COMPOSER

Stephen Foster

1826 - 1864

Photo of Stephen Foster

Icon of person Stephen Foster

Stephen Collins Foster (July 4, 1826 – January 13, 1864), known as "the father of American music", was an American composer known primarily for his parlour and folk music during the Romantic period. He wrote more than 200 songs, including "Oh! Susanna", "Hard Times Come Again No More", "Camptown Races", "Old Folks at Home" ("Swanee River"), "My Old Kentucky Home", "Jeanie with the Light Brown Hair", "Old Black Joe", and "Beautiful Dreamer". Many of his compositions remain popular today. Read more on Wikipedia

His biography is available in different languages on Wikipedia. Stephen Foster is the 630th most popular composer (up from 631st in 2019), the 3,388th most popular biography from United States (down from 2,955th in 2019) and the 35th most popular American Composer.

Memorability Metrics

Loading...

Page views of Stephen Foster by language

Loading...

Among COMPOSERS

Among composers, Stephen Foster ranks 630 out of 1,451Before him are Wilhelm Stenhammar, Giuseppe Sammartini, Antonio Sacchini, Isabella Leonarda, Johann Caspar Kerll, and Franz Waxman. After him are Jean-Féry Rebel, Ludwig Senfl, Felip Pedrell, Alex North, Johan Helmich Roman, and Wolfgang Schmieder.

Most Popular Composers in Wikipedia

Go to all Rankings

Contemporaries

Among people born in 1826, Stephen Foster ranks 28Before him are Grand Duchess Elizabeth Mikhailovna of Russia, Henri Mouhot, Karl Gegenbaur, Julia Grant, Giovanni Battista Donati, and George B. McClellan. After him are Giuseppe Zanardelli, Walter Bagehot, Gustave Moynier, Rahime Perestu Sultan, Frederic Edwin Church, and Ernst I, Duke of Saxe-Altenburg. Among people deceased in 1864, Stephen Foster ranks 30Before him are John Hanning Speke, Giovanni Antonio Amedeo Plana, Christian Ludwig Brehm, George M. Dallas, Aimable Pélissier, and Karl Ernst Claus. After him are Henryk Dembiński, Adam Wilhelm Moltke, Alexandre Calame, Antoinette de Mérode, Archduke Louis of Austria, and David Roberts.

Others Born in 1826

Go to all Rankings

Others Deceased in 1864

Go to all Rankings

In United States

Among people born in United States, Stephen Foster ranks 3,388 out of 20,380Before him are Adrian Smith (1944), James Gibbons (1834), Bruce Rauner (1957), Arturs Krišjānis Kariņš (1964), Suzanne Pleshette (1937), and Jamaal Wilkes (1953). After him are Christian Slater (1969), E. G. Marshall (1914), Bruce Boxleitner (1950), Marty Friedman (1962), Joseph D. Pistone (1939), and Stefanie Powers (1942).

Among COMPOSERS In United States

Among composers born in United States, Stephen Foster ranks 35Before him are Michael Kamen (1948), John Adams (1947), Amy Beach (1867), Morton Feldman (1926), Ernest Guiraud (1837), and James Scott (1885). After him are Alex North (1910), Basil Poledouris (1945), Jerome Kern (1885), Carmine Coppola (1910), Lee Konitz (1927), and Sun Ra (1914).