Tucked up in the northwest corner of the United States is Washington State. The State is best known for crisp apples, pink salmon, towering pine trees, and the Seattle music scene. The Evergreen State has been home to many talented musicians over the years. Some migrated here before they were famous, like Loretta Lynn. Others, like Dave Mathews, made the state their home after they sold millions of records. But many were actually born in the state.
The musical scene in Washington and the Pacific Northwest seemed to explode in the 1990s with grunge music. It was the thing that put the state on the map culturally. While grunge was a huge movement and brought a lot of budding musicians to Seattle, it hasn’t been the only musical influence from Washington. There are quite a few musicians and bands from Washington State, and many went on to inspire other musicians.
To put together the list of the ten biggest musicians from Washington State, 24/7 Tempo reviewed several sources, including Biography.com, Rolling Stone, and IMBD. (Click to read about other cool things Washington State is known for besides musicians.)
1. Nirvana
UNITED STATES - DECEMBER 22: Kurt Cobain attending the 1993 MTV Video Music Awards at Universal City, CA 09/02/93 (Photo by Vinnie Zuffante/Getty Images)
The grunge band Nirvana formed in Aberdeen in 1987. The band members Kurt Cobain (lead vocals and guitar), Dave Grohl (drums), and Kris Novoselic (bass guitar) made a huge impact on the music scene and essentially put Seattle and the grunge scene on the map. Their first album, “Bleach,” was released in 1989, but the band really made a name for themselves with their second album released in 1991, “Nevermind,” and their hit “Smells Like Teen Spirit.” The song was a huge success and became like an anthem for angsty youth looking for ways to express their dissatisfaction with mainstream culture. Their third album, “In Utero,” wasn’t as popular as “Nevermind.”
Kurt Cobain struggled with addiction, and at age 27, he committed suicide in his home in Seattle in April of 1994. Several months after his death, Nirvana’s acoustic set that they played in November of 1993 on MTV’s Unplugged was released.
2. Jimi Hendrix
One of the greatest guitarists of all time, Jimi Hendrix, was from Seattle. The singer-songwriter was born in 1942 and grew up in the Emerald City. He started playing guitar at age 15 and, after a short stint in the Army, started playing gigs with different bands. He got signed in 1966, and that was when the Hendrix sound began. His style fused distortion and electronic effects became his signature style.
Despite only making three albums, he is one of the biggest musicians from Washington State. His three albums are “Are You Experienced” (1967), “Axis: Bold as Love” (1967), and “Electric Ladyland” (1968). Those albums and his live shows at Woodstock, the Monterey Pop Festival, and the Isle of Wight Festival solidified his place as one of the most influential musicians of all time. He died from an accidental overdose in London in 1970; he was only 27 years old.
3. Bing Crosby
circa 1935: Headshot portrait of American singer and actor Bing Crosby (1904 - 1977) smiling. (Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images)
Born in 1903 in Tacoma but raised in Spokane, Bing Crosby was one of the biggest musicians from Washington. But he was more than just a singer; he was an actor and radio personality. Crosby performed all over Spokane and later left the small town for the fame of Hollywood, where he won an Academy Award for Best Actor in 1944 and starred in popular films throughout his career. He performed for the troops with comedian Bob Hope and played an influential role in the recording industry.
He is probably best known for his version of the classic Christmas song “White Christmas.” His hometown of Spokane has a statue of him at Gonzaga University, where he attended, and a performing arts theatre named after him in downtown Spokane.
4. Macklemore
The singer, songwriter, rapper, and activist Macklemore is from Seattle. His real name is Benjamin Hammond Haggerty, and he started music in 2000 when he released “Open Your Eyes.” Then, in 2005, he released “The Language of My World,” and in 2009, “The Unplanned Mixtape.” However, he didn’t make it big until he connected with Ryan Lewis, and in 2012, they released “The Heist,” and the singles “Thrift Shop” and “Can’t Hold Us’ became instant hits.
The duo parted ways in 2017, and Macklemore is currently touring on his own. He is an activist and a prominent voice in the recovery community.
5. Pearl Jam
In 1990, Pearl Jam formed in Seattle, and a year later, they released the album “Ten,” which was one of the most influential albums of the 1990s. The singles “Alive” and “Jeremy” were huge hits, and they placed the band firmly in the Seattle music scene. While some considered Pearl Jam to be “grunge lite” because their music wasn’t as experimental as some of their peers, the band was a key player in the Seattle music scene at the time.
The founding members of the band, Eddie Vedder, Jeff Ament, Stone Gossard, and Mike McCready, have played together since the beginning, but the lineup has had some additions over the years. Aside from the music, Pearl Jam is notable for testifying against Ticketmaster for price gouging and trying to bring their music directly to fans. They still make music together.
6. Heart
American singer, songwriter and musician Nancy Wilson and her sister, American singer, songwriter and musician Ann Wilson attend the 33rd Annual Grammy Awards, held at Radio City Music Hall in New York City, New York, 20th February 1991. The Wilson sisters are both members of the American rock band Heart. (Photo by Vinnie Zuffante/Getty Images)
The rock band Heart was formed in Seattle in the early 1970s. The band changed the lineup several times, and the Wilson sisters Ann and Nancy joined, and they are now the faces and voices of the band. They had a few hits in the 1970s, like “Crazy on You,” “Heartless,” and “Barracuda.”
In the mid-1980s, the band went through some lineup changes and rebranding to fit the 1980s big hair loud guitar look, and they had several hit songs with “What About Love,” “ These Dreams,” and “Never.”
7. Foo Fighters
After Kurt Cobain’s suicide, Dave Grohl started another side project in 1994, the Foo Fighters. He originally thought of it as a side project and wrote every song and played every instrument, thinking it was just going to be for fun. The Foo Fighters were formed to support his solo experiment, and the band was born.
The band has changed lineups a couple of times and has gone on to win awards. It has won Best Album of the Year at the Grammys five times. The band suffered a loss in 2022 when the beloved drummer Taylor Hawkins passed. But they are still going strong and recently released, “But Here We Are,” their 11th studio album and first with their new drummer.
8. Brandi Carlile
Singer-songwriter Brandi Carlile is from Ravensdale, a small town 30 miles southeast of Seattle. Carlile started playing music in her teens and left high school to follow her dreams. In 2005, she released her first album and has gone on to record seven studio albums.
She has worked as a producer and songwriter on Tanya Tucker’s albums, and he has won seven Grammys and been nominated a whopping 27 times. Carlile is an activist and uses her platform to support LGBTQ youth and humanitarian causes.
9. Sleater-Kinney
Parallel to the Seattle grunge scene was the Riot Grrl movement, and the band Sleater-Kinney was a huge part of the Riot Grrl scene. The band was formed in Olympia in 1994 by Carrie Brownstein and Corin Tucker, both on guitar and vocals, with Janet Weiss on drums. The band was all about female empowerment, and they became the female faces of the grunge movement. They even opened for Pearl Jam.
Brownstein and Tucker remained the backbone of the band, and they made seven studio albums before they broke up in 2006. Later, the women reconnected, and the band got back together. They will release their 11th studio album in 2024. Brownstein is also well-known for her role in the series “Portlandia” alongside comedian Fred Armisen.
10. Sir Mix-a-Lot
Early rapper Anthony Ray, better known as Sir-Mix-A-Lot, is from the Seattle suburb of Auburn. He got into the music business as a DJ in the mid-1980s. In 1986, he released his first hit, “Square Dance Rap.” Then, in 1987, his next hit, “Posse on Broadway,” got him more attention.
But his biggest hit came off his 1992 album “Mack Daddy.” The song that made him famous, the classic ode to the perfect derriere, “Baby Got Back.” Over the years, the Seattle native has collaborated with other Seattle bands like Pearl Jam and The Presidents of the United States.