Quincy Jones and Ray charles rose from among our ranks.  The Wailers hailed from the Pacific Northwest with their mostly instrumental three cord sound arguably making them the first Northwest grunge band ever.

Seattle is the birthplace of rock legend Jimi Hendrix whom is still honored thoughout our city and around the world.
Randy Hansen, in keeping with the Seattle spirt brilliantly performs his tribute to Hendrix not only to local fans but internationally. Randy is currently performing and touring The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Benifit. Leon Hendrix also continues to keep his brothers spirit alive. 

Heart is a rock band which started in Seattle in the 1960s. Heart was started by Steve Fossen and brothers Roger and Mike Fisher.  Ann Wilson joined the band in 1970. Nancy Wilson joined the band in 1974. Led by Seattle-raised sisters Ann and Nancy Wilson, Heart rose to rock & roll glory in the 1970s with their captivating brand of heavy rock and roll - widely considered the foremost female-fronted rock band in history. 

Roger Fisher, original guitarist of Heart went on to  form  the band Alias.  Roger still resides in Seattle and has new major projects on the horizon. It's a treat when Roger guest performs with the Seattle tribute band, Heartless.  Heartless puts on an incredible tribute show that keeps the fans rockin'. 

Mia Zapata (August 25, 1965 – July 7, 1993) was the lead singer for the Seattle punk band The Gits. Mia helped co-found The Gits in the fall of 1986. They were well received from 1990-1993.  Mia was murdered in 1993 and Seattle lost a great talent. The Gits takes us back to the innocent years at the dawn of a new revolution in music, the peak of Seattle punk.

 Layne Staley (August 22, 1967 – April 5, 2002) was an American musician who served as the lead singer and co-lyricist of the rock group Alice in Chains, which was formed in Seattle, Washington in 1987 by Staley and guitarist Jerry Cantrell, born in Tacoma, Washington. Alice in Chains rose to international fame as part of the grunge movement of the early 1990s.

Nirvana. Kurt Cobain--lead guitarist, songwriter, and singer--and Krist Novoselic--bass player- cultivatied the distinct sound commonlly known as grunge. Cobain was the leader of Nirvana, the multi-platinum grunge band that redefined the sound of the nineties.  Cobain was born south west of Seattle. Cobain formed and reformed a series of bands before Nirvana came to be in 1986.  Nirvana saw Grohl drumming for Scream and were so blown away that they asked him to join the band in 1990. Nirvana had already released their first album, Bleach (on which Dale Crover and Chad Channing played drums), in 1989 and soon set to work with Grohl on their follow-up album, which would be called Nevermind. 

Following the death of Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain in April 1994, Grohl formed Foo Fighters as frontman and songwriter. 'Seattles Sound' distinctly helped foster the contemporary rock movement. 

Jack Endino, accredited as the Grandfather of Grunge, recorded Nirvanas debut album, Bleach. Jack also recorded for Soundgarden, The Gits, Screaming Trees, ZEKE and many more. 

Courtney Michelle Love is an American rock musician and actress. Love is known as lead singer and lyricist for the alternative rock band Hole and for her two-year marriage to the late Nirvana singer/guitarist Kurt Cobain. Love received acclaim as Larry Flynt’s wife, Althea, in Miloš Forman’s 1996 film The People vs. Larry Flynt, opposite Woody Harrelson as Flynt. She received a Golden Globe nomination for Best Actress in a Drama and a New York Film Critics Circle Award for best supporting actress.

Mother Love Bone was established in 1988  with Andrew Wood as the frontman. Andrew Wood  died  at age 24. Former Mother Love Bone members Stone Gossard and Jeff Ament invited Eddie Vedder to come to Seattle to audition for their new band. At the time, Gossard and Ament were working on the Temple of the Dog project founded by Soundgarden's Chris Cornell as a musical tribute to Mother Love Bone's, Andrew Wood.  Seattle engineer Jack Endino called Wood, "the only stand-up comedian frontman in Seattle," a reference to Wood's playful style of interacting with Mother Love Bone fans. Soundgarden drummer Matt Cameron and newcomer Mike McCready were also a part of the project. 

After Temple of the Dog, Gossard and Ament founded Pearl Jam along with Mike McCready, Dave Krusen and Eddie Vedder, Eddie  left the Southern California music scene and moved to Seattle in 1990 to join Pearl Jam. Pearl Jam rocketed to fame with its debut album Ten and is still active today. Pearl Jam has released eight studio albums in total and continues to tour.

Chris Cornell was born and raised in Seattle, Washington.  Chris started out as vocalist and drummer for Soundgarden (1984–1997) Soundgarden was formed in 1984 by Chris Cornell, Kim Thayil and Hiro Yamamoto.  Later Chris joined Audioslave (2001–2007) The band was formed after Zack de la Rocha left Rage Against the Machine. Audioslave's second album, Out of Exile  was released in May 2005 and debuted at number one on the U.S. charts. The album has since gone on to achieve platinum status. Chris continues with his Solo revival (2007–present).

Michael McKagan, known as Duff, was born in Seattle, Washington and is best known for his thirteen-year tenure in the hard rock band Guns N' Roses. Since April 2002, Duff has played bass guitar for the group Velvet Revolver together with ex-Guns N' Roses' members Slash and Matt Sorum, as well as guitarist Dave Kushner and former Stone Temple Pilots singer Scott Weiland. McKagan continues his solo career with success. Duff has recently been granted a one hour radio spot on Seattle rock station KISW.

The Presidents of the United States of America, commonly referred to as The Presidents, is a twice Grammy-nominated American alternative rock band. The band formed in Seattle, USA, in 1993.

Seattle is home of Candlebox, QueensRyche, Nevermore, The Posies, Fire Theft, Rail, Robert Crey, Merrilee Rush (Seattle’s own Angel), Screaming Trees, 7 Year Bitch, ZEKE, Sir mix-a-lot... to name a few.

Death Cab For Cuttie is a Grammy nominated American indie rock band formed in Bellingham, Washington in 1997. The band consists of Benjamin Gibbard (vocals, guitar), Chris Walla (guitar, production), Nick Harmer (bass) and Jason McGerr (drums). The band is unique for their use of unorthodox instruments, including organ and glockenspiel. The band uses their forum to support PETA, promoting animal rights. They spark debate protesting against what they view as the excessive use of Auto-Tune in the music industry.  Death Cab for Cuttie demonstrates the intelligence of evolutionary simplicity while all along entertaining us with complex melodies and methods homegrown right out of Seattle's back yard - Gotta Love Em'.

The Postal Service is an American electronic indie pop band composed of vocalist Ben Gibbard of Death Cab for Cutie and producer Jimmy Tamborello of Dntel, Headset and Figurine.

Today, Seattle still rivals the music industry with legendary musicians who continue to entertain us with their talents. Many of the iconic Seattle musicians are forming new bands like the band East of the Equator with the former drummer of Nirvana, Chad Channing.

Seattle has so many established and emerging bands and artists worthy of support and recognition: Kissing Girls, The American Knight, This Providence, Natalia Struts, Bee Simonds, Mia Katherine Boyle, Run Riot Run, Theory in Motion, Your Divine Tragedy, The Quit, To the Sea, Flowmotion and Blake Lewis (American Idol) to mention just a few.

Seattle, at home, has perhaps been a little quite since the days of grunge, but musicians have come full circle and have been repositioning.  It's in the air, they are ready to revive the grassroots movement that Seattle is best known for. Bring it on Home!