The Best Musical Artists From Wisconsin
Here are the best artists and bands from Wisconsin. Known as America's Dairyland, Wisconsin is home to some of the country's leading dairy producers, but the state is also known for fostering the growth of fantastic musical artists. From rock bands to pop stars and rappers to country music singers, there is certainly nothing cheesy about these notable musical artists from Wisconsin.
Liberace, one of the most famous pianists of all time, was born and raised in West Allis. Hailing from Milwaukee, electropop band GGOOLLDD made a big impression with their debut EP titled $TANDARD$ in 2014. Other popular Wisconsin artists include Garbage, Violent Femmes, Bon Iver, and K Camp.
Vote up your favorite bands, singers, composers, and rappers to let everyone know who the best Wisconsin musical acts are.
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Pop music, Rock musicLes Paul
Albums: Chester & Lester, The Legend and the Legacy, Les Paul & Friends: American Made World Played, Masters of the Guitar: Together, Guitar Monsters
Lester William Polsfuss (June 9, 1915 – August 12, 2009), known as Les Paul, was an American jazz, country, and blues guitarist, songwriter, luthier, and inventor. He was one of the pioneers of the ...more2
Blues-rock, Heartland rockSteve Miller
Albums: Circle of Love, Born 2B Blue, Fly Like an Eagle
Steven Haworth Miller (born October 5, 1943) is an American guitarist, singer, and songwriter, known as leader of the Steve Miller Band. He began his career in blues and blues rock and evolved to a ...more3
Alternative rock, Punk rockViolent Femmes
Albums: Violent Femmes, Add It Up (1981–1993), Machine, Why Do Birds Sing?, Freak Magnet
{{Infobox musical artist | name = Violent Femmes | image = Violent Femmes 8221.jpg | caption = Violent Femmes, 2006 | background = group_or_band | origin ...more4
Cool jazz, Swing musicWoody Herman
Albums: Herd at Montreux, The Complete Capitol Recordings of Woody Herman, Quadromania Jazz Edition: Woody Herman: Saving Myself for You, Music for Tired Lovers, Big Bands: Woody Herman
Woodrow Charles Herman (May 16, 1913 – October 29, 1987) was an American jazz clarinetist, saxophonist, singer, and big band leader. Leading various groups called "The Herd", Herman came to ...more5
Pop music, Trip hopGarbage
Albums: Garbage, Version 2.0, Not Your Kind of People, Bleed Like Me, beautifulgarbage
Garbage is an American rock band formed in Madison, Wisconsin, in 1993. The band consists of Scottish musician and lead singer Shirley Manson and American musicians Duke Erikson, Steve Marker, and ...more6
Heartland rock, Rock musicAlbums: Go Slow Down, Black and White, Still, Love & Hope & Sex & Dreams, Outside Looking In
BoDeans is an American rock band. Formed in Waukesha, Wisconsin, BoDeans came to prominence in the 1980s. The band's sound encompasses multiple rock genres, including roots rock, heartland rock, and ...more7
Pop music, Rhythm and bluesAlbums: Ricky Lawson & Friends: First Things 1st, Heart's Horizon, Al Jarreau sings Bill Withers, This Time, Breakin' Away
Alwin Lopez Jarreau (March 12, 1940 – February 12, 2017) was an American singer and musician. He received a total of seven Grammy Awards and was nominated for over a dozen more. Jarreau is perhaps ...more8
Indie, Neo soulBon Iver
Albums: For Emma, Forever Ago, Bon Iver, Bon Iver, Blood Bank
Bon Iver () is an American indie folk band founded in 2006 by singer-songwriter Justin Vernon. Vernon released Bon Iver's debut album, For Emma, Forever Ago, independently in July 2007. The majority ...more9
Jazz fusion, JazzLyle Mays
Albums: The Pat Metheny Group in Concert, As Falls Wichita, So Falls Wichita Falls, Unity Village Concert, Fictionary
Lyle David Mays (born November 27, 1953) is an American jazz pianist and composer best known as a member of the Pat Metheny Group. Metheny and Mays composed and arranged nearly all of the group's ...more10
Rock music, GrungeBryan David "Butch" Vig (born August 2, 1955), nicknamed the Nevermind Man, is an American musician, songwriter, and record producer, best known as the drummer and co-producer of the alternative rock ...more11
Jazz, BluesJohn Altenburgh
Albums: Old City
John Altenburgh (born John Altenburg, April 20, 1960, Wausau, Wisconsin, United States) is an American jazz and blues pianist, composer, arranger and producer who has made his home in Mosinee, ...more12
Liberace
Władziu Valentino Liberace (May 16, 1919 – February 4, 1987) was an American pianist, singer and actor. A child prodigy born in Wisconsin to parents of Italian and Polish origin, Liberace enjoyed a ...more13
Clyde Austin Stubblefield (April 18, 1943 – February 18, 2017) was an American drummer best known for his work with James Brown. A self-taught musician, he was influenced by the sound of natural ...more14
Richard Davis
Richard Davis (born April 15, 1930) is an American jazz bassist. Among his best-known contributions to the albums of others are Eric Dolphy's Out to Lunch!, Andrew Hill's Point of Departure, and Van ...more15
Viola Smith
Viola Smith is an American drummer best known for her work in orchestras, swing bands, and popular music in the 1930s and 1940s. She was one of the first professional female drummers. ...more16
The Robbs
The Robbs were an American 1960s pop/rock band from Oconomowoc, Wisconsin. They are best known for being the house band on Dick Clark's mid-1960s show Where The Action Is. They are also known for ...more17
Rock music, JazzAlbums: Tell Me Something: The Songs of Mose Allison, The Essential: Groove Master Selection, Don't Let Go, Bop City, Too Hot to Touch
Ben Hirsh Sidran (born August 14, 1943) is an American jazz and rock keyboardist, producer, label owner, and music writer. Early in his career he was a member of the Steve Miller Band. ...more18
Jazz fusionMatrix
Matrix is a jazz fusion group from Appleton, Wisconsin, that started in 1974, noted for tight brass ensemble lines and complex musical themes. It made its biggest impact on the music scene in the ...more19
Blue-eyed soulRobert Lee Hatfield (August 10, 1940 – November 5, 2003) was an American singer, best known as one half of the Righteous Brothers. He sang the tenor part for the duo, but his most recognizable work ...more20
Carl Allen (born April 25, 1961) is an American jazz drummer. Allen attended William Paterson University.He has worked with a wide variety of musicians, including Freddie Hubbard, Jackie McLean, ...more21
CountryPee Wee King
Albums: Western Swing Get Together, Pee-Wee King and His Golden West Cowboys, Pee Wee King's Country Hoedown: 51 Unreleased Recordings on 2 CDs
Julius Frank Anthony Kuczynski (February 18, 1914 – March 7, 2000), known professionally as Pee Wee King, was an American country music songwriter and recording artist best known for co-writing ...more22
Justin Vernon
Justin DeYarmond Edison Vernon (born April 30, 1981) is an American singer, songwriter, producer and multi-instrumentalist. He is best known as the primary songwriter and frontman of indie folk band ...more23
New Wave, Rock musicTimbuk 3
Albums: Greetings From Timbuk 3, Big Shot in the Dark, A Hundred Lovers, Eden Alley, Edge of Allegiance
Timbuk3 was an American post-punk band which released six original studio albums between 1986 and 1995. They are most well known for their Top 20 single "The Future's So Bright, I Gotta Wear Shades". ...more24
Paul Cebar
Paul Cebar is a songwriter, singer, guitarist and bandleader from Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA, who plays African, Latin American and Caribbean music. He has released four albums and an EP with his ...more25
Bill Miller (born January 23, 1955) is a Native American singer/songwriter and artist of Mohican heritage. He is a guitarist, player of the Native American flute and painter. ...more
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