MUSICIAN

Benny Goodman

1909 - 1986

Photo of Benny Goodman

Icon of person Benny Goodman

Benjamin David Goodman (May 30, 1909 – June 13, 1986) was an American clarinetist and bandleader, known as the "King of Swing". From 1936 until the mid-1940s, Goodman led one of the most popular swing big bands in the United States. His concert at Carnegie Hall in New York City on January 16, 1938, is described by critic Bruce Eder as "the single most important jazz or popular music concert in history: jazz's 'coming out' party to the world of 'respectable' music." Goodman's bands started the careers of many jazz musicians. Read more on Wikipedia

Since 2007, the English Wikipedia page of Benny Goodman has received more than 2,727,038 page views. His biography is available in 58 different languages on Wikipedia (up from 57 in 2019). Benny Goodman is the 146th most popular musician (down from 115th in 2019), the 844th most popular biography from United States (down from 679th in 2019) and the 40th most popular American Musician.

Benny Goodman is most famous for being a jazz musician who played the clarinet and led a band.

Memorability Metrics

  • 2.7M

    Page Views (PV)

  • 63.70

    Historical Popularity Index (HPI)

  • 58

    Languages Editions (L)

  • 5.40

    Effective Languages (L*)

  • 4.66

    Coefficient of Variation (CV)

Among MUSICIANS

Among musicians, Benny Goodman ranks 146 out of 3,175. Before him are Malcolm Young, Maria João Pires, Caetano Veloso, Bill Evans, Carlos Kleiber, and Ray Manzarek. After him are Chris Slade, Tony Iommi, Hans von Bülow, Compay Segundo, Dizzy Gillespie, and Ravi Shankar.

Most Popular Musicians in Wikipedia

Go to all Rankings
Load previousLoad previous

Contemporaries

Among people born in 1909, Benny Goodman ranks 28. Before him are Mohammed Daoud Khan, Carmen Miranda, Magda Schneider, Souphanouvong, Marinus van der Lubbe, and Aleksandar Ranković. After him are Errol Flynn, Fred Perry, John Fante, Oldřich Nejedlý, Jessica Tandy, and Joseph L. Mankiewicz. Among people deceased in 1986, Benny Goodman ranks 33. Before him are Alva Myrdal, Dmitry Kabalevsky, Stanley Rous, Leonid Kantorovich, Georges Dumézil, and Chiune Sugihara. After him are Lê Duẩn, L. Ron Hubbard, Otto Preminger, Minoru Yamasaki, Dean Reed, and Coluche.

Others Born in 1909

Go to all Rankings
Load previousLoad previous

Others Deceased in 1986

Go to all Rankings
Load previousLoad previous

In United States

Among people born in United States, Benny Goodman ranks 844 out of 20,380. Before him are Mark David Chapman (1955), Mark Margolis (1939), Ray Manzarek (1939), Stanley B. Prusiner (1942), Wes Craven (1939), and Jerome Isaac Friedman (1930). After him are Martin Seligman (1942), Robert Venturi (1925), Lex Barker (1919), John J. Pershing (1860), Dorothea Lange (1895), and Leon Cooper (1930).

Others born in United States

Go to all Rankings
Load previousLoad previous

Among MUSICIANS In United States

Among musicians born in United States, Benny Goodman ranks 40. Before him are Cyndi Lauper (1953), Nat King Cole (1919), Buddy Holly (1936), Nikki Sixx (1958), Bill Evans (1929), and Ray Manzarek (1939). After him are Dizzy Gillespie (1917), James Hetfield (1963), Don Shirley (1927), Jerry Lee Lewis (1935), Keith Jarrett (1945), and Chick Corea (1941).

American born Musicians

Go to all Rankings
Load previousLoad previous