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Themusic of Florida has diverse influences, with roots in rock, jazz, blues, country, and Latin music. Cities such as Tampa, Gainesville, Orlando, and Miami developed influential rock, punk, and metal scenes in the 1970s–2000s. Miami in particular has a rich tradition of Latin and Caribbean music, which has influenced mainstream pop and hip hop in the 2000s and 2010s.
Blues artists from Florida includePiedmont blues singer and guitaristGabriel Brown and saxophonist andblues shouterBuster Bennett. Some blues songs from the early 20th century reference geographic locations in Florida, including "Florida Blues" byW. C. Handy, "Jacksonville Blues", "Miami Blues", "Miami Beach Blues", "Swanee Blues", and "Pensacola Blues".
Bebop drummerRobert Thomas, Jr. andswing drummerPanama Francis were born inMiami. SaxophonistArchie Shepp was born inFort Lauderdale. TrumpeterFats Navarro was born inKey West. Bassist, cellist, and composerSam Jones was born in Jacksonville. Alto saxophonistCannonball Adderley and his brother, the cornet and trumpet playerNat Adderley, of Tampa, and tenor saxophonistJunior Cook ofPensacola were active in thehard bop era. Multi-instrumentalist and composerGigi Gryce and blues andjazz singer and pianistIda Goodson were also born in Pensacola.[1] Pianist and singerBillie Pierce, of the Goodson Sisters, was born inMarianna.[2] TrombonistBuster Cooper was born inSt. Petersburg. SaxophonistAlfred "Pee Wee" Ellis was born inBradenton.Doug Carn ofSt. Augustine recorded several albums forBlack Jazz Records in the early 1970s.
TrumpeterPete Minger, a South Carolina native, moved to Florida where he played with drummerWilliam Peeples among others, and studied music at theUniversity of Miami after working withCount Basie in the 1970s. Cuban jazz trumpeter, pianist, and composerArturo Sandoval has been active in Miami since 1990.
Dean Dewberry (1926–2006), a Jazz (American Music) Hall of Fame[clarification needed] concert pianist, was born and raised in St. Petersburg. He played in local night clubs with his wife, Penny Parker Dewberry, as well as with jazz musicians such asDuke Ellington and Wild Bill Davidson.[3] Later, after becoming Christians, both he and his wife created "Jazz For Jesus" and spent the rest of their working years uplifting inmates throughout the southeast; they did normal and home co-ministry with their friends Horace and Marilyn Ellsworth (ministers of "Looking Unto Jesus Ministries") throughout Florida and southern Georgia.
Florida is the home of several notable country musicians and musical acts.Johnny Tillotson ("Poetry in Motion") is from Jacksonville. Country singerMel Tillis was born in Darby, a small rural community inPasco County. His daughterPam Tillis, also a country music star, was born in nearbyPlant City.Slim Whitman was born in Tampa and once played minor-league baseball for the Plant City Berries.
The Bellamy Brothers, a duet act that hit number one on the country charts several times before reaching number one on theBillboard Hot 100 chart with their cross-over hit "Let Your Love Flow" (1976), also hail from Darby. Their close friendBobby Braddock, a member of theCountry Music Hall of Fame with multiple number ones to his credit, was born inLakeland, inPolk County, and grew up in nearbyAuburndale.
Kent Lavoie, better known by his stage nameLobo, hit number 5 on theBillboard Pop chart in 1971 with the soft rock song "Me and You and a Dog Named Boo". He was born inTallahassee and grew up inWinter Haven. While attending theUniversity of South Florida, Lavoie formed a band called The Rumors withJim Stafford andGram Parsons.
Gram Parsons was born inWinter Haven and attended exclusiveThe Bolles School inJacksonville. He had a central role in therock-and-roll scene of the 1960s, being friends or collaborating on projects with notables likeMick Jagger,Linda Ronstadt,Johnny "Guitar" Watson, andThe Kingston Trio. He tried to rescueMichelle Phillips by helicopter from the mayhem at theAltamont Music Festival in 1969. One of his songs is included inGimme Shelter, a documentary about the events at Altamont. Parsons was a member ofThe Byrds and was also part ofThe Flying Burrito Brothers. Later, with some friends fromHarvard University, he formed a folk/country band namedInternational Submarine Band. He later toured extensively withEmmylou Harris before his death at the age of 26.
Jim Stafford, born in Eloise, grew up inWinter Haven and was a prominent country performer in the 1970s. He had his own television show,The Jim Stafford Show, in 1975, as well as co-hostingThose Amazing Animals withBurgess Meredith andPriscilla Presley and making regular guest appearances onThe Tonight Show and other programs.Jake Owen had a number 4 album on the Billboard 200 in 2016.
Florida has been a center for rock music and its numerous subgenres since the 1960s. Cities such asTampa,Jacksonville, andGainesville in particular developed active punk rock and metal scenes starting in the 1970s and 1980s.
Florida musicians inducted into theRock and Roll Hall of Fame includeThe Allman Brothers Band,Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, andLynyrd Skynyrd (Ronnie Van Zant is buried in a suburb of Jacksonville; his widow foundedFreebird Live).
In the 1970s and early 1980s, Jacksonville saw an active music recording scene withSouthern rock bands such asMolly Hatchet,The Allman Brothers Band,38 Special,Outlaws,Blackfoot, andLynyrd Skynyrd.The Bellamy Brothers also recorded their style of country music in the mid to late 1970s.
Scott McKenzie and Gary U.S. Bonds were born in Florida.[4] In the 1960s, Florida rock bandThe Outlaws was originated in Tampa;The Royal Guardsmen ("Snoopy vs. the Red Baron" ranked number 2 on the Hot 100 in 1966) from Ocala; and theClassics IV ("Traces" ranked number 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1969) from Jacksonville. Tropical country singerBertie Higgins ("Key Largo", 1981) was inducted into the Florida Music Hall of Fame in 2016.
Jim Morrison ofThe Doors was born in Melbourne, spent part of his childhood in Clearwater, and attendedFlorida State University for a few years.
GuitaristTom Petty was born in and grew up in Gainesville. Most of the members of the three bands he recorded with—The Epics,The Heartbreakers, andMudcrutch—were also from Florida, mainly from in and around Gainesville and northern Florida. Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers had ten number one songs on theMainstream Rock chart. Bands of the mid-to late-1990s with strong links to Florida includeTabitha's Secret (later namedMatchbox Twenty) fromOrlando, the rock bandCreed (who had four number one songs on the Mainstream Rock chart) fromTallahassee, andSister Hazel from Gainesville. The rock band, The Freddy Mitchell Euphoria (formed in Fort Lauderdale in the 1980s) released, "Above and Below" (1984), "Fallen Moons" (1998) and "Animator" (2005).Alter Bridge (Creed minus lead vocalist Scott Stapp) from Orlando had a number 5 album on the Billboard 200 withOne Day Remains (2004).
The Tropics andThe Tempests are from Tampa.Chris Carrabba and his band,Dashboard Confessional, is usually associated with the new wave of popular alternative music. Originating fromBoca Raton, the band had two number 2 albums on the Billboard 200 in 2003 and 2006. Chris Carrabba graduated fromFlorida Atlantic University in Boca. His former band,Further Seems Forever, is also a popular indie rock band fromPompano Beach.
The bandSaigon Kick from Coral Springs had a top 12 Billboard hit with "Love Is on the Way" (1992). Post-grunge bandSeven Mary Three formed in Orlando.
The bandsShinedown,Cold ("Stupid Girl"), andYellowcard formed in Jacksonville. Shinedown had a number 4 album on the Billboard 200 withAmaryllis (2012) and twelve number one songs on theMainstream Rock Chart in the 2000s and 2010s, including "Second Chance" and "Sound of Madness".
Christian alternative bandTenth Avenue North is based out of West Palm Beach. Christian rock bandCasting Crowns (Come to the Well, 2011) formed in Daytona Beach.Jani Lane, the original lead vocalist forWarrant, grew up in Winter Park; he later opened a club in downtown Orlando named Jani Lane's Sunset Strip. Todd LaTorre, the current vocalist forQueensrÿche, grew up in Tampa Bay; he also was the frontman ofCrimson Glory.The Americanemo bandPool Kids formed inTallahassee, Florida, in 2017. Their debut album wasMusic to Practice Safe Sex To (2018).
In the 1960s, Tampa was active in the music recording industry.Mercy recorded a Jack Sigler, Jr. original entitled "Love (Can Make You Happy)" at the old Charles Fuller Studio on MacDill Avenue in Tampa. The Royal Guardsmen recorded "Snoopy vs. The Red Baron" at this same studio. Many bands used Charles Fuller Studios for their 45 records.The Tropics, a Tampa/St. Petersburg-based band, recorded and released "I Want More" on the Knight label and "Time" onColumbia Records.The Tempests, a St. Petersburg-based band, recorded and released "I Want You Only" and "I Want You To Know" on the Fuller label.
Criteria Studios, a recording studio in Miami, producedRumours (1977) byFleetwood Mac andHotel California (1976) byThe Eagles.
Activepunk rock scenes flourished in the Tampa/St. Petersburg area in the late 1970s, including bands such as The Straight Jackets, The Shades, the Jackers, Just Boys, The Art Holes, The Stick Figures, A New Personality, and the Veal Rifles.
Prior to moving to Los Angeles, Exene Cervenka lived in St. Petersburg and other locations in Central Florida during her teenage years.[5][6]
Hardcore punk gained a widespread following, originating from cities like Gainesville, Fort Lauderdale, Miami, and Tampa. One of the first bands in this style is believed to be Roach Motel of Gainesville; however, The Eat, fromHialeah, formed around 1978–79. Miami also was home to one of the first American punk bands to release an indie single: "Silver Screen" (1978) by Critical Mass, which is still in demand by collectors today. Rat Cafeteria, U-Boats (Tampa); Sector 4, Hated Youth, and Paisley Death Camp (all fromTallahassee); No Fraud (Venice); F (Fort Lauderdale); Morbid Opera (Miami); and Crucial Truth (Pompano Beach) also gained an audience and some had songs compiled on the albumWe Can't Help It If We're From Florida.
In the 1980s, hardcore bands from Orlando included Dissent, Damage, Zyklon-B, The Bully Boys, Florida's Unwanted Children, Sewer Side Rouges, Declared Ungovernable, Contradiction, The Damn Maniacs, andGenitorturers. Mid-1980s-era band Black Label featured John Reece (future bassist for Rose Shadows) as well as Rusty Penrose (future bassist for Bully Boys) and John Stalzer on drums. Black Label was the second band to ever play at the Orlando concert venue Electric Avenue. The band's inaugural show brought in 981 people, a feat that would never again be accomplished by any local band at that venue.[citation needed] Black Label released one single, "Rootbeer For Everyone", a song that was in heavy rotation on Rollins College radio station WPRK, which was hosted at the time by future Genitorturers' front woman Jennifer Zimmerman.
Gainesville and Jacksonville had very active punk scenes in the 1990s and 2000s.Less Than Jake,Against Me!, andHot Water Music are from Gainesville.The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus,Inspection 12, The Softer Side, andEvergreen Terrace are from Jacksonville.Mayday Parade and Stages & Stereos are from Tallahassee.
Other hardcore, post-hardcore, and metalcore bands from Florida include:Against All Authority,Anberlin "Feel Good Drag" (Stephen Christian graduated from UCF),Underoath,The Almost,Combatwoundedveteran,Poison the Well,Assholeparade,A Day to Remember (from Ocala),New Found Glory (from Coral Springs),Fake Problems (from Naples), andShai Hulud. The bandsSleeping With Sirens andThere for Tomorrow are from Orlando. The pop punk bandWe the Kings ("Check Yes Juliet", 2008) is from theSarasota area.
Indie rock bands Mortimer Nova,Surfer Blood,Iron & Wine,Copeland,The Drums, andThe Generators are from Florida. The post-rock bandWindsor for the Derby was formed in Tampa, andFake Problems originated in Naples.
Florida was the epicenter of the emergingdeath metal genre in the late 1980s, particularly in theTampa Bay area. Shaped by the producersScott Burns and Jim and Tim Morris ofMorrisound Recording, the emergent Florida death metal scene produced artists such asDeath,Morbid Angel,Deicide,Obituary,Atheist,Hate Eternal,Monstrosity,Assück,Nocturnus,Nasty Savage, andAcheron. The recording and commercial opportunities of the scene induced non-Floridian bands such asCannibal Corpse andMalevolent Creation to relocate to Tampa. Among the records and albums produced at Morrisound wereDeicide's debut albumDeicide (1990),Morbid Angel's debut albumAltars of Madness (1989), andDeath's albumLeprosy (1988). Tampa is also the birthplace ofsymphonic power metal bandKamelot andpower metal bandIced Earth.
Fort Lauderdale has produced a few metal bands as well, such asMarilyn Manson,Monstrosity,Kult ov Azazel, andnu metal bandNonpoint. Progressive death metal bandsCynic,Hibernus Mortis, andI Set My Friends on Fire come from Miami.Poison the Well—the band generally agreed to have created themelodic metalcore subgenre, a type of metalcore inspired by melodic death metal—is also from Miami.Wage War andWe Are Defiance aremetalcore bands based out of Ocala.
Orlando is the home of the bands Death,Skrape, andTrivium.Savatage is from the city ofTarpon Springs; singerJon Oliva went on to create theTrans-Siberian Orchestra from Tampa.Limp Bizkit is from Jacksonville.
TK Records produced the R&B groupKC and the Sunshine Band along with soul singersBetty Wright (d.2020),George McCrae,Gwen McCrae,Timmy Thomas, Little Beaver, Foxy, Peter Brown, andJimmy "Bo" Horne, as well as a number of soul and disco hits, many influenced byCaribbean music. KC and the Sunshine Band had many hits such as "Get Down Tonight", That's the Way", "Shake Your Booty", "Keep It Comin' Love" and "Boogie Shoes".[7]
James & Bobby Purify, Eddie Hinton, Charles Bradley, and Sam Moore (Sam & Dave) were from Florida. Familysoul singing groupCornelius Brothers & Sister Rose are fromDania. Soul singerLinda Lyndell was born in Gainesville.R&B artistsKirby Maurier was raised in Miami andMiramar,Sammie is fromBoynton Beach andPleasure P is fromCarver Raches, West Park.
Floridian dance musicians includeJimmy Bo Horne and KC and the Sunshine Band. In 1985, theWinter Music Conference, an annual week-long dance music festival, started in Miami. It coincides withUltra Music Festival.
Music from the 1990s includedMurk (aka Funky Green Dogs),Planet Soul,No Mercy, and DJRobbie Rivera.
Florida pop musicians with at least one number one Billboard Hot 100 hit includedKC and the Sunshine Band (5) in the 1970s;Terence Trent D'Arby andExposé in the 1980s;Vanilla Ice andStevie B in the 1990s;Rob Thomas,Matchbox 20,Creed,NSYNC,Enrique Iglesias "The King of Latin Pop" (2),T-Pain (2),Flo Rida (3),Sean Kingston, andJason Derulo (2) in the 2000s; andPitbull (2),Camila Cabello (2),XXXTentacion. AndAriana Grande with (9) in the 2010s and 2020s.
In addition, Florida musicians with at least one number one album on the Billboard 200 includedMarilyn Manson (2),Limp Bizkit (2), andBackstreet Boys (3) in the 1990s; R&B/hip hop groupPretty Ricky, and rapperRick Ross (5) in the 2000s; andTom Petty and the Heartbreakers, R&B/pop singerAriana Grande (6), bro-country duoFlorida Georgia Line, rapperDJ Khaled (4), and rapperKodak Black in the 2010s.
Backstreet Boys,NSYNC, andO-Town were all formed in Orlando and managed byLou Pearlman. Additional musicians from Orlando include singer and actressMandy Moore, and country singerJohn Anderson ("Seminole Wind", 1992).Aaron Carter was from Tampa, and had a number 4 album on Billboard 200 in 2000.
Additional musicians from Florida include electro-pop singer, multi-instrumentalist, and producer Meresha; country pop singerCassadee Pope from West Palm Beach; and neotraditional country singerEaston Corbin from the Gainesville area. Pop rapperLunchMoney Lewis, rapperKent Jones all come from Miami.EDM and trap DJDiplo (also inMajor Lazer andJack Ü) is also from Miami.
Early 2000s girl groupP.Y.T. and dance-pop singerWilla Ford came from the Tampa area. The girl groupFifth Harmony (withCamila Cabello, who later went solo) is from Miami, and had a number 4 album on the Billboard 200 with7/27 (2016).
There are manyLatinos in Florida, and an especially high number of Cubans in cities such as Miami and Tampa. The regional Latin music industry includes a wide variety of traditional and popular Cuban styles, as well as otherLatin music genres. The Cuban community has produced traditional performers includingCachao andIsrael Kantor, as well as mainstream pop stars such asGloria Estefan, the "Queen of Latin Pop".[8] In the 1980s, Gloria Estefan andMiami Sound Machine had three number one Hot 100 hits, including "Anything for You". Estefan is the most famous musician to come from the Miami pop industry; others includeWillie Chirino andAlbita Rodríguez.[9]Jon Secada had the hit "Just Another Day" in 1992 and was from the Miami area.
In 2017, the music video for "Despacito" byLuis Fonsi featuringDaddy Yankee reached over a billion views on YouTube in under 3 months. Luis Fonsi went to high school in Orlando and attended Florida State. As of December 2020, the music video was the second most viewed YouTube video of all time. With 3.3 million certified sales plus track-equivalent streams, "Despacito" became one of thebest-selling Latin singles in the United States.[10]Reggaeton artistBad Bunny's (from Puerto Rico) albumX 100pre (2018) was ranked number 447 onRolling Stone's 500 Greatest Albums of All Time list in 2020.[11]
Miami bass is a booming, bass-heavyhip-hop music that developed in the mid-1980s in Miami. Innovators on the scene includedDJ Laz, while the scene eventually gained prominence through the Miami bass group2 Live Crew led byLuther Campbell. The lyrics to Miami bass were often sexually explicit, and when2 Live Crew began to achieve national attention, the words in their songs caused controversy; several stores were prosecuted underobscenity laws for selling the disc, and members of 2 Live Crew were arrested for performing songs from the albumAs Nasty As They Wanna Be.[9]
The Miami bass groups69 Boyz ("Tootsee Roll", 1994) andQuad City DJs ("C'mon N' Ride It (The Train)", 1996) come from Jacksonville.
Nappy Boy Entertainment is a record label founded byT-Pain in Tallahassee.Valholla Entertainment is a Miami-based label and management company.
Raider Klan was a hip-hop collective formed inCarol City in 2008 bySpaceGhostPurrp, Dough Dough Da Don, Kadafi, Muney Junior, and Jitt.[12] They were one of the first rap collectives to integrate the style of early-Three 6 Mafia into their music, a pattern subsequently embraced throughout the hip-hop scene, namely in the form ofASAP Mob andDrake.[13]Raider Klan members and affiliatesDenzel Curry,Chris Travis andXavier Wulf pioneered theSoundcloud rap movement.[14]
Subsequent Florida rappersXXXTentacion,Ski Mask the Slump God,Lil Pump,Smokepurpp, andWifisfuneral broughtSoundCloud rap to the mainstream in the mid-to-late-2010s.[15][13] During this period, XXXTentacion helped to define the sound ofemo rap.[16][17]XXXTentacion was killed in Broward county in 2018 at age 20 after attempting to purchase a motorcycle.[18]
Additional Floridian rappers includeTrick Daddy,Kodak Black,Denzel Curry,Rick Ross,Ace Hood,Plies,Trina,Rod Wave,Cool & Dre,Flo Rida,Jacki-O,stic.man,Dead Prez,Pitbull,YNW Melly,BossMan Dlow, andM-1.
With most American bands surfacing during the third wave in the early 1990s; some of Florida's earliest ska bands like Magadog and Less than Jake paved the way for subsequent bands such as:
Pork Pie Tribe, Pie Tasters, Skiff Dank, the Usuals, Skahumbug, Baccone Dolce and the Rugcutters.[19]
Florida breaks is a genre ofbreakbeat music originating in the 1990s in the state of Florida. It is particularly popular in the Tampa and Orlando areas.
