When describingpopular music artists,honorificnicknames are used, most often in the media or by fans, to indicate the significance of an artist, and are oftenreligious,familial, or most frequentlyroyal and aristocratic titles, usedmetaphorically. Honorific nicknames were used in classical music inEurope even in the early 19th century, with figures such asMozart being called "The father of modern piano music" andBach "The father of modern music".^[1] They were also particularly prominent inAfrican-American culture in the post-Civil War era, perhaps as a means of conferring status that had been negated byslavery,^[2] and as a result entered early jazz and blues music, including figures such asDuke Ellington andCount Basie.^[3]

InU.S. culture, despite itsrepublican constitution and ideology,^[4] royalist honorific nicknames have been used to describe leading figures in various areas of activity, such as industry, commerce, sports, and the media;father ormother have been used forinnovators, and royal titles such asking andqueen for dominant figures in a field.^[5][6] In the 1930s and 1940s, as jazz and swing music were gaining popularity, it was the more commercially successful white artistsPaul Whiteman andBenny Goodman who became known as "the King of Jazz" and "the King of Swing" respectively, despite there being more highly regarded contemporary African-American artists.^[7]

These patterns of naming were transferred to rock and roll when it emerged in the 1950s. There was a series of attempts to find—and a number of claimants to be—the "King of Rock 'n' Roll", a title that became most associated withElvis Presley.^[8] This has been characterized as part of a process of the appropriation of credit for innovation of the then-new music by a white establishment.^[9] Different honorifics have been taken or given for other leading figures in the genre, such as "the Architect of Rock and Roll", byLittle Richard from the 1990s;^[10] this term, like many, is also used for other important figures, in this case including pioneer electric guitaristLes Paul.^[11]

Similar honorific nicknames have been given in other genres, includingAretha Franklin, who was crowned the "Queen of Soul" on stage by disk jockeyPervis Spann in 1968.^[12]Michael Jackson andMadonna have been closely associated with the terms "King and Queen of Pop" since the 1980s.^[13][14][15] Some nicknames have been strongly promulgated and contested by various artists,^[16] and occasionally disowned or played down by their subjects.^[17] Some notable honorific nicknames are in general usage and commonly identified with particular individuals.

• Jazz royalty
• Lists of nicknames
• Madonna (nickname)
• Sobriquet
• Teen idol