Top 10 Iconic Singers from Cleveland, Ohio

Flag of Cleveland, Ohio. Photo by Niagara – Wikimedia Commons

Top 10 Iconic Singers from Cleveland, Ohio

Cleveland, officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U.S. maritime border with Canada, and approximately 60 miles west of Pennsylvania.

1. Bobby Womack 

Bobby Womack performed on Orange Stage with Gorillaz at Roskilde Festival 2010. Photo by Bill Ebbesen – Wikimedia Commons

Cleveland native Womack first made a name for himself as a member of the Valentinos (Another big R&B act out of Northeast Ohio). He then moved on to a legendary solo career that would elevate the R&B genre.

The Rock & Roll Hall of Famer’s standards includes “Across 100^th Street,” “If You Think You’re Lonely Now” and “That’s The Way I Feel About Cha.”His essential works were “Fly Me to the Moon,” “The Poet,” and “Bravest Man in the Universe

2. Bone Thugs-N-Harmony 

Wish Bone – Bone Thugs-n-Harmony. Photo by The Come Up Show – Wikimedia Commons

Bone Thugs-N-Harmony put Cleveland on the hip-hop map during the 1990s after being discovered and mentored by Eazy-E.

The group’s musical legacy still looms over the city’s rap culture to this day. His essential works are “Creepin on ah Come Up,” “E. 1999 Eternal,” and “The Art of War”.

3. Bootsy Collins 

William “Bootsy” Collins.  Photo by MikaV – Wikimedia Commons

Rock & Roll Hall of Famer Bootsy Collins is best known for his work with Parliament-Funkadelic. But before that, the Cincinnati native made a name for himself in and around Ohio in the funk project The Pacemakers, who would go on to become James Brown’s backing band.

Essential Works: “Stretchin’ Out in Bootsy’s Rubber Band,” “Ahh…The Name is Bootsy, Baby!”

4. ‘Bull Moose’ Jackson 

Man playing saxophone, from an advertisement for Conn saxophones- Wikimedia Commons

Some consider Cleveland native Bull Moose Jackson a pioneer of the dirty blues. The singer and saxophonist was a blue and R&B mainstay during the 1940s and remained in the area until he died in 1989.

His essential works are “The Bull Moose Jackson Collection”

5. Chrissie Hynde 

Chrissie Hynde in concert. Photo by John Slonaker – Wikimedia Commons

Akron native Hynde got into music while attending Kent State’s Art School and even joined a band with Mark Mothersbaugh of Devo.

 Of course, she’s best known for her evolution after moving out of Northeast Ohio, when she moved to Europe and formed The Pretenders. His essential works are “The Pretenders,” “Learning to Crawl,” “Stockholm”

6. Cloud Nothings 

Cloud Nothings at the 2021 Shaky Knees Music Festival. Photo by Thomson200 – Wikimedia Commons

Cleveland-bred Cloud Nothings has spent the 2010s as an indie darling. The band’s first three albums on Carpark Records were critically acclaimed, with a third due out in early 2017. His essential works are “Attack on Memory,” “Here and Nowhere Else”

7. Dazz Band 

Bobby Harris Iraq. Photo by Sgt. Mark Matthews – Wikimedia Commons

Cleveland funk trio The Dazz Band is one of the few Northeast Ohio acts that can call itself a Grammy winner thanks its 1982 hit “Let It Whip” on Motown Records. His essential works are “Let the Music Play,” and “Keep It Live”.

8. The Dead Boys 

The Local Band performing at WaterXfest in Jyväskylä, Finland. Photo by Elena Pavlova – Wikimedia Commons

Formed out of the ashes of local band Rocket from the Tombs, The Dead Boys made a name for themselves in New York City as one of the pioneering punk bands of the era.

The Dead Boys are credited with establishing the hardcore punk scene in the U.S. thanks to rowdy live performances. His essential works are “Young Loud and Snotty,” “We Have Come for Your Children,” “Night of the Living Dead Boys”

9. Dean Martin 

A mural of Dean Martin (1917-1995) in his birthplace, Steubenville, Ohio, United States. Photo by kinggrl from Columbus, Oh, United States – Wikimedia Commons

Steubenville native Dean Martin was a jack-of-all-trades, excelling in everything from singing and comedy to acting and producing films. He is one of the biggest icons in entertainment history, as a member of the Rat Pack and the man behind hits like “That’s Amore” and “You’re Nobody till Somebody Loves You.”

His essential works are “Sleep Warm,” “Dean Martin Sings,” “Pretty Baby”

10. Doris Day 

Screenshot of the film The Man Who Knew Too Much (1956) in which Doris Day performs the song Que Sera, Sera. Photo by Paramount Pictures – Wikimedia Commons

Before becoming one of the biggest stars in Hollywood during the 1950s and 1960s, Cincinnati native Doris Day was a big band singer who built a career that would go on to earn the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award.

His essential works are “On Moonlight Bay,” “Lullaby of Broadway”