50 years of blacks in entertainment

Jet, Nov 26, 2001

IN the 50 years since JET was first published, the strides Blacks have made in entertainment have been monumental. The industry, which only embraced a handful of Black performers at a time of legalized segregation, now has far more than can easily be listed. In the 1950s Nat King Cole, Sammy Ella Fitzgerald, Duke Ellington, Lena Horne, Louis Armstrong and Sarah Vaughan became household names, often reaching the lofty status where they were simply known by their first names.

Today, there are numerous Black performers in varied entertainment fields who also can go by a single name--such as Denzel, Whoopi, Michael, Whitney, Janet, Luther and Mariah.

Those early legends like Redd Foxx, Dinah Washington, Eartha Kitt and Dorothy Dandridge broke barriers, allowing artists such as Lola Falana, Nancy Wilson, the Supremes and the Temptations to perform on the lucrative Las Vegas strip without being subjected to the numerous indignities of overt racism.

In fact, some of the biggest records in the industry and most lucrative contracts are held by Black artists. Michael Jackson's Thriller currently holds the title of the biggest-selling album of all time. Aretha Franklin, the first woman inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, also is the voice of Respect, picked by critics as one of the five greatest songs of the 20th century. That song was written by the late music legend Otis Redding.

Many of Franklin's contemporaries dominated the record charts of the 1960s and 1970s, including the "Godfather" himself James Brown. Dionne Warwick, sometimes called the Princess of Pop, routinely topped both the pop and R&B charts. Marvin Gaye, the Prince of Motown, tapped into the whole mood of the turbulent 1960s and early 1970s with What's Going On? Then there were Memphis legends Isaac Hayes and Al Green.

Tina Turner made a big splash in the 1960s with husband Ike, but an even bigger comeback splash with her smash Grammy Award-winning song What's Love Got to Do With It.

Like Turner, Gladys Knight and Patti LaBelle were huge successes as part of groups and as solos. Knight (with the Pips) and LaBelle (with the Bluebells and LaBelle). And Natalie Cole emerged as a major star in the '70s.

Some Black male singers became nationwide sex symbols during the 1960s including Jackie Wilson, Sam Cooke and Johnny Mathis. In the 1980s and 1990s, Teddy Pendergrass, Lionel Ritchie and Luther Vandross crooned gentle ballads and dance tunes for audiences.

And My Girl, the signature song of the Temptations, released in 1965 when JET was only 14, has remained the most popular song with Black audiences.

Speaking of Motown artists, the Supremes, who in six years had 12 No. 1 hits including a record five in a row, was the most successful American group of the 1960s. Only the Beatles had more hits.

Three other girl groups in the 1980s, 1990s and the 21st century, En Vogue, TLC and Destiny's Child, continued the Supremes' phenomenal success. In fact, TLC, with such hot albums as CrazySexyCool and Fan Mail, went on to become the top-selling female group of all time.

Boyz II Men and Whitney Houston did what few artists in music's history were able to achieve. Boyz II Men's End of the Road topped the pop charts for 13-straight weeks in 1992. That record was subsequently broken by Houston's version of I Will Always Love You from the hit film The Bodyguard. She held the No. 1 spot for 14 consecutive weeks. Houston also made her film debut in the megahit movie, The Bodyguard.

The rap/hip-hop movement which began in the 1980s proved a lasting, dynamic force in the music industry with artists such as D.J. Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince, Run-DMC, NWA, Notorious B.I.G., Tupac Shakur, Missy Elliott, Eve and Queen Latifah selling millions of copies to Black and White audiences.

Gospel singers such as Mahalia Jackson, Shirley Caesar, James Cleveland, Edwin Hawkins, Andrae Crouch and Kirk Franklin not only sold records, but provided spiritual inspiration.

Speaking of inspiration, enduring jazz legends Duke Ellington, Count Basie, John Coltrane, Charlie Parker, Thelonius Monk, Wes Montgomery and Miles Davis created sounds that pleased and inspired listeners for more than half a century. And the blues of B.B. King, Bobby "Blue" Bland, John Lee Hooker and Albert King have done the same, chronicling hope and pain.

During the last 50 years, progress made by Blacks on the big screen hasn't been as meteoric as strides made in music. But Denzel Washington, Will Smith and Eddie Murphy have emerged as bankable superstars in such hit films as Remember the Titans, Independence Day and Beverly Hills Cop.

The last 50 years saw five Blacks join Hattie McDaniel as Academy Award winners. McDaniel won as best supporting actress for 1939's classic Gone With The Wind. Sidney Poitier, in 1963, broke an even bigger barrier by being the first Black best actor Oscar winner for Lilies of the Field. No other Blacks, male or female, have won in the best actor category since then. However, Lou Gossett (An Officer and a Gentleman), Denzel Washington (Glory), Whoopi Goldberg (Ghost) and Cuba Gooding Jr. (Jerry Maguire) joined the list by winning in the best supporting acting category.