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MUSICIAN

Bob Wills

1905 - 1975

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Icon of person Bob Wills

James Robert Wills (March 6, 1905 – May 13, 1975) was an American Western swing musician, songwriter, and bandleader. Considered by music authorities as the founder of Western swing, he was known widely as the King of Western Swing (although Spade Cooley self-promoted the moniker "King of Western Swing" from 1942 to 1969). He was also noted for punctuating his music with his trademark "ah-haa" calls.Wills formed several bands and played radio stations around the South and West until he formed the Texas Playboys in 1934 with Wills on fiddle, Tommy Duncan on piano and vocals, rhythm guitarist June Whalin, tenor banjoist Johnnie Lee Wills, and Kermit Whalin who played steel guitar and bass. Read more on Wikipedia

Since 2007, the English Wikipedia page of Bob Wills has received more than 1,241,864 page views. His biography is available in 17 different languages on Wikipedia (up from 16 in 2019). Bob Wills is the 2,246th most popular musician (down from 1,993rd in 2019), the 11,890th most popular biography from United States (down from 10,444th in 2019) and the 941st most popular American Musician.

Memorability Metrics

  • 1.2M

    Page Views (PV)

  • 38.24

    Historical Popularity Index (HPI)

  • 17

    Languages Editions (L)

  • 1.41

    Effective Languages (L*)

  • 3.64

    Coefficient of Variation (CV)

Page views of Bob Wills by language


Among MUSICIANS

Among musicians, Bob Wills ranks 2,246 out of 2,662Before him are Heath, DJ Sammy, Marina Tchebourkina, Sylvain Sylvain, Regina Spektor, and DJ Lethal. After him are Kathleen Hanna, Perry Farrell, Sébastien Tellier, R3hab, John Leckie, and Paz Lenchantin.

Most Popular Musicians in Wikipedia

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Contemporaries

Among people born in 1905, Bob Wills ranks 355Before him are Constant Lambert, George Gulack, Ra'ana Liaquat Ali Khan, Henry Green, Stanley Kunitz, and Edwin H. Colbert. After him are Frank Faylen, Agnes de Mille, Natalie Kingston, William Alwyn, Eddie "Rochester" Anderson, and Bosley Crowther. Among people deceased in 1975, Bob Wills ranks 239Before him are Alice Catherine Evans, Marjorie Main, Larry Parks, Robert Strauss, Beatrix Loughran, and Percy Lavon Julian. After him is Boy Charlton.

Others Born in 1905

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Others Deceased in 1975

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In United States

Among people born in United States, Bob Wills ranks 11,890 out of 18,182Before him are Austin Stowell (1984), Jason Gould (1966), Bud Jamison (1894), Anne Jeffreys (1923), Vachel Lindsay (1879), and Alyson Reed (1958). After him are Kathleen Hanna (1968), Bill Macy (1922), Nancy Dupree (1927), Lowell Thomas (1892), Monty Woolley (1888), and Mary-Kate Olsen (1986).

Among MUSICIANS In United States

Among musicians born in United States, Bob Wills ranks 941Before him are John Kiffmeyer (1969), David Axelrod (1931), Madonna Wayne Gacy (1964), Jeff Baxter (1948), Jim Byrnes (1948), and Chris Frantz (1951). After him are Kathleen Hanna (1968), Perry Farrell (1959), Stan Bush (1953), Erick Morillo (1971), L.A. Reid (1956), and Ryan Adams (1974).