Irving Berlin (1888–1989):

Generally recognized as the most productive, varied, and creative of the Tin Pan Alley songwriters. His professional songwriting career started before World War I and continued into the 1960s. His most famous songs include “Alexander’s Ragtime Band,” “Blue Skies,” “Cheek to Cheek,” “There’s No Business Like Show Business,” “White Christmas,” and “God Bless America.”

Richard Rodgers (1902–79):

Produced many of the finest songs of the twentieth century, in collaboration with lyricists Lorenz Hart and Oscar Hammerstein II. Wrote the ground-breaking musical Oklahoma! in partnership with Oscar Hammerstein II in 1943.

Cole Porter (1891–1964):

Born into a wealthy family in Indiana; studied classical music at Yale, Harvard, and the Schola Cantorum in Paris.

George Gershwin (1898–1937): 

The son of an immigrant leatherworker, did much to bridge the gulf between art music and popular music. Studied European classical music but also spent a great deal of time listening to jazz musicians in New York City. Wrote Porgy and Bess (1935), which he called an “American folk opera.”

Bing Crosby (1904–77):

A crooner, by far the most popular representative of the style. Sales of his records have been estimated at more than 300 million.

Ethel Merman (Zimmerman) (1909–84):

At the age of twenty-one, introduced “I Got Rhythm” in the stage show Girl Crazy written by George Gershwin.

Al Jolson (1886–1950):

Billed himself as “The World’s Greatest Entertainer.” The most popular performer of his generation; his career overlapped the era of vaudeville stage performance and the rise of new media in the 1920s.