MUSICIAN

Mary Lou Williams

1910 - 1981

Photo of Mary Lou Williams

Icon of person Mary Lou Williams

Mary Lou Williams (born Mary Elfrieda Scruggs; May 8, 1910 – May 28, 1981) was an American jazz pianist, arranger, and composer. She wrote hundreds of compositions and arrangements and recorded more than one hundred records (in 78, 45, and LP versions). Williams wrote and arranged for Duke Ellington and Benny Goodman, and she was friend, mentor, and teacher to Thelonious Monk, Charlie Parker, Miles Davis, Tadd Dameron, Bud Powell, and Dizzy Gillespie. She has been noted for her 1954 conversion to Catholicism, which led to a musical hiatus and a later transformation in the nature of her music. Read more on Wikipedia

Her biography is available in different languages on Wikipedia. Mary Lou Williams is the 1,355th most popular musician (up from 1,387th in 2019), the 7,054th most popular biography from United States (down from 6,926th in 2019) and the 496th most popular American Musician.

Memorability Metrics

Loading...

Page views of Mary Lou Williams by language

Loading...

Among MUSICIANS

Among musicians, Mary Lou Williams ranks 1,355 out of 3,175Before her are Joseph Woelfl, Oliver Shanti, Bruce Johnston, Jason Bonham, Marin Alsop, and Pepe Romero. After her are Paco Peña, Marcel Moyse, Anders Johansson, Rick Springfield, Wynton Marsalis, and Clifford Curzon.

Most Popular Musicians in Wikipedia

Go to all Rankings

Contemporaries

Among people born in 1910, Mary Lou Williams ranks 257Before her are Ramón Zabalo, Robert Havemann, Giancarlo Brusati, Larysa Hienijuš, Iuliu Baratky, and Paul Sweezy. After her are Barys Kit, David Dunlap, Alicia Markova, Vladas Mikėnas, Mamadou Dia, and Ralph Metcalfe. Among people deceased in 1981, Mary Lou Williams ranks 181Before her are Anita Loos, Juan Trippe, Paul Hörbiger, Yury Trifonov, Rudolf Viertl, and Jan Burgers. After her are Francesca Woodman, Stanisław Mazur, Werner Teske, Cláudio Coutinho, Hoagy Carmichael, and Antero Kivi.

Others Born in 1910

Go to all Rankings

Others Deceased in 1981

Go to all Rankings

In United States

Among people born in United States, Mary Lou Williams ranks 7,056 out of 20,380Before her are Saul Alinsky (1909), Phil McGraw (1950), Marcia Neugebauer (1932), Matt Bloom (1972), Peter Greene (1965), and Marta Kauffman (1956). After her are Gordon Tullock (1922), Nate Brooks (1933), Gary Dourdan (1966), Ted Neeley (1943), Sabin Carr (1904), and Clint Walker (1927).

Among MUSICIANS In United States

Among musicians born in United States, Mary Lou Williams ranks 496Before her are Steve Stevens (1959), Marc Ribot (1954), Terry Bozzio (1950), Harry James (1916), Bruce Johnston (1942), and Marin Alsop (1956). After her are Wynton Marsalis (1961), Ludacris (1977), Lee Ritenour (1952), Donald Fagen (1948), Phil Woods (1931), and Gram Parsons (1946).