Top 10 R&B Acts of the 1950s

The evolution of rhythm and blues had its roots long before it entered the mainstream of popular music on the radio. Birthed by pieces of jazz and gospel, traditional folk and blues, in its earlier iterations in the 1940s, R&B was formulated around the likes of Count Basie, Louis Jordan and Nat King Cole before transitioning into the doo-wop of the 1950s. Before the turn of the decade, the term “rhythm and blues” was first coined by producer Jerry Wexler in 1948 and would be used by RCA Records to market R&B music.

In the 1960s, The Supremes, Smokey Robinson and the Miracles, the Marvelettes, The Four Tops, and The Temptations, helped define the Motown sound throughout the decade. By the ’70s, R&B added some rock, funk, and disco formulas before dipping into pop in the ’80s with artists including Whitney Houston, Luther Vandross, and Patti LaBelle. Later incarnations of R&B in the 1990s weaved in hip-hop and more through the present day.

To honor one of the more pivotal eras of R&B music, here’s a look (in no particular order) at 10 acts that made an impact on rhythm and blues in the ’50s, and its break into popular culture.

1. The Drifters

Through its various lineup shifts in the early days, The 1950s and ’60s-era iteration of The Drifters produced some of the group’s biggest R&B hits, including “Money Honey” in 1953, “Honey Love,” (1954), “Adorable” (1955), and their 1959 single “There Goes My Baby.”

The latter track, penned by Ben E. King who was a member of the group at the time, hit the top of the R&B chart and crossed over into pop at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100.

2. The Coasters

Breaking through by the late 1950s, The Coasters had most of their hits, including “Searchin,’” “Young Blood,” and “Yakety Yak” written by the songwriting and production duo of lyricist Jerry Leiber and composer Michael Stoller (Leiber and Stoller).

In 1987, The Coasters became the first group to be inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.

3. Ruth Brown

By the early 1950s, Ruth Brown was already an R&B superstar. Called the “Queen of R&B,” after her No. 1 hit “Teardrops From My Eyes,” which remained on the Billboard R&B chart for 11 weeks, Brown also brought some pop to R&B in the 1950s and hits, including another chart-topper “(Mama) He Treats Your Daughter Mean,” released in 1953.

Brown’s other hits within the 1950s included “I Know,” “I’ll Wait for You,” both released in 1951, “5-10-15 Hours” (1953), and 1954 songs “Oh What a Dream” and “Mambo Baby.” Brown was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 1993.

4. Sam Cooke

Throughout his short life, Sam Cooke was already beginning to leave behind a string of hits in the 1950s, including “Chain Gang” and “You Send Me.” By the early 1960s, Cooke added on more hits with “Chain Gang,” “Twistin’ the Night Away,” “Bring It On Home to Me,” and his civil rights protest song “A Change Is Gonna Come,” released months before he died in 1964 at the age of 33.

5. The Shirelles

Formed in Passaic, New Jersey, in 1957, most of The Shirelles had their first hit just two years later with their ballad “Dedicated to the One I Love.” Re-released in 1961 on their debut album, Tonight’s the Night, the song hit No. 3 on the Billboard Hot 100 and No. 2 on the Hot R&B Sides chart.

With hits like “Will You Love Me Tomorrow,” written by Carole King, “Tonight’s the Night” and favorites like “Mama Said” and “Soldier Boy,” The Shirelles became R&B-pop darlings of the ’50s and mid-’60s.

6. Fats Domino

In 1956, Fats Domino‘s hit “Blueberry Hill,” originally written in 1940 by Larry Stock, Vincent Rose, and Al Lewis, peaked at No. 1 on the R&B chart for 11 weeks and No. 2 on the Billboard Juke Box chart for two weeks. Within the ’50s, Domino also co-wrote many of his other hits, including “I’m Walkin’,” “When My Dreamboat Comes Home,” “Whole Lotta Lovin’,” “I Want to Walk You Home,” “Be My Guest,” “Valley of Tears,” and “It’s You I Love,” which hit the R&B and pop charts.

7. Nat King Cole

Already a well-known act in the 1940s with The King Cole Trio, by the ’50s Nat King Cole released solo hits “Pretend,” “A Blossom Fell,” “If I May,” and the Charles Chaplin-penned classic “Smile.” Cole’s 1955 single “Darling, Je Vous Aime Beaucoup” also hit the top 10, and two years later his album Love Is the Thing reached the top of the Billboard 200. In 1959, Cole also won a Grammy Award for Best Performance By a Top 40 Artist for his song “Midnight Flyer.”

8. Smokey Robinson and the Miracles

Though Smokey Robinson and the Miracles had more of a breakthrough in the early 1960s once Motown was officially in operation, Robinson was already planting the seeds of R&B. Robinson was the leader of the group in 1955, when they called themselves The Five Chimes. As their chief songwriter, Robinson and The Miracles would go on to release hits “Tears of a Clown,” “Tracks of My Tears,” “Shop Around,” “You Really Got a Hold On Me,” and many more before disbanding in 1972.

9. James Brown

The forefather of soul and funk, throughout his career James Brown had 17 singles reach No. 1 on the Billboard R&B charts. His very first hit in 1956, “Please Please Please” with his group the Famous Flames peaked at No. 6 on the R&B charts. The group would release several other hits in the ’50s, including “Think,” “Try Me,” and “Bewildered” and more within the decade to follow before breaking up in 1968.

Already one of the first inductees into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 1986, Brown was posthumously inducted into the Rhythm & Blues Music Hall of Fame as an artist in 2013 and later as a songwriter in 2017.

10. Ray Charles

Also, one of the inaugural inductees into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame like Brown, Ray Charles was performing since the late ’40s and would have 44 singles hit the Top 40 of the R&B charts throughout his career. Influenced by Louis Jordan and Nat King Cole in his earlier days, Charles’ “It Must Be Jesus” became one of his most well-known hits and reached No. 2 on the R&B chart. By the mid-1950s, Charles had a collection of more hits, including “A Fool For You,” “This Little Girl of Mine” and “Hallelujah I Love Her So.”

In 1959, “What’d I Say” was his first song to cross over into the pop chart, hitting No. 6 on the Billboard Hot 100 and No. 1 on the R&B chart.

Photo: Courtesy of Atlantic Records