Illinois – 50 States of Music

$4.3B

Music Industry Contribution to State GDP

Economists Inc.

64,438

Jobs Supported

Economists Inc.

7,520

Music Establishments

A2IM/Economists Inc./NIVA

6,777

Royalty Recipients

SAG-AFTRA/SoundExchange

52,991

Songwriters

ASCAP/BMI/GMR/SESAC

Everyone knows about the Chicago blues, be it through luminaries like Bo Diddley and Muddy Waters,

or legendary venues like Kingston Mines and The House of Blues. But Illinois's contributions to music go much further. Jazz icon Miles Davis was from Illinois, as are folk greats John Prine and Alison Krauss. Sam Cooke of Sam & Dave was raised in Chicago, along with Kanye West, Chance the Rapper, and Mavis Staples. Illinois has a vibrant and diverse musical heritage, which continues to this day, as it hosts a premier multi-day rock festival, Lollapalooza, and the Chicago House Music Festival, celebrating a genre of electronic music that it popularized in the early 1980s. As Frank Sinatra famously sang, "On State Street that great street I just want to say, They do things that they don't do on Broadway."

Some
Notable
Musicians

  • Billy Corgan
  • Brett Eldredge
  • Chance the Rapper
  • Cheap Trick
  • Chicago
  • Earth, Wind & Fire
  • Fall Out Boy
  • Herbie Hancock
  • Kanye West
  • Lupe Fiasco
  • Mavis Staples
  • Miles Davis
  • Minnie Riperton
  • R.E.O Speedwagon
  • Sam Cooke
  • Smashing Pumpkins
  • Styx
  • Survivor

Music Venues & Festivals

  • 1833
  • Allstate Arena
  • Annoyance Theatre & Bar
  • Aragon Ballroom
  • Arie Crown Theatre
  • Auditorium Theatre
  • Avondole Music Hall
  • Beat Kitchen
  • Beauty Bar
  • Be Bop A Lula's Rockabilly Cafe
  • Berlin
  • Blue Chicago
  • Bottom Lounge
  • Bourbon on Division
  • Brauer House
  • Broken Oar Port
  • Bub City
  • Cairo Ale House
  • Carol’s Pub
  • Castle Theatre 
  • Chicago Blues Festival
  • Chicago Open Air Festival
  • City Winery
  • Club Arcada
  • Cobra Lounge
  • Cole's Bar
  • Concord Music Hall
  • Constellation
  • Copernicus Center
  • Country Lakeshake Festival
  • CSz Theater Chicago
  • Cubby Bear Lounge
  • Dorian's
  • Durty’s Nellie’s
  • Effingham Performance Center
  • Egyptian Theatre
  • EIKU Open Mic Coffee And Tea House
  • Empty Bottle
  • Fischer Theatre
  • Gman Tavern
  • Gorton Community Center 
  • Harold Washington Cultural Center
  • Hey Nonny
  • HotHouse
  • Joe’s Bar
  • Joe’s Live
  • Le Nocturne
  • Liar’s Club
  • Lincoln Hall
  • Lollapalooza Chicago Festival
  • Mackey’s Hideout
  • Mamby On The Beach Festival
  • Martyrs'
  • Metro
  • North Bar
  • North Coast Music Festival
  • Old Town School of Folk Music
  • Park West Theater
  • Patio Theater
  • Peoria Civic Center
  • PianoForte Chicago
  • Pitchfork Festival
  • Pop’s Nightclub & Concert Venue
  • PRYSM
  • PYGMALION
  • Radius
  • Ravinia Pavilion
  • Reggie’s
  • Riot Fest Chicago Festival
  • Riviera Theatre
  • Ron Onesti's Club 210 of Highwood
  • Rosa’s Lounge
  • Rozz-tox
  • Schuba’s Tavern
  • Skooter's Roadhouse
  • Sleeping Village
  • Smartbar
  • SPACE
  • Spring Awakening Festival
  • Subterranean
  • Summer Camp Festival
  • Tailgate N’ Tallboys
  • Thalia Hall
  • The Apollo Theatre AC
  • The Arcada Theater
  • The Belmont Theater District
  • The Canopy Club
  • The Comedy Clubhouse
  • The Den Theatre
  • The Forge
  • The Hideout
  • The Lincoln Lodge Theater
  • The Playground Theater
  • The Promontory
  • The Rose Bowl Tavern
  • The Varsity Center
  • The Vic Theatre
  • The WC Social Club
  • Windy City Lakeshake Festival
  • The Whistler
  • Three Sisters Park
  • Uncommon Ground
  • Virginia Theatre
  • Wire

Music Schools

  • Chicago College of Performing Arts of Roosevelt University
  • Columbia College Chicago Music Department
  • DePaul University
  • Illinois State University
  • Northeastern Illinois University
  • Northern Illinois University
  • Northwestern University Bienen School of Music
  • Southern Illinois University Carbondale
  • Southern Illinois University Edwardsville
  • University of Illinois at Chicago
  • University of Illinois School of Music (Urbana)
  • Wheaton College Conservatory of Music
  • North Park University
  • VanderCook College of Music

Major Music Conferences

  • The Midwest Clinic
  • Illinois Music Education Conference
  • Chicago International Movies and Music Festival
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