109 Fun Facts About R&B

Which Billboard writer coined 'rhythm and blues' in 1948, replacing 'race music' on the charts?

He later became a legendary Atlantic Records producer for Aretha Franklin and Ray Charles.

What was Billboard's first chart of records popular with African American listeners, from 1942, called?

It was renamed Rhythm and Blues in 1949, and that name lasted on the chart until 1969.

Ruth Brown's string of 1950s hits earned which label the nickname 'the house that Ruth built'?

The pun borrows Yankee Stadium's nickname; Brown later helped found the Rhythm and Blues Foundation to fight for royalties.

Which singer nicknamed 'The Genius' pioneered soul in the 1950s and was later played by Jamie Foxx?

Friends called him 'Brother Ray'; his 'Georgia on My Mind' was the first of his three Hot 100 number ones.

The Genius's first Billboard 200 number one, in 1962, was a collection of what kind of songs?

Modern Sounds in Country and Western Music helped merge country, R&B and pop audiences.

Sam Cooke, the 'King of Soul', died in 1964 after being shot by whom?

The Los Angeles courts ruled it justifiable homicide, a verdict his family has questioned ever since.

Which singer known as 'Mr. Excitement' had hits with 'Lonely Teardrops' and 'Higher and Higher'?

His stage moves influenced Elvis Presley, James Brown and Michael Jackson.

Etta James's signature 1960 ballad, later a wedding-dance staple, is called what?

She sang everything from gospel to rock and roll, and won three Grammys late in her career.

Berry Gordy founded Motown's first label, Tamla Records, in which year?

The company was incorporated as Motown Record Corporation the following year.

The Motown studio at 2648 West Grand Boulevard in Detroit was known by what name?

Gordy bought it as a photography studio in 1959 and lived upstairs for the first few years.

How many Hot 100 number ones did the Supremes score, a record for an American vocal group?

Most were written and produced by the Holland-Dozier-Holland team.

Stevie Wonder is the only artist to win Album of the Year with how many consecutive releases?

Innervisions, Fulfillingness' First Finale and Songs in the Key of Life did it between 1973 and 1976.

The 1972 hit 'Superstition' is famous for the sound of which keyboard instrument?

It was Wonder's first Hot 100 number one in a decade.

Aretha Franklin's 'Respect' was originally written and recorded by which singer?

On hearing her version he reportedly said, 'That little girl done took my song away from me.'

In 1987 Aretha Franklin became the first woman inducted into which institution?

Rolling Stone has twice named her the greatest singer of all time.

How did the singer of '(Sittin' On) The Dock of the Bay', the first posthumous Hot 100 No. 1, die?

Otis Redding recorded it with guitarist Steve Cropper days before his death; it was released in January 1968.

Which Motown singer's 1971 album What's Going On let him break free of the label's production system?

He went on to produce Let's Get It On, I Want You and the divorce album Here, My Dear himself.

The 'Prince of Motown' was shot dead in 1984 by whom, one day before his 45th birthday?

'Sexual Healing', released two years earlier, had won him his first two Grammys.

Al Green's biggest hits, produced by Willie Mitchell, were on which two-letter Memphis label?

Mitchell coached him to stop imitating Jackie Wilson and Sam Cooke and find his own falsetto.

Which Al Green song is considered his signature tune?

He became an ordained pastor and spent the 1980s recording gospel.

Barry White's 1974 number-one instrumental hit was credited to which 40-piece ensemble he conducted?

He got his break in 1972 producing the girl group Love Unlimited before his own bass-voiced hits.

Earth, Wind & Fire was formed in 1969 in which city by Maurice White?

The band grew out of White's earlier group, the Salty Peppers, and has sold over 90 million records.

Before his solo career, Teddy Pendergrass was the lead singer of which Philadelphia group?

A 1982 car crash left him paralysed from the chest down, but he kept recording.

Chaka Khan first found fame in the 1970s as lead vocalist of which funk band?

Her 1984 cover of Prince's 'I Feel for You' was the first R&B crossover hit to feature a rapper.

Chaka Khan's debut solo single 'I'm Every Woman' later became a pop hit for which singer?

The 1992 cover appeared on The Bodyguard soundtrack, the best-selling soundtrack ever.

Which single gave Prince the No. 1 US film, album and single simultaneously in 1984?

He later changed his name to an unpronounceable symbol during a dispute with Warner Bros.

Which producer, leader of the group Guy and later Blackstreet, is called the inventor of new jack swing?

The style fused hip-hop beats with R&B vocals and ruled the charts from the late 1980s to the early 1990s.

Which two Janet Jackson albums, made with Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, turned her into a global star?

Rhythm Nation 1814 remains the only album to place seven singles in the Hot 100 top five.

Anita Baker rose to fame in 1986 with which platinum album, home to the Grammy-winning 'Sweet Love'?

She had started out in the late 1970s with the funk band Chapter 8.

Sade, the band behind 'Smooth Operator', formed in 1982 in which city?

They have not had a drummer since 1986 and use session players instead.

Luther Vandross won the 2004 Grammy for Song of the Year for which ballad?

He racked up eleven consecutive platinum albums and over 40 million records sold.

The famous rendition of 'The Star-Spangled Banner' at Super Bowl XXV, later a top-20 single, came in which year?

It came just before The Bodyguard made her a movie star as well.

'I Will Always Love You', from The Bodyguard soundtrack, still holds which record?

Along with 'I Wanna Dance with Somebody' it is among the best-selling singles of all time.

Boyz II Men's 'End of the Road' set a then-record in 1992 by spending how many weeks at number one?

The group broke the record twice more, with 'I'll Make Love to You' and 'One Sweet Day'.

Boyz II Men set another chart record with 'One Sweet Day', a 1995 duet with which singer?

Their debut Cooleyhighharmony had launched them in 1991 with 'Motownphilly'.

Which TLC album received a diamond certification from the RIAA?

The Atlanta trio's four number ones were 'Creep', 'Waterfalls', 'No Scrubs' and 'Unpretty'.

En Vogue, formed in Oakland in 1989, reached number two on the Hot 100 with which debut single?

Only the Supremes have scored more number-one R&B singles among female groups.

Jodeci, the quartet behind 'Forever My Lady' and 'Stay', formed in 1988 in which city?

K-Ci and JoJo later scored a huge hit as a duo with 'All My Life'.

Mary J. Blige's 1992 debut, credited with bringing hip-hop soul to the mainstream, is called what?

Its 1993 remix album was the first by a singer to feature a rapper on every track.

Toni Braxton's biggest hit, 'Un-Break My Heart', was written by which songwriter?

It followed 'You're Makin' Me High' as the second Hot 100 number one from her album Secrets.

How many number-one R&B hits has producer Babyface written and produced?

He co-founded LaFace Records with L.A. Reid and has won 13 Grammys.

'The Boy Is Mine', a 1998 number one, was a duet between Monica and which singer?

Both singers titled their second album after it, and both albums are their best sellers.

The singer of 'Have You Ever?' starred in which UPN sitcom from 1996 to 2001?

She also played Cinderella opposite Whitney Houston in the 1997 TV film.

One diva's first five US singles all hit number one, starting with her 1990 debut. Which was the first?

The streak ran from her 1990 debut to the title track of Emotions.

Which rapper featured on the 1995 'Fantasy' remix that introduced its singer's hip-hop-flavoured sound?

She leaned into that sound on Butterfly and Rainbow later in the decade.

Lauryn Hill's 1998 debut album made her the first woman to win how many Grammys in one night?

She was also the first rapper to win Album of the Year.

Erykah Badu's 1997 debut, which made her the 'Queen of Neo Soul', is titled what?

Her career began when she opened for D'Angelo in Fort Worth in 1994.

D'Angelo's 1995 debut, credited with launching the neo-soul movement, is called what?

It included a cover of Smokey Robinson's 'Cruisin'' and the top-ten hit 'Lady'.

Usher's 2004 album Confessions is certified 14-times platinum. Which of its four number ones came first?

It remains the best-selling album by a Black artist this century.

Alicia Keys's debut album, which won five Grammys and contained 'Fallin'', is titled what?

She was signed by Columbia at 15 but left after disputes to release it on J Records.

Destiny's Child, formed in Houston in 1990, originally performed under what name?

The quartet signed with Columbia in 1996 and broke through with 'No, No, No'.

How many Grammys had Beyoncé won after the 2025 ceremony, the most of any artist?

She reached 35 at the 2025 ceremony, and is also the only woman whose first eight studio albums each debuted at number one.

Ne-Yo first got noticed for writing which 2004 hit for Mario?

Its success led to a Def Jam contract under Jay-Z and his own breakthrough 'So Sick'.

Rihanna was declared a National Hero of which country in 2021?

She had already been named an ambassador by its government in 2018, and is the first female musician billionaire.

The Weeknd released three mixtapes in 2011 that were later compiled into which album?

House of Balloons, Thursday and Echoes of Silence had been released after he began posting music anonymously in 2009.

Frank Ocean joined which Los Angeles hip-hop collective in 2010 before releasing Nostalgia, Ultra?

His 2012 debut Channel Orange helped define alternative R&B.

SZA signed to which label in 2013, later releasing her acclaimed debut Ctrl there?

She had first gained attention online with two self-released EPs.

Silk Sonic, whose 'Leave the Door Open' topped the Hot 100, pairs Bruno Mars with which artist?

Mars invited him to record during the 24K Magic World Tour.

What does the stage name H.E.R. stand for?

Gabriella Wilson adopted the name in 2016 and has since won an Oscar and five Grammys.

Which song was an R&B number one for Big Mama Thornton in 1953, before Elvis Presley recorded it?

Hound Dog spent seven weeks at number one on the R&B chart for Big Mama Thornton and sold over 500,000 copies, yet it was the only hit of her career.

During which song did Michael Jackson first moonwalk in public, on the 1983 TV special Motown 25?

Billie Jean was the only non-Motown song performed on Motown 25. Jackson had practised the backwards glide in his kitchen before unveiling it on the show.

Which Quentin Tarantino film gave SZA the title of her first Hot 100 number one, in 2023?

Kill Bill mirrors the films' plot, with SZA imagining revenge on an ex. It waited eight weeks at number two before a Doja Cat remix pushed it to the top.

In 2021 Billboard named which Weeknd single the top Hot 100 song of all time, displacing The Twist?

Blinding Lights stayed on the Hot 100 for 90 weeks, including a full year inside the top ten, which carried it past Chubby Checker's 1960 dance hit.

Which Rick James hit of 1981 supplied the riff that MC Hammer sampled for U Can't Touch This?

Super Freak led Rick James to sue MC Hammer for a songwriting credit, and winning it brought James the only Grammy of his career, for Best R&B Song.

Luther Vandross got an early break singing backing vocals on Young Americans, an album by which British star?

David Bowie also took the then-unknown singer on tour as a backing vocalist and reworked a Luther Vandross tune into the album track Fascination.

Which singer was 44 when What's Love Got to Do with It gave her a first solo number one?

Tina Turner was then the oldest solo woman to top the Hot 100. It remained her only solo American number one, and its title later named the 1993 film of her life.

Which R&B singer sang the hit duet versions of Disney's Beauty and the Beast and A Whole New World?

Peabo Bryson won a Grammy for each, first with Celine Dion and then with Regina Belle. A Whole New World became the first song from an animated film to top the Hot 100.

Which Beyoncé album arrived in 2016 alongside an hour-long HBO film and became her sixth straight chart-topper?

Lemonade made Beyoncé the first artist whose first six studio albums all debuted at number one on the Billboard 200. Its 65-minute companion film premiered on HBO.

Which Kool & the Gang hit did American radio play in 1981 to welcome the hostages home from Iran?

Celebration was Kool & the Gang's only Hot 100 number one, holding the top for two weeks in February 1981 until Dolly Parton's 9 to 5 replaced it.

Which family group had the first hit with Twist and Shout, a year before the Beatles covered it?

The Isley Brothers reworked a flop first recorded by the Top Notes, and the Beatles based their own version on it for their debut album, Please Please Me.

Which Ben E. King song returned to the American top ten in 1986 after a film borrowed its title?

Stand by Me first peaked at number four in 1961, then reached number nine 25 years later as the theme of the film that took its name.

A Seat at the Table, a 2016 number one album with the single Cranes in the Sky, is by which singer?

Solange hit number one months after her sister Beyoncé, making them the first sisters who are both solo artists to top the Billboard 200 in the same calendar year.

Which singer closed the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics with a performance of his number one All Night Long?

Lionel Richie had launched his solo career away from the Commodores in 1982, and All Night Long topped the pop, R&B and adult contemporary charts.

Which producer of Thriller and Off the Wall also conducted the all-star recording of We Are the World?

Quincy Jones recorded the famine-relief single on the night of the 1985 American Music Awards, so many of the day's biggest American stars came straight from the ceremony.

Which former Supreme earned an Oscar nomination for playing Billie Holiday in Lady Sings the Blues?

Diana Ross had never acted in a film before the 1972 biopic, and its soundtrack of Billie Holiday songs gave her a number one album for two weeks.

Which Boston group, later the source of Bell Biv DeVoe, topped the R&B chart in 1983 with Candy Girl?

New Edition so inspired a group of Philadelphia schoolmates that they renamed their act Boyz II Men, after the 1988 New Edition song Boys to Men.

Prince fired Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis from which band after a blizzard made them miss a show?

The Time lost both men when they were snowed in at Atlanta, where they had been producing the S.O.S. Band without Prince's knowledge. One of those tracks became a hit.

Which device gave Zapp frontman Roger Troutman's singing voice its robotic, synthesised sound?

Talk box tubing fed his keyboard's sound into his mouth so he could shape it into words, a trick Roger Troutman repeated on the chorus of 2Pac's California Love.

Which record label, home to Sam & Dave and Booker T. & the M.G.'s, recorded in a converted movie theatre?

Stax kept the old cinema's sloping floor in its Memphis studio, and a museum devoted to the label's music now stands on the site.

Which New York theatre hosted the 1962 James Brown show that he paid to record as a live album?

The Apollo recording went ahead only because James Brown funded it himself after his label boss refused, and the album then spent 66 weeks on the pop chart.

Which 1966 Percy Sledge ballad topped the Hot 100 again 25 years later in a cover by Michael Bolton?

When a Man Loves a Woman was the first number one hit recorded in or around Muscle Shoals, Alabama, leading both the pop and R&B charts for Sledge.

Which Blueberry Hill singer was rumoured dead after Hurricane Katrina before a helicopter rescued him?

Fats Domino had stayed in his New Orleans home because his wife was unwell. Someone spray-painted a farewell message on the house before he turned up safe.

Which Prince-penned hit did Chaka Khan record in 1984 with a Melle Mel rap and Stevie Wonder on harmonica?

I Feel for You opens with Melle Mel stuttering the singer's name, an editing mistake that producer Arif Mardin liked enough to keep.

Which funk bassist gave producer Kenneth Edmonds the nickname Babyface because of his youthful looks?

Bootsy Collins, who made his name with James Brown and Parliament-Funkadelic, met Edmonds early in his career, and the teasing tag became his stage name.

Ne-Yo's stage name, coined by a producer, likens him to the hero of which 1999 film?

The Matrix inspired producer Big D Evans, who said the songwriter sees music the way the hero, Neo, sees the simulated world around him.

Which John Legend piano ballad, written for Chrissy Teigen, became his first Hot 100 number one in 2014?

All of Me sat at number two for six weeks before replacing Pharrell Williams's Happy, and its video was filmed in Italy days before the couple's wedding.

Frank Ocean completed his contract with which label by delivering Endless, a day before self-releasing Blonde?

Def Jam received only the 45-minute visual album Endless. Blonde arrived independently the next day and debuted at number one with 275,000 first-week units.

Which co-writer of Ariana Grande's Thank U, Next won the Best New Artist Grammy herself in 2024?

Victoria Monét spent more than a decade writing for other stars before her own debut album, Jaguar II, also won her Best R&B Album that night.

Which Childish Gambino slow jam of 2016 plays near the start of the horror film Get Out?

Redbone earned a Record of the Year nomination and won the Grammy for Best Traditional R&B Performance, months after Jordan Peele used it early in his film.

Which guitarist from the band the Internet topped the Hot 100 in 2022 with Bad Habit?

Steve Lacy ended the 15-week reign of Harry Styles's As It Was, and Bad Habit led Billboard's rock, alternative and R&B charts at the same moment.

Which webcast series did Timbaland and Swizz Beatz launch on Instagram Live in 2020?

Verzuz began in March 2020 as an Instagram Live battle between its two founders, staged remotely because most Americans were stuck at home.

Which jump blues bandleader, nicknamed the King of the Jukebox, reached number one on the R&B chart 18 times?

Louis Jordan spent 113 weeks at number one in total, and between July 1946 and May 1947 he held the top spot for 44 consecutive weeks.

Sam Cooke sang lead for which gospel quartet from 1950 before crossing over to pop?

The Soul Stirrers' gospel audience frowned on pop, so Cooke issued his first secular single under the alias Dale Cook. His voice gave him away at once.

The Gap Band, the Wilson brothers' funk group, was named for Greenwood, Archer and Pine streets in which city?

Tulsa's Greenwood district was the prosperous Black Wall Street burned down in the 1921 massacre. The band's long name began as a joke before being cut to its initials.

Which song did Smokey Robinson co-write that became the Temptations' first number one in 1965?

My Girl was written for David Ruffin's voice after Robinson watched the group on a Motown tour, and it gave the Gordy label its first Hot 100 number one.

Which Motown group performed from 1953 until 1997 without a single change of line-up?

Four Tops singers Levi Stubbs, Duke Fakir, Obie Benson and Lawrence Payton stayed together for 44 years, an unbroken run that ended only with Payton's death.

Which hip-hop trio's 1996 album The Score featured Lauryn Hill singing lead on a cover of Killing Me Softly?

Fugees won two Grammys for it: Best Rap Album, plus an R&B performance award for the cover, which Lauryn Hill sang two years before her solo debut.

Which British singer recorded much of Back to Black with the Dap-Kings, the Brooklyn band of Sharon Jones?

Amy Winehouse and producer Mark Ronson used the band to capture a 1960s vocal-group sound, and the Dap-Kings went on to back her on tour.

Which Wilson Pickett hit of 1966 owes its title to a suggestion Aretha Franklin made to its writer?

Mustang Sally was written and first recorded by Mack Rice, who had called it Mustang Mama until Franklin pointed out which name he actually sang in the chorus.

Which broadcaster created Soul Train in 1970 and hosted the dance show for more than two decades?

Don Cornelius hosted until 1993, and Soul Train stayed in national syndication until 2006, by which time more than 1,100 episodes had been made.

Which singer refused to quit his aircraft factory job even after Ain't No Sunshine became a hit in 1971?

Bill Withers thought the music business too fickle to trust, and the cover of his debut album shows him at the factory holding his lunch box.

Which singer's theme for the 1971 film Shaft made him the first Black winner of the Best Original Song Oscar?

Isaac Hayes performed the theme at the 1972 ceremony in a chain mail vest, then changed into a tuxedo before going up to collect the award.

Which bandleader had a prop spaceship called the Mothership land on stage at Parliament-Funkadelic concerts?

George Clinton's original Mothership was reportedly sold for scrap, so the replica he built in the 1990s is the one now displayed by the Smithsonian.

Patti LaBelle's trio topped the Hot 100 in 1975 with which song produced in New Orleans by Allen Toussaint?

Lady Marmalade had the city's funk band the Meters as its backing group, and Patti LaBelle later said she had no idea what the risqué song was about.

Which singer of the 1975 number one Lovin' You is the mother of comedian Maya Rudolph?

Minnie Riperton devised the melody to keep baby Maya amused, and on the album version she can be heard singing her daughter's name as the song ends.

Which 1975 single was Earth, Wind & Fire's only number one on the Billboard Hot 100?

Shining Star came to Maurice White on a night-time stroll during sessions at Caribou Ranch. The band's later favourite September stalled at number eight.

Which singer's The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face became a hit after Clint Eastwood used it in a film?

Roberta Flack had recorded it in 1969. Eastwood heard it on his car radio, phoned her at home, and his thriller Play Misty for Me turned it into the top single of 1972.

Which songwriting duo ran the label behind the O'Jays' Love Train and Billy Paul's Me and Mrs. Jones?

Gamble and Huff founded Philadelphia International in 1971 as a rival to Motown, and went on to write and produce 175 gold and platinum records.

Which keyboardist of the 1970s funk band Heatwave later wrote Rock with You and Thriller for Michael Jackson?

Rod Temperton once filleted fish in a Grimsby frozen-food plant. He joined Heatwave through a music-paper advert and wrote its hits Boogie Nights and Always and Forever.