Cub Kodasinger, guitarist, songwriter, DJ, music writerDetroit-born rocker who wrote and sang Brownsville Station's 1973 hit "Smokin' in the Boys Room" and later became a respected blues writer and record compiler.DETROIT / A living lexicon / ¼
Famous Detroiters
People who were born here, moved here or built their careers in Detroit: musicians, carmakers, athletes, writers, inventors, civil-rights leaders and a few notorious names. With their dates, their Detroit story and the places where they lived, worked and played, closed ones included.
- 1,949 famous people
- 516 Detroit places
- 22 fields
Hungarian ties 31 Detroiters with Hungarian ties →
Origin and citizenship
Field
Connection
Born in
A–Z (family name)
923 people · 16/20 page
Clear filtersCub Kodasinger, guitarist, songwriter, DJ, music writerDetroit-born rocker who wrote and sang Brownsville Station's 1973 hit "Smokin' in the Boys Room" and later became a respected blues writer and record compiler.Hugh Lawsonjazz pianistDetroit pianist who was Yusef Lateef's keyboard partner for more than a decade from 1957 and later toured with Charles Mingus.
Sports · born 1948Ron LeFlorebaseball player, center fielderEast-side Detroiter who went from Jackson State Prison to center field at Tiger Stadium in 1974, a story told in the TV film One in a Million.
Politics · 1866–1923Oscar Marxoptical manufacturer, mayor of DetroitFarm boy from the edge of Detroit who built the Michigan Optical Company and was mayor through the 1913–1918 auto boom, appointing James Couzens police commissioner.
Music · born 1945Jim McCartyguitaristDetroit blues-rock guitarist of Mitch Ryder and the Detroit Wheels, Cactus and the Rockets, whom Ted Nugent calls his biggest early influence.
Sports · born 1962Milton McCroryboxer, WBC welterweight championDetroit-born Kronk fighter who won the WBC welterweight title in 1983, the first Detroit-born champion from Emanuel Steward's gym.Joe MessinaguitaristDetroit-born jazz guitarist who became one of the most prolific Funk Brothers, playing on "Dancing in the Street" and hundreds of other Motown records.Dominique Morisseauplaywright, actress, television writerDetroit-born playwright whose Detroit Project trilogy (Detroit '67, Paradise Blue, Skeleton Crew) puts the city's history on stage; MacArthur Fellow and Tony nominee.
Law · 1955–2020Benny Napoleonpolice chief, lawyer, Wayne County sheriffDetroit-born minister's son who rose from patrolman to Detroit police chief (1998–2001), served as Wayne County sheriff (2009–2020) and ran for mayor in 2013.
Music · 1938–1997Lawrence Paytontenor, vocal arrangerDetroit-born tenor and vocal arranger of the Four Tops, credited with the group's seamless harmonies.
Music · born 1991Babyface RayrapperEast-side Detroit rapper whose laid-back, luxurious flow made him a central figure of 2020s Detroit hip-hop, peaking with the album Face in 2022.Tracy Reesefashion designerDetroit-born fashion designer and Cass Tech graduate who dressed Michelle Obama and later returned home to build a sustainable label in Detroit.
MusicGuilty Simpsonrapper, songwriterDeep-voiced Detroit rapper, one of J Dilla's favorite MCs, who recorded for Stones Throw and formed Random Axe with Black Milk.
Music · 1936–2013Bobby SmithsingerPrincipal lead singer of the Spinners from their founding at a Ferndale high school in 1954 until 2013.
Politics · 1882–1942John W. Smithpipefitter, postmaster, mayor of DetroitFormer newsboy and pipefitter who rose to postmaster and mayor, defeating a Klan-backed write-in candidate in 1924 and serving twice (1924–1928 and 1933).
Fashion · born 1954
John Varvatosmenswear designerDetroit-born menswear designer, raised in Allen Park, whose rock-and-roll tailoring grew out of a Downriver youth spent on Detroit music.David Wasmusician, songwriter, record producer, journalistDetroit-born co-founder of Was (Not Was) with his childhood friend Don Was, the art-funk band behind "Walk the Dinosaur."
Science & invention · born 1943Bob Waterstonbiologist, geneticistGenome scientist who, with John Sulston, led the sequencing of the first animal genome and was a leader of the Human Genome Project; born in Detroit.
Music · born 1968Rodney Whitakerjazz double bassist, educatorDetroit-born bassist, a Marcus Belgrave protégé who played with Terence Blanchard, Roy Hargrove and Wynton Marsalis and now leads jazz studies at Michigan State University.
Politics · 1782–1854John R. Williamsmerchant, first elected mayor of DetroitDetroit-born merchant who wrote the 1824 city charter, served as the first elected mayor and co-founded the paper that became the Detroit Free Press; John R Street is named after him.
Music · 1943–2026Rosalind AshfordsingerDetroit-born soprano and original member of Martha and the Vandellas, heard on "Heat Wave", "Dancing in the Street" and "Nowhere to Run".Sada BabyrapperEast-side Detroit rapper and one of the defining voices of the city's late-2010s street-rap wave, known for “Bloxk Party” and “Whole Lotta Choppas”.General Bakerautoworker, labor organizer, revolutionary activistDetroit autoworker who co-founded the Dodge Revolutionary Union Movement and the League of Revolutionary Black Workers in the late 1960s.
Music · born 1961John BrannonsingerPontiac-born singer of Negative Approach, the Detroit band that pioneered Midwest hardcore punk in 1981, and later of the Ann Arbor noise-rock band Laughing Hyenas.Walter O. Briggsauto-body manufacturer, owner of the Detroit TigersYpsilanti-born industrialist whose Briggs Manufacturing built car bodies for Detroit's automakers and who expanded the Tigers' ballpark into Briggs Stadium.Jacky Clark Chisholmsinger, songwriterEldest of the Clark Sisters, the Detroit gospel group that became the best-selling female gospel act in history.Dorinda Clark-Colesinger, songwriter, evangelist, television hostDetroit gospel singer of the Clark Sisters, known as the "Rose of Gospel Music", who later led her mother's Clark Conservatory of Music.
Law · 1924–2022Avern Cohnlawyer, federal judgeDetroit-born lawyer and civic leader who chaired the Detroit Board of Police Commissioners and served as a federal judge in Detroit for more than four decades (1979–2022).Kenny Coxjazz pianist, bandleader, label founderDetroit pianist whose Contemporary Jazz Quintet recorded two Blue Note albums in 1968–1969 and who founded the city's Strata label and later the Guerilla Jam Band.
Music · 1925–2000Lucia Dlugoszewskicomposer, poet, instrument inventorDetroit-born Polish American avant-garde composer who invented the 'timbre piano' and dozens of percussion instruments and was music director of the Erick Hawkins Dance Company.ElzhirapperDetroit lyricist who sharpened his skills at the Hip Hop Shop, joined Slum Village after J Dilla left and won acclaim for albums such as Elmatic and Lead Poison.Fred Foyradio and television announcer, narratorDetroit-born announcer whose 'Return with us now to those thrilling days of yesteryear' opening for The Lone Ranger (WXYZ, 1948–1954) became radio's most famous introduction.Gwen Gordy Fuquasongwriter, record executiveDetroit-born Gordy sister who co-wrote Jackie Wilson's "Lonely Teardrops", co-founded Anna Records and later ran artist development and management at Motown.Frank Gantjazz drummerDetroit drummer who backed Billie Holiday and Thelonious Monk in local clubs, recorded extensively with Yusef Lateef and spent a decade in Ahmad Jamal's trio.
Press & broadcasting · 1917–1977Lou Gordontelevision interviewer, columnist, political reporterCombative Detroit TV interviewer whose Lou Gordon Program on WKBD (1966–1977) drew George Romney's 1967 'brainwashing' remark that sank his presidential hopes.Johnny GriffithkeyboardistDetroit-born Funk Brothers keyboardist who played the electric piano on "I Heard It Through the Grapevine" and the organ on "Stop! In the Name of Love".
Music · born 1973Deitrick Haddongospel singer, songwriter, producer, pastorDetroit-born progressive gospel singer and producer, leader of Voices of Unity, known for "Sinner's Prayer" and the reality series Preachers of L.A.Kelli HandDJ, producer, label owner“First Lady of Detroit techno”, who opened doors for Black women in electronic music and ran her own Acacia label for three decades.
Music · born 1986Illa Jrapper, singer, producerJ Dilla's younger brother, who carried on the family's musical legacy with albums built on Dilla's beats and a stint in Slum Village.
Politics · 1900–1950Edward Jeffrieslawyer, mayor of DetroitDetroit-born lawyer and son of a crusading judge who was mayor through World War II (1940–1948), including the deadly 1943 race riot; the Jeffries Freeway honors him.
Literature · born 1965Tyehimba JesspoetDetroit-born poet whose Olio, a daring book about Black musicians and performers before the Harlem Renaissance, won the 2017 Pulitzer Prize for Poetry.
Auto industry · 1864–1936Henry B. Joypresident of the Packard Motor Car Company, Lincoln Highway promoterDetroit railroad heir who brought Packard to the city, commissioned Albert Kahn's giant plant on East Grand Boulevard and championed the Lincoln Highway.Shirley Loveoperatic mezzo-sopranoDetroit-born mezzo-soprano, a Wayne State graduate who sang at the Metropolitan Opera for twenty consecutive seasons from 1963.John Macurdyoperatic bassDetroit-born bass who sang at the Metropolitan Opera 1,001 times between 1962 and 2000 after starting out as a General Motors die and pattern maker.
Music · born 1975Jamie Madroxrapper, label co-founderDetroit rapper and one half of Twiztid, the horrorcore duo that grew from the Hip Hop Shop battle scene into Psychopathic Records stars and later founded Majik Ninja Entertainment.
MusicDan John Millersinger-songwriter, guitarist, actorDetroit singer and guitarist who led Goober & the Peas and the gothic country band Blanche, played in Two-Star Tabernacle with Jack White, and portrayed Luther Perkins in Walk the Line.Manuel Morounbusinessman, owner of the Ambassador BridgeDetroit-born son of Syrian Maronite immigrants who built a trucking empire and owned the Ambassador Bridge and, for years, the empty Michigan Central Station.J. Mossgospel singer, producer, songwriter, pastorDetroit gospel singer and producer, nephew of Mattie Moss Clark, whose PAJAM production team became gospel's leading hitmakers.The lexicon keeps growing. Every entry lists its sources at the bottom. Dates were checked against Wikidata and Wikipedia. The texts are our own. Famous people's places among the sights ↗
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