike, Eric Melvin
• Patti Smith group - Lenny Kaye
• Paul Butterfield Blues Band - Mike Bloomfield
• Peter, Paul and Mary - Peter Yarrow
• Phish - Jon Fishman, Mike Gordon
• Porno for Pyros - Perry Farrell, Stephen Perkins
• Quicksilver Messenger Service - David Freiberg
• Rage Against the Machine - Brad Wilk
• The Ramones - Joey Ramone
• The Raspberries - Eric Carmen
• Red Hot Chilli Peppers - Hillel Slovak
• Scissor Sisters - Babydaddy
• Simon and Garfunkel - Paul Simon, Art Garfunkel
• Sleater-Kinney - Carrie Brownstein, Janet Weiss
• Soul Coughing - Yuval Gabay
• Spin Doctors - Chris Barron, Eric Schenkman, Aaron Comess
• Steely Dan - Donald Fagen
• The Strokes - Nick Valensi
• Television - Richard Hell
• Tenacious D - Jack Black
• Toad the Wet Sprocket - Glen Phillips
• Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers - Howie Epstein, Sam Lynch
• The Turtles - Howard Kaylan, Mark Volman (Volman half Jewish)
• Twisted Sister - Dee Snider, Jay Jay French (Snider half Jewish)
• The United States of America - Dorothy Moskowitz
• Van Halen - David Lee Roth
• Velvet Underground - Lou Reed
• Veruca Salt - Nina Gordon, Jim Shapiro
• The Voidoids - Richard Hell
• The Wallflowers - Jakob Dylan, Rami Jaffe, Greg Richling
• The Weavers - Ronnie Gilbert, Fred Hellerman
• Ween - Gene Ween
• Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Brian Chase
• Yo La Tengo - Ira Kaplan

Jazz and blues

• Joey Baron, jazz drummer
• Jay Beckenstein, Dave Samuels, members of Spyro Gyra
• Bob Berg, jazz saxophonist
• Jane Ira Bloom, jazz saxophonist
• Michael & Randy Brecker, jazz saxophonist & trumpeter
• Bob Brozman, blues musician
• Uri Caine, jazz pianist
• Popa Chubby, blues singer
• Peter Cincotti, jazz pianist, singer (Jewish mother)
• Harry Connick, Jr., jazz pianist, singer (Jewish mother)
• Eddie Daniels, jazz clarinetist
• Bela Fleck, bluegrass musician
• Dave Frishberg, jazz pianist, singer/songwriter
• Stan Getz, jazz saxophonist
• Benny Goodman, jazz clarinetist
• David Grisman, bluegrass musician
• Lee Konitz, jazz saxophonist
• Steve Lacy, jazz saxophonist
• Mark Levine, jazz pianist, valve trombonist, teacher
• Mike Mainieri, jazz vibraphonist
• Herbie Mann, jazz flautist
• Shelly Manne, jazz drummer
• Mezz Mezzrow, jazz clarinetist
• Alan Paul, Janis Siegel, members of The Manhattan Transfer
• Joshua Redman, jazz saxophonist (Jewish mother)
• Buddy Rich, jazz drummer (Jewish father)
• Red Rodney, jazz trumpeter
• Raymond Scott, jazz musician & inventor
• Willie "The Lion" Smith, jazz pianist
• Artie Shaw, jazz clarinetist
• Mel Torme, jazz singer
• John Zorn, jazz saxophonist

Classical

• Larry Adler, harmonica player
• Vladimir Ashkenazi, pianist (half Jewish)
• Joshua Bell, violinist (half Jewish)
• Yefim Bronfman, pianist
• Antal Dorati, conductor
• Mischa Elman, violinist
• Arthur Fiedler, conductor
• Leon Fleisher, pianist
• Jascha Heifetz, violinist
• Vladimir Horowitz, pianist
• Byron Janis, pianist
• Otto Klemperer, conductor
• Fritz Kreisler, violinist (half Jewish)
• Wanda Landowska, harpsichordist
• James Levine, conductor
• George London, baritone
• William Kapell, pianist
• Lorin Maazel, conductor
• Yehudi Menuhin, violinist
• Nathan Milstein, violinist
• Pierre Monteux, conductor
• Eugene Ormandy, conductor
• Murray Perahia, pianist
• André Previn, conductor
• Fritz Reiner, conductor
• Leonard Rose, cellist
• Arthur Rubinstein, pianist
• Beverly Sills, soprano
• Leonard Slatkin, conductor
• Janos Starker, cellist
• Isaac Stern, violinist
• George Szell, conductor
• Michael Tilson Thomas, conductor
• Rosalyn Tureck, harpsichordist
• Bruno Walter, conductor
• Paul Wittgenstein, pianist

Producers etc.

• Herb Alpert, co-founder of A&M Records
• Ralph Bass, R&B producer
• Brian Brater & Jarret Meyer, founders of Rawkus Records
• Leonard & Phil Chess, founders of Chess Records
• Hilly Crystal, founder of CBGB's
• Clive Davis, founder of Arista Records
• Richard Foos, founder of Rhino Records
• Alan Freed, DJ & music promoter
• Milt Gabler, founder of Commodore Records
• David Geffen, founder of Geffen Records
• Bill Graham, concert promoter
• Norman Granz, founder of Verve Records
• Brett Gurewitz, founder of Epitaph Records
• Jac Holzman, founder of Elektra Records
• Alfred Lion & Frank Wolff, founders of Blue Note Records
• Richard Meltzer, rock critic
• Eddie, Leo & Ira Messner, founders of Aladdin Records
• Irving Mills, producer, manager & writer
• Syd Nathan, founder of King Records
• Mo Ostin, record executive
• Sandy Pearlman, producer, manager & writer
• Hilary Rosen, head of the RIAA
• Rick Rubin, founder of Def Jam
• Art Rupe, founder of Specialty Records
• Mickey Ruskin, founder of Max's Kansas City
• Phil Spector, producer, writer & murder suspect
• Jerry Wexler, partner in Atlantic Records
• Max Yasgur, owner of the Woodstock farm

Songwriters

• Burt Bacharach & Hal David, songwriters
• Jeff Barry & Ellie Greenwich, songwriters
• Alan & Marilyn Bergman, songwriters
• Bert Berns, songwriter
• Linda Creed, songwriter
• Norman Gimbel, songwriter
• Gerry Goffin & Carole King, songwriters
• Jerry Leiber & Mike Stoller, songwriters
• Jay Livingston & Ray Evans, songwriters
• Johnny Mandel, songwriter
• Barry Mann & Cynthia Weil, songwriters
• Johnny Marks, songwriter
• Abel Meeropol, composer of Strange Fruit
• Randy Newman, songwriter, singer
• Mitchell Parish, lyricist
• Doc Pomus & Mort Shuman, songwriters
• David Rose, pop composer
• Carole Bayer Sager, lyricist
• P.F. Sloan, songwriter, singer
• Billy Steinberg, songwriter
• Jim Steinman, songwriter (half Jewish)
• Albert Von Tilzer, songwriter
• Diane Warren, songwriter
• George David Weiss, songwriter

Musicals writers

• Richard Adler & Jerry Ross, composer & lyricist
• Lynn Ahrens, lyricist
• Harold Arlen, composer
• Irving Berlin, composer & lyricist
• Jerry Bock & Sheldon Harnick, composer & lyricist
• Jason Robert Brown, composer & lyricist
• Sammy Cahn, lyricist
• Cy Coleman, composer
• Betty Comden & Adolph Green, lyricists
• Dorothy Fields, composer
• William Finn, composer & lyricist
• Rudolf Friml, operetta composer
• George & Ira Gershwin, composer & lyricist
• Marvin Hamlisch, composer
• Oscar Hammerstein, lyricist (half Jewish)
• Yip Harburg, lyricist
• Lorenz Hart, lyricist
• Jerry Herman, composer & lyricist
• Jerome Kern, composer
• John Kander & Fred Ebb, composer & lyricist
• Burton Lane, composer
• Jonathan Larson, composer & lyricist
• Carolyn Leigh, lyricist
• Mitch Leigh, composer
• Alan Jay Lerner, lyricist
• Frank Loesser, composer & lyricist
• Frederick Loewe, composer (half Jewish)
• Alan Menken & Howard Ashman, composer & lyricist
• Bob Merrill, composer & lyricist
• Sigmund Romberg, composer
• Mary Rodgers, composer
• Richard Rodgers, composer
• Stephen Schwartz, composer & lyricist
• Robert & Richard Sherman, composers &lyricists
• Stephen Sondheim, composer & lyricist
• Charles Strouse & Lee Adams, composer & lyricist
• Jule Styne, composer
• Kurt Weill, composer
• Maury Yeston, composer & lyricist

Classical composers

• Milton Babbitt, composer
• Arthur Berger, composer
• Leonard Bernstein, composer
• Marc Blitzstein, composer
• Ernest Bloch, composer
• Henry Brant, composer
• Aaron Copland, composer
• Richard Danielpour, composer
• Mario Davidovsky, composer
• David Diamond, composer
• Jacob Druckman, composer
• Morton Feldman, composer
• Lukas Foss, composer
• Philip Glass, composer
• Louis Moreau Gottschalk, composer (Jewish father)
• Morton Gould, composer
• Aaron Jay Kernis, composer
• Leon Kirchner, composer
• Leo Ornstein, composer
• George Perle, composer
• Shulamit Ran, composer
• Steve Reich, composer
• George Rochberg, composer
• Arnold Schoenberg, composer
• William Schuman, composer
• Ernst Toch, composer

Film composers

• Elmer Bernstein, film composer
• Danny Elfman, film composer
• Elliot Goldenthal, film composer
• Jerry Goldsmith, film composer
• Bernard Herrmann, film composer
• James Horner, film composer
• Michael Kamen, film composer
• Erich Wolfgang Korngold, film composer
• Alfred Newman, film composer
• Thomas Newman, film composer (half Jewish)
• Alex North, film composer
• David Raksin, film composer
• Leonard Rosenman, film composer
• Marc Shaiman, film composer
• Max Steiner, film composer
• Dimitri Tiomkin, film composer
• Franz Waxman, film composer
• Victor Young, film composer