Ranking the 50 States Based on Their Contribution to Popular Music

Bragging rights.

Complex Original

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What is America's greatest export? Cars? Corn? Wheat? Apples? No. America's greatest export is culture. Fashion (blue jeans), food (hamburgers), movies (Star Wars), television (The Simpsons), and, perhaps most importantly of all, music. Nothing has had a greater worldwide impact than the jazz, the blues, the R&B, the rock 'n' roll, and, most recently, the rap, that America makes and ships abroad.

And what is the greatest American music ever made? Who made it? Where was it made? This is what we like to stay up too late at night thinking about, arguing about 'til the lights go on at the bar and we're swept out into the cold.

Because we're the types of people who like to do this a lot (even when we're not at bars!), and then make lists, we decided to tackle a really big one: Which state, out of all 50 of them here in our country, has produced the greatest music? The most important artists? The most important scenes?

Of course, there will no more arguing after this day. The matter is settled, and we expect that everyone will simply accept our authority on the subject and adjust their own opinions so that they're in line with our own. We're kidding. (Mostly.)

Obviously there will be some disagreement, but we feel like we've done our due diligence to take on the task of Ranking the 50 States Based on Their Contribution to Popular Music.

50. Wyoming

Artists Who Were Born There: Scott Avett, John Perry Barlow, Ronnie Bedford
Bands Formed There: The Lillingtons

John Perry Barlow, who wrote a handful of Grateful Dead lyrics (mostly to second-tier songs), was born in Sublette County, while Scott Avett of the Avett Brothers was born in Cheyenne. Jackson Pollock, abstract painter and drunk driver, was born in Cody, and his painting "White Light" was incorporated into the cover of Ornette Coleman's 1960 album Free Jazz: A Collective Improvisation. The Lillingtons, a Ramones-ish (that's a compliment) pop-punk band from the mid-'90s formed in Newcastle. Apparently nothing else of real musical significance has ever happened in Wyoming. Maybe Dick Cheney shot all the state's musicians in the face.

49. Maine

Artists Who Were Born There: Jimmy Cox, Lenny Breau, Juliana Hatfield, Clarence White
Bands Formed There: The Stains, The Technicians

Little to no widely known music has come out of Maine. Clarence White played with a who's-who of country rockers in the late '60s and early '70s, and Juliana Hatfield was a key figure in the Boston indie rock scene of the early '90s. Otherwise Maine has nurtured some obscure folk and jazz and a smattering of local artists, but that's about it. The state did produce a couple early punk bands—The Stains and The Technicians—the former of which put out a posthumous album in the late '80s and the latter of which can be heard on YouTube doing a pretty competent cover of Johnny Thunders and the Heartbreakers' "Born To Lose."

48. Iowa

Artists Who Were Born There: Bix Beiderbecke, Tommy Bolin, Greg Brown, Glenn Miller
Bands Formed There: Head East, Slipknot, The Escorts

Iowa's biggest claim to musical fame is that it's the site of "The Day the Music Died." Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, and The Big Bopper died in a plane crash just outside of Mason City, Iowa on February 3, 1959. Also, Slipknot is from Iowa. Yikes.

43. North Dakota

Artists Who Were Born There: Jonny Lang, Lawrence Welk, Peggy Lee
Bands Formed There: The Unbelievable Uglies

The music scene in North Dakota is so dead you might as well run it through a wood chipper. Musty showbiz relics Lawrence Welk and Peggy Lee were from there and in the 1960s and early '70s the state had a bit of a power-pop scene. Jonny Lang, from Fargo, was the late '90s version of flashy-young-blues-guy; the latest model of this is called Gary Clark, Jr.

49. South Dakota

Artists Who Were Born There: DeeCort Hammitt
Bands Formed There: Indigenous

The composer of South Dakota's state song "Hail, South Dakota!" DeeCort Hammitt is from South Dakota, as is Grammy-winning singer Shawn Colvin and blues band Indigenous, which has been releasing music since the late 1990s.

44. Delaware

Artists Who Were Born There: Clifford Brown, George Thorogood, Tom Verlaine
Bands Formed There: Boysetsfire, George Thorogood and the Delaware Destroyers, Zen Guerilla

There's not a lot of popular interest in Delaware's musical legacy, but it has been the setting for some interesting comings and goings over the years. Unfathomably, Bob Marley lived there briefly in the 1960s. Tom Verlaine and Richard Hell met in school there before going on to found the seminal early punk outfit Television in New York City. Jazz great Cab Calloway died there in 1994. And native son George Thorogood recorded the most famous version of one of the greatest drinking songs of all time.

44. Alaska

Artists Who Were Born There: Artis the Spoonman, Hobo Jim
Bands Formed There: Portugal. The Man

Remember how Captain William Riker on Star Trek: The Next Generation would occasionally play trombone? Well he was from Alaska (the character that is; the actor, Jonathan Frakes, is from Pennsylvania). In reality, meanwhile, the state has served as a proving ground for a handful of artists attracted to its far-flung location. Hobo Jim, a folk artist who began recording in the 1980s, is recognized as Alaska's official balladeer. Nineties folk crooner Jewel grew up there as well and sold 15 million copies of her debut album, Pieces of You (that's just under three copies each for every man, woman and child living in the state in 1995). The state also boasts a strong folk music tradition drawing on Eskimo culture.

43. Montana

Artists Who Were Born There: Bruce Fairweather, Doug Adkins, Jeff Ament
Bands Formed There: The Skoidats

A couple of credible grunge musicians—Bruce Fairweather and Jeff Ament of Green River—are from Montana. Plus the state has its own ska band, The Skoidats.

42. Colorado

Artists Who Were Born There: India.Arie, Jello Biafra, Jill Sobule, Kip Winger
Bands Formed There: The Apples in Stereo, The Astronauts, Big Head Todd and the Monsters, The Fray, The String Cheese Incident, Zephyr

U2 must have cursed the place with those giant columns of fire at Red Rocks. It has a smattering of bluegrass in its past, but not a lot of noteworthy music has come out of Colorado recently.

Kip Winger (of Winger fame) is from Denver. The Fray are, too, and blew up in the post-Coldplay mid-'00s on the strength of their single "How to Save a Life." Colorado's biggest claim to musical fame is probably serving as the setting for the formative years of Tommy Bolin, a native Iowan who moved to Boulder in his teens and became one of the most interesting dead jazz-rock fusion guitarists around (kind of a narrow field). Colorado's scenery was also the inspiration for John Denver's "Colorado Rocky Mountain High," admittedly not the coolest song for a state to be associated with. Hopefully things will improve now that the state has legalized marijuana.

41. Kansas

Artists Who Were Born There: Melissa Etheridge, Martina McBride, Joe Walsh
Bands Formed There: Kansas, The Blue Things, The Embarrassment

Kansas has nurtured some country and bluegrass talent over the years. Melissa Etheridge is from Leavenworth, and Joe Walsh (of the James Gang and the Eagles) is from Wichita. The biggest group to come out of Kansas is the prog rock band Kansas, who helpfully named themselves after the state.

40. Connecticut

Artists Who Were Born There: Michael Bolton, Cassie, John Mayer, Liz Phair
Bands Formed There: MGMT

It's the state where classic rockers go to retire and some of indie rock's elder statesmen sprang from. Thurston Moore (Sonic Youth), Moby, and Rivers Cuomo (Weezer) grew up in Connecticut, while Keith Richards and Paul Simon have settled there in their golden years (and native John Mayer might as well be retired).

But back in the day it did have a rap scene, as heard on The Third Unheard, a compilation of Connecticut hip-hop laid down from 1979 to 1983. During these formative years for the genre, the state was home to a scrappy cast of characters who conquered crude equipment to produce a charming echo of what they heard coming out of NYC's five boroughs. The disc shows hip-hop traversing a border for the first time—it probably just took I-95.

39. Utah

Artists Who Were Born There: Donny Osmond, Marie Osmond
Bands Formed There: Katagory V, the Osmonds, the Used

There may not be a ton of bands from Utah, but those that hail from the Beehive State are diverse enough to support a range of interests. Teen idols turned showbiz lifers The Osmonds were from Salt Lake City, as is Katagory V, a metal band that gained some notice in the 2000s. Post-hardcore band the Used are from Orem, while new wave-alternative band Neon Trees are from Provo.

38. New Hampshire

Artists Who Were Born There: GG Allin, Ronnie James Dio, Ray LaMontagne, Jon Spencer
Bands Formed There: The Shaggs

The most noteworthy band in New Hampshire history is the Shaggs; four talentless sisters who played along with their father's otherworldly belief they were to be stars and released one obscure album in 1969 that was later hailed for its accidental brilliance. The state is also the birthplace of four divergent frontmen: intentionally shocking punk rocker GG Allin (Lancaster), folky singer-songwriter Ray LaMontagne (Nashua), metal legend Ronnie James Dio (Portsmouth), and indie rock blues singer Jon Spencer (Hanover).

37. New Mexico

Artists Who Were Born There: John Denver, Ottmar Liebert
Bands Formed There: The Drags, The Fireballs, Scared of Chaka, The Shins

In the mid-'90s, Albuquerque was home to a thriving indie rock scene, beginning with bands like the Drags (why "Mindbender" was never on the Albuquerque-set Breaking Bad we'll never know) and Scared of Chaka. The Shins (originally Flake and then Flake Music) emerged from that scene, recording their breakthrough album Oh, Inverted World while living in the ABQ before leaving for Portland, Ore., in 2001. Texans Buddy Holly and Roy Orbison also recorded in the state, and John Denver was born in Roswell, although he made his name singing about New Mexico's Four Corners neighbor to the north, Colorado.

36. Nevada

Artists Who Were Born There: Brandon Flowers, Ne-Yo
Bands Formed There: The Killers, Panic! At the Disco

Nevada is not so much where music develops as where it goes to die. Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Jr., and Wayne Newton made plenty of money playing gigs in Las Vegas, but none of them were from there. Even Elvis Presley had his Vegas years, but his encore was dying on the toilet. Ever since, when an artist goes into a Vegas residency, it's been viewed as the end of a career.

That said, Sin City has produced two remarkable rock bands in the past 15 years, both as campy as you'd expect coming from Las Vegas: the Killers and Panic! At the Disco. On the strength of their debut single "Mr. Brightside," the Killers' 2004 debut Hot Fuss sold a ton of records (even if it didn't exactly melt critics' hearts). Similarly, Panic! At the Disco's debut album, A Fever You Can't Sweat Out was propelled to platinum status (and critical crickets as well) and by a strong single, "I Write Sins Not Tragedies."

If you prefer your Nevada rock without costumes and camp, try the venerable punk band 7 Seconds from Reno.

35. Vermont

Artists Who Were Born There: David Gunn
Bands Formed There: Burnham, King Tuff, Phish

Vermont's musical legacy is pretty much all about Phish, the definitive jam band since Jerry Garcia died in 1995. Though none of its members are actually from the state, Phish formed at the University of Vermont and went on to have an ice cream flavor named after them by locals Ben and Jerry. On the opposite end of the acquired-taste musical spectrum is the Green Mountain State's current musical standard-bearers, the Burnham, who cut their teeth opening for Justin Bieber on his My World Tour in 2010 and are currently prepping their debut album Catch Me If You Can. (But truth be told, King Tuff, out of Brattleboro, whips both the longhairs and the pretty boys these days.)

34. West Virginia

Artists Who Were Born There: Hasil Adkins, Garnet Mimms, Fred "Sonic" Smith, Bill Withers
Bands Formed There: Bobaflex

West Virginia has a strong tradition of Appalachian folk music, and birthed the crazed ur-punk psychobilly of Hasil Adkins. It's also the birthplace of two all-time great soul singers. Garnet Mimms was born in Ashland, and Slab Fork is the birthplace of the awesome, hugely underrated soul singer, Bill Withers. (No Diggity.) There's also nu metal band Bobaflex.

33. Nebraska

Artists Who Were Born There: Conor Oberst, Matthew Sweet
Bands Formed There: Bright Eyes, The Chevrons, Icky Blossoms, 311, Tilly and the Wall

Two bands busted out of Nebraska in the '90s: 311 and Bright Eyes. Both are considered alternative rock bands, have a primary singer-songwriter (Nick Hexum and Conor Oberst, respectively) and multi-instrumentalists in their line-up, and have released around 10 albums. And that's where the comparisons end (311 is frat rock, BE ain't). A community of like-minded indie rock groups has emerged from Omaha around Bright Eyes. Meanwhile, 311 has taken to headlining an annual Caribbean cruise.

32. Idaho

Artists Who Were Born There: Doug Martsch, Josh Ritter
Bands Formed There: Built to Spill, Paul Revere and the Raiders

The story of Idaho pop music is the story of two great bands, both from Boise, separated by 30 years. Paul Revere and the Raiders was a garage outfit of the 1960s and early 1970s who, despite an unfortunate Revolutionary War costume theme, were one of the tightest and most rocking groups of the late '60s. Built to Spill are a combustible combination of indie rock sensibilities and major shredding, and have been recording and touring more or less consistently since the early '90s.

31. Hawaii

Artists Who Were Born There: Dave Hlubek, Don Ho, James Mercer, Nicole Scherzinger
Bands Formed There: Seawind

Hawaii gave country music the pedal steel guitar, significantly contributing to the sonic color of the genre, and proved a breeding ground for slack-key guitar, the alternate guitar tunings that came to influence the work of Ry Cooder and Keith Richards. It also gave birth to folk music traditions as colorful, though not as successful, as some other islands north of the equator. Plus it deserves credit—or blame, depending on who you ask—for popularizing the ukulele.

30. Wisconsin

Artists Who Were Born There: Coo Coo Cal, Woody Herman, Steve Miller, Les Paul, Justin Vernon, Butch Vig
Bands Formed There: Bon Iver, Die Kreuzen, Garbage, Killdozer, Violent Femmes

Wisconsin is 86% white, so it's not surprising that it's most important musicians are predominantly white, What's surprising is how funky those white guys are. There's Woody Herman (Milwaukee), funky jazz clarinetist; Steve Miller (Milwaukee) funky and poppy '70s guitar god; and Les Paul (Waukesha), who not only invented many of the benchmark techniques in rock and roll but invented the solid body guitar itself. And then there's Justin Vernon (Eau Claire), frequent guest on Kanye West albums.

The most interesting bands out of Wisconsin in the '80s were Die Kreuzen and Violent Femmes. The '90s had the aptly named Garbage, featuring Terminator: the Sarah Connor Chronicles actress Shirley Manson (she's Scottish). In terms of hip-hop, the state has Coo Coo Cal, who pretty much begins and ends with "My Projects."

29. Rhode Island

Artists Who Were Born There: Blu Cantrell, Dicky Barrett, Jon B., Tanya Donelly
Bands Formed There: Lightning Bolt, Throwing Muses

For such a small state, Rhode Island has shoved out some talent. First, ska band frontman turned talk show announcer Dicky Barrett was born there, as was white R&B crooner Jon B., who was strangely, frustratingly all over DJ Quik's last album, and Blu Cantrell—you totally remember her right? Throwing Muses, which contained two fringe characters in '90s female alternative rock, Kristin Hersh and Tanya Donelly, was formed in Newport. Speaking of which, that seaside town is home to the Newport Jazz and Folk Festivals, which has showcased many famous performances over the years, including Bob Dylan going electric to boos (or cheers, depending on who's telling the story) in 1965. More recently, Lightning Bolt struck down in Providence and is surely the most innovative, awe-inducing duo active in America today.

28. Arizona

Artists Who Were Born There: Bill Spooner, Charles Mingus, Chester Bennington, Stevie Nicks
Bands Formed There: Flotsam and Jetsam, Giant Sand, Gin Blossoms, Jimmy Eat World, Jodie Foster's Army, Meat Puppets

An impressive amount of musical talent has come out of Arizona. The problem is its artists and bands tend to get huge and move away (though, notably, New York rapper DMX has relocated to Phoenix to get as crazy as possible in recent years). Charles Mingus was born in Nogales, but made his name elsewhere as arguably the greatest jazz bassist of all time.

One band that stayed put is Meat Puppets, whose sound is a perfect expression of Arizona itself. They started in the early '80s playing wild hardcore punk, then slowed down to paint soundscapes as expansive as the desert surrounding them. Proceeding through the '90s and into the 21st century, the Puppets have brought more and more of a country-and-western element into their music, reflecting the state's cowboy culture. Arizona's Native American and Mexican immigrant communities also inform the state's musical traditions.

27. Oregon

Artists Who Were Born There: Kat Bjelland, Esperanza Spalding
Bands Formed There: The Dandy Warhols, the Decemberists, Floater, the Kingsmen, the Wipers

It's hard to say which has a deeper legacy; Portland's the Kingsmen (of "Louie Louie" fame) or the band on Portlandia that has a cat playing scratching post. And then there's the Wipers, an early punk band from Oregon whose influence ran deep (Nirvana covered two songs off their debut album).

Elliott Smith recorded his first solo records in Portland, and his melancholy sounds are intrinsically linked to the rainy city. Floater has carved out a fiercely independent 20-year career, refusing to sign to a major label despite winning Willamette Week's Best Band of Portland in 2009 and 2010.

Meanwhile, the state has become where some of the West Coast's best talent moves to: Pavement's Steve Malkmus, Wild Flag's Carrie Brownstein, the Shins' James Mercer, and Modest Mouse's Isaac Brock have all relocated there.

26. Maryland

Artists Who Were Born There: Frank Zappa, Gary Bartz, Mya, Rye Rye, Toni Braxton, Beach House, Sisqo, Spank Rock
Bands Formed There: Animal Collective, Good Charlotte

One of the most startling things about the HBO series The Wire, and there were plenty of them, was that there was so much great local hip-hop coming out of Baltimore. On the show, this was mostly heard diegetically from radio stations on car stereos. In one episode, a character named Bodie is forced to leave the city to buy product and is so annoyed when he can't find his favorite local rap station in Philadelphia that he asks, "Why would anybody leave Baltimore?" In another, two characters devise a way to ferret out drug dealers from New York City intruding on their corners by quizzing them about the hosts of a local rap radio show, killing them if they don't know the correct answers. A small sampling of this music was captured on the 2008 compilation Beyond Hamsterdam: Baltimore Tracks From The Wire, but that didn't include anything from Blaqstarr, a rapper and producer who introduced Rye Rye to the world. Further mentored by M.I.A., the female MC finally released her debut album, Go! Pop! Bang!, last year.

25. South Carolina

Artists Who Were Born There: Chubby Checker, Alphonse Mouzon, Darius Rucker, Dizzy Gillespie, James Brown, Peabo Bryson, Toro Y Moi
Bands Formed There: Hootie and the Blowfish, Iron & Wine

If it needed to, South Carolina could stake its entire musical reputation on the birthplace of one man: Hootie! No, just kidding. How about James Brown, born in Barnwell in 1933. The R&B singer came to conquer the Apollo Theater and beyond, recording civil rights anthems ("Say It Loud, I'm Black and I'm Proud") and inventing funk, a genre that sent shockwaves through the rest of modern music. The state also gave us legendary jazz-rock fusion drummer Alphonse Mouzon and trumpeter Dizzy Gillespie.

24. Kentucky

Artists Who Were Born There: Billy Ray Cyrus, Crystal Gayle, Don Everly, Lionel Hampton, Jim James, Loretta Lynn, Bill Monroe, Will Oldham, Dwight Yoakam,
Bands Formed There: Cage the Elephant, The Judds, My Morning Jacket, The Palace Bros., Slint

It's basically the home of bluegrass, if for no other reason than that Bill Monroe was from there. In terms of country credibility, it's a long journey downward from him to Billy Ray Cyrus, but he was born in Kentucky too. Somewhere in between the two comes Dwight Yoakam, who you might recognize from movies like Bandidas; the first lady of country music Loretta Lynn and her younger sister Crystal Gayle; and shiny country divas The Judds.

In the late 80' and early '90s, a great, weird, druggy indie rock scene took hold of Lousville. Some preppy high-school kids formed a band called Squirrel Bait that grew into Slint, who took the loud/soft dymanic popular at the time and made high art, both brainy and muscular, of it. Friends of theirs, brothers in a family named Oldham (one of whom, Will, had starred in John Sayles acclaimed movie about the labor wars in early-20th-century Appalachian coal mining, Matewan), started recording as The Palace Bros., then Palace Songs, and then just Palace. And pretty soon it became clear that Will was the driving creative force at work and that he was some kind of crazy-super-genius. He'd eventually change his recording name to Bonnie "Prince" Billy, write masterpiece-level music that Johnny Cash would record and appear in music videos by Kanye West and R. Kelly.

23. Oklahoma

Artists Who Were Born There: Gene Autry, Carl Radle, Carrie Underwood, Chet Baker, Don Cherry, Elvin Bishop, J.J. Cale, Jesse Ed Davis, Leon Russell, Vince Gill, Woody Guthrie, Wanda Jackson
Bands Formed There: The Flaming Lips, The Gap Band

The two most influential acts ever to emerge from Oklahoma are undeniably Woody Guthrie and the Flaming Lips. Guthrie, born in Okemah in 1912, was perhaps the most influential folk artist ever; Bob Dylan initially styled himself after him, dedicated one of the first songs he ever wrote to him ("Song to Woody") and recited an eight minute poem about him at one of his early concerts ("Last Thoughts on Woody Guthrie").

The Flaming Lips, meanwhile, have spent a 30-year-career moving from making acid-drenched punk to music so palatable that their 2002 hit "Do You Realize??" was designated the official state song of Oklahoma from 2009 to '11. The state has also produced players in country and jazz, most notably trumpeters Chet Baker and Don Cherry, as well as classic rock journeymen Carl Radle, Elvin Bishop, J.J. Cale, Jesse Ed Davis and Leon Russell. Cale's 1972 debut album Naturally was one of the first to feature a drum machine, which he used to capture brilliantly the relaxed groove of a native Tulsan. He died this past July.

22. North Carolina

Artists Who Were Born There: Blind Boy Fuller, Doc Watson, George Clinton, John Coltrane, Ski, Thelonious Monk
Bands Formed There: Archers of Loaf, Corrosion of Conformity, Double Negative, Flat Duo Jets, Superchunk

While it's mostly known for storied college basketball rivalries, NASCAR, tobacco and its recent slide into regressive politics, North Carolina is a very musical state. Going back to the early 20th century, N.C. served as a center for the foundations of country music, bluegrass and blues. In the late 1960s and '70s, as brilliantly captured on the compilation Carolina Funk: First In Funk, regional soul, funk and R&B outfits had tar heels stepping from Murphy to Manteo.

In the late '80s, guitarist and singer Mac McCaughan formed the pop-punk band Superchunk in Chapel Hill. Then he and his pogo-dancing bassist Laura Ballance started a independent record label, Merge Records, that has since gone on to extraordinary success (the label was home to Arcade Fire). From this base, North Carolina has given rise to a raft of top-shelf underground rock—including the two-bass attack of Regraped, the stream-of-consciousness song structures of Polvo and the big guitar classicism of The Cherry Valence.

On A Tribe Called Quest's 1991 posse cut "Scenario," Leaders Of The New School's Charlie Brown shouted out "North Cackalacka," effectively putting N.C. on the rap map. The state responded in kind by producing two groups that spoke in Native Tongues; Yaggfu Front and Lords Of The Underground—the latter of which saw its 1993 single "Chief Rocka" quoted by Kanye West on his recent album Yeezus. And then there's Petey Pablo, who in 2001 released the N.C.-boosting hit "Raise Up." On a post-9/11 remix of the track he rapped, "And could somebody tell Mr. Bin Laden he got a lot of people lookin' for him?" Ironically, on Sept. 11, 2010, Pablo tried to board a flight out of Raleigh with a gun and was sentenced to three years in jail.

21. Alabama

Artists Who Were Born There: Brian McKnight, Emmylou Harris, Hank Williams, Jimmy Buffett, Lionel Richie, Nat King Cole, Rich Boy, Sun Ra, Tommy Shaw, W.C. Handy
Bands Formed There: Alabama, Man or Astro-man?, The Commodores, The Louvin Brothers

Although they had their biggest successes across the state line in Tennessee, W.C. Handy, one of the fathers of the blues, and Hank Williams, the undisputed father of country music, were both born in Alabama.

Like any southern state, Alabama has hosted a mixture of jazz, blues, gospel, and country music over the last century—with that last genre holding sway over all. Even Montgomery-born soul singer Clarence Carter cut hits with a country tinge to them—see his 1970 single "Patches," with its homespun back-story clarified via speaking parts.

There's nothing country about the hip-hop artists emerging from the state this millennia, though Huntsville's Paper Route Gangstaz do project a certain woozy quality in their music and lyrics that reflects their swampy surroundings. And the Grammy-nominated rock band Alabama Shakes are not shy about claiming the place; it's right there in the name.

Alabama is also home to the Muscle Shoals Sound Studio, where the Rolling Stones recorded "Brown Sugar" and "Wild Horses" just before heading to Altamont to preside over the death of the '60s. A couple years later, on his landmark album Harvest, Neil Young issued "Alabama" and "Southern Man," songs critical of the south's history of racism and slavery. A couple years after that, Florida's Lynyrd Skynyrd answered with "Sweet Home Alabama," playfully dismissing Young's barbs: "I hope Neil Young will remember, a southern man don't need him around anyhow."

20. Arkansas

Artists Who Were Born There: Al Green, Johnny Cash, Levon Helm, Pharoah Sanders, Johnnie Taylor, Junior Walker
Bands Formed There: Evanescence

You know a state's musical when it has four official state songs. Moreover, some of Arkansas' most prominent politicians dabble in music. Then-Arkansas governor Bill Clinton strapped on a saxophone to do "Heartbreak Hotel" on The Arsenio Hall Show in 1992, while more recent Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee plays bass guitar. Like any southern state, Arkansas has strong traditions of country, bluegrass, folk, R&B, and gospel. It's also given us some massive talents over the last century: Al Green, one of the finest soul singers ever; Johnny Cash, some would say the most important country artist of the twentieth century; Levon Helm, essential drummer and singer with the Band; and Pharoah Sanders, one of few saxophonists capable of going toe-to-toe with John Coltrane.

19. Missouri

Artists Who Were Born There: Chuck Berry, Chingy, Cooper Crain, Eminem, Coleman Hawkins, Charlie Parker, Nelly, Porter Wagoner, Lester Young
Bands Formed There: Heater, Jerusalem and the Starbaskets, St. Lunatics, The Pows, Warhammer 48k

Kansas City jazz alone would make for a musical legacy any state would be proud of. The birthplace of Charlie Parker, inventor of bebop, and a crucial conductor for the spread of the artform nationwide, Kansas City is as famous for its jazz as it is for its barbecue.

But the state of Missouri offers much more than that. Duckwalking out of St. Louis in the 1950s while writing and playing indelible songs like "Maybellene," "Roll Over Beethoven," and "Johnny B. Goode," Chuck Berry has as strong a claim as anyone to having invented rock and roll.

The state also boasts Branson, a hub for mainstream country acts, and even launched its very own rap superstar, Nelly—who in recent years has managed to court a country audience, no easy feat in his genre. In the middle of the state sits the college town Columbia, home to a scene supportive of acts like art metal heavyweights Warhammer 48k, lo-fi pop outfit Heater and the dosed, devastating duo Jerusalem and the Starbaskets.

18. Indiana

Artists Who Were Born There: Hoagy Carmichael, Freddie Gibbs, John Hiatt, Janet Jackson, Michael Jackson, Lonnie Mack, John Mellencamp, Wes Montgomery, Cole Porter, Axl Rose, David Lee Roth, Izzy Stradlin
Bands Formed There: The Gizmos, The Jackson 5

People joke about Indiana, but a surprising amount of musical talent has come out of the state. It was the birthplace of Hoagy Carmichael and Cole Porter, two enormously influential songwriters of the early 20th century. It gave us Wes Montgomery and Lonnie Mack, guitar greats of jazz and blues, respectively. It gave us two of the biggest pop stars ever in Michael and Janet Jackson (and the less said about the rest of the Jacksons, the better.) It gave us the Midwest's answer to Bruce Springsteen in John Mellencamp and one of the great, underrated singer-songwriters of the '80s in John Hiatt. It produced two of hard rock's greatest lead singers in David Lee Roth and Axl Rose (along with Izzy Stradlin, one of very few former band mates Axl still gets along with, and another friend, the late Blind Melon singer Shannon Hoon.) And it has produced one of the best and certainly one of the most gangsta rappers to emerge in recent memory in Freddie Gibbs. It may be a hellish state to drive through (unless you're Tony Kanaan), but at least the place was nice enough to provide music for the duration.

17. Virginia

Artists Who Were Born There: Aimee Mann, Bruce Hornsby, Chris Brown, Clarence Clemons, D'Angelo, Danja, Ella Fitzgerald, Grandmaster Jay, Missy Elliott, Patsy Cline, Pharrell Williams, Roy Clark, Steve Earle, Stewart Copeland, The Lady of Rage, Timbaland
Bands Formed There: Clipse, Dave Matthews Band, Gwar, the Carter Family, the Neptunes, the Stanley Brothers, the Statler Brothers

Virginia boasts an embarrassment of riches, musically speaking. But the state flies under the radar, as it's largely produced artists who quickly shot to national success and left their roots behind. Some of the biggest names in country are from there, including the legendary Carter Family, as well as alt-country forefather Steve Earle. Costumed shock rockers Gwar and the endlessly frat-friendly Dave Matthews Band are two groups that couldn't be more dissimilar but nevertheless are both from Virginia.

In hip-hop, the state has become where the nation's rappers (and plenty of pop artists) go for songwriting and production—Missy Elliott, Timbaland, The Neptunes, and Clipse are all Virginians. In R&B, the elusive D'Angelo is from there. So is Chris Brown, but the Virginia Tourism Corporation would probably prefer we didn't dwell on that.

16. Florida

Artists Who Were Born There: Luther Campell, Pee Wee Ellis, Faith Evans, Gunplay, Flo Rida, Thurston Moore, Gram Parsons, Tom Petty, Pitbull, Plies, Scott Storch, T-Pain, Trick Daddy, Trina, Betty Wright
Bands Formed There: 2 Live Crew, Backstreet Boys, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Miami Sound Machine, Morbid Angel, 'N Sync, The Montgomery Express, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers

The music of Florida runs the gamut from rock to punk, metal and several unique strains of rap. In the early '70s, 1973 to be exact, the undisputed kings of southern rock and one of the greatest American bands of all time emerged fully-formed with one of the most stunningly mature and powerful debut albums in history. It was called Pronounced Leh-nerd Skin-nerd, which was helpful since they'd chosen a funny way to spell the name of the former gym teacher after whom they'd named their band, Lynyrd Skynyrd. Three years later, with their eponymous first album, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers were on their way to becoming a staple of American radio, college parties, and state fairs for the next 35 years.

The recording industry in Florida initially developed around Miami's Criteria Studios, which served as a popular destination for superstar acts like Fleetwood Mac and the Eagles during winters in the '70s. Meanwhile, the Latin—particularly Cuban—population in the state nurtured a strong music scene, which found its greatest crossover star in Gloria Estefan in the 1980s. In the same decade, Tampa saw a groundswell of extreme metal, all while hip-hop DJs and producers concocted Miami bass, a subgenre of rap so infectious that the great Brooklyn rap band Stetsasonic recorded a song describing it.

In the late '90s, a darker, more gangsta influenced strain of Floridian rap came along. Still extremely sex-focused, Trick Daddy and Trina (aka "The Baddest Bitch"), used Ted Lucas's Slip-n-Slide Records to pave the way for 21st century stars like Rick Ross, T-Pain, Flo Rida, and DJ Khaled and make Miami the national-level hip-hop capital that it is today. Last year, a charmingly bizarre, very drugged out Three 6 Mafia enthusiast named SpaceGhostPurrp established himself as a viable future for the city's rap life.

15. Massachusetts

Artists Who Were Born There: Akrobatik, Big Shug, Bobby Brown, Ed O.G., Guru, Mr. Lif, Jonathan Richman, Donna Summer, James Taylor
Bands Formed There: Aerosmith, Boston, Come, Dinosaur Jr., Galaxie 500, The J. Geils Band, Helium, Mission of Burma, New Edition, Pixies, Sebadoh, T.D.S. Mob, The Cars, The Mighty Mighty Bosstones, The Modern Lovers, Til Tuesday

Even if all it had was Aerosmith and the Pixies, that'd probably be enough for Massachusetts to hang its hat on. It's difficult to name two American bands with larger reps in their respective genres of hard and alternative rock. Aerosmith, "The Bad Boys from Boston," formed in 1970, its musicians cherry-picked from two bands that played a gig together. From there they went on an incredible five-album run that was only derailed by inter-band tensions and hardcore drug use. This is where Aerosmith's story logically should have ended but somehow it didn't; they mounted an impressive comeback in the '80s and then doubled-down on that in the '90s with an assist from Alicia Silverstone. For better or worse, we'll probably always have to deal with them.

The Pixies, meanwhile, came together at the University of Massachusetts Amherst and from 1988 to '91 turned in four albums that imbued what would come to be called indie rock with realization of its full potential. Plenty of bands during this period performed and recorded music this abrasive, but singer, songwriter, and guitarist Black Francis hid real tunefulness amidst all his snarls and noise, while bassist and back-up singer Kim Deal sugar-coated the proceedings with her undeniable charisma. Just as the band broke up, its influence served as a catalyst for a revolution in rock music that swept the nation. Nirvana's famous loud-quiet-loud formula came directly from the Pixies' playbook. (While we're on the subject, the quintessential loud-quiet-loud Nirvana riff, "Smells Like Teen Spirit" comes directly from a different, and far more surprising, Massachussetts rock source: Boston's "More Than a Feeling.")

Between and around the aforementioned pillars, Massachussetts offers lots more rock: From the anti-hippie proto-punk of Jonathan Richman and the Modern Lovers to the perfect pop synth strains of The Cars, the fuzzed and buzzed noise of Dinosaur Jr. and Sebadoh, and the great grunge grrrls in Come and Helium, the Bay State has always put it down. Add disco queen Donna Summer and the boy band by which all others should be measured, New Edition, and, well, maybe next time you complain about the way some "Masshole" pronounces "park the car," you should just thank him instead.

Massachusetts has also given us some great hip-hop talent. Guru of Gang Starr was from Boston—and, amusingly, rapped with a Boston accent on the duo's early albums, even while spitting lines like, "Never takin' shorts/'Cause Brooklyn's the borough." Twenty-two-year rap vet Ed O.G. is from Roxbury, and Boston MC Scientifik released one slept-on classic, Criminal, before being gunned down in 1996. His murder remains unsolved.

14. Pennsylvania

Artists Who Were Born There: Frankie Avalon, Beanie Sigel, Cassidy, Stanley Clarke, Eve, Freeway, Stan Getz, Philly Joe Jones, Patti LaBelle, Left Eye, Mac Miller, Teddy Pendergrass, Todd Rundgren, Schoolly D, Jimmy Smith, McCoy Tyner, Wiz Khalifa
Bands Formed There: Boyz II Men, Cash Money and Marvelous, The Dead Milkmen, The Delfonics, DJ Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince, Hall and Oates, The Hooters, Jedi Mind Tricks, Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes, MFSB, The Roots

The first thing that needs to be addressed with respect to music from Pennsylvania is Philadelphia Soul. Motown? Forget Motown. Philadelphia International Records. Gamble and Huff. MFSB. Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes. Teddy Pendergrass. Patti LaBelle. The Delfonics. These are names on the minds of people seriously digging for R&B and soul records rather than, say, borrowing their parents' copy of the The Big Chill soundtrack. The music in Philly had more of a jazz and funk influence and more ambitious instrumentation, with an emphasis on strings and horns. If you want to get overwhelmed by all this, just buy the 2008 box set Love Train: The Sound of Philadelphia, but fair warning, you'll probably end up conceiving a child if you play it too much.

And you know this next part of the story: From west Philadelphia, born and raised, on the playground was where he spent most of his days. Yeah, DJ Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince are from Philly, and the cheesy-yet-infectious music they rode to the top of the charts was pretty much typical of Philadelphia hip-hop of the late '80s. Their closest contemporary Cash Money and Marvelous's only album Where's The Party At? is required listening if only for the one-two punch of "Ugly People Be Quiet"and "Ugly People Be Quiet (Remix)," which clarifies at length why the unattractive should not talk.

Before the silly stuff, though, Philly rap was really tough. In the mid-'80s, when Run D.M.C. was ruling the roost in New York, a muscle-bound hard-rock named Schoolly D was making the City of Brotherly Love sound less than brotherly and not at all loving. In 1985, neck-snapping snares announced the arrival of "P.S.K. (What Does It Mean?" And as casual as Schoolly's voice might have been, the tale it told was full of stress. "P.S.K." stood for "Park Side Killers," a street gang Schoolly ran with—and, lo, the world had what is widely considered to be its first gangsta rap song. A host of dangerous, cold-eyed rhyme slingers have followed in his tradition—from Beanie Sigel and the State Property crew (with their "get down or lay down" mantra) to Maybach Music Group stalwart Meek Mill (who sounds anything but meek.)

In recent years, from across the state, almost in Ohio, a gentler brand of rap has emerged. Wiz Khalifa and Mac Miller might seem more interested in smoking pot than making music, but they've both established surprisingly viable careers for themselves. Pittsburgh rap looks to be here to stay.

Then of course, there's the Roots. The "Illadelphian" hip-hop band made their name by playing their own instruments and developing the best live show rap had ever produced. They've been rocking stages for 20 years and 10 albums now, having wisely secured a nightly gig with Jimmy Fallon.

13. Ohio

Artists Who Were Born There: Blueprint, Bootsy Collins, Catfish Collins, DJ Hi Tek, Kid Cudi, Chrissie Hynde, Dave Grohl, Gilby Clarke, Robert Quine, Steven Adler, Marilyn Manson, Macy Gray, RJD2
Bands Formed There: Black Keys, Bone Thugs-n-Harmony, Devo, Guided by Voices, James Gang, Nine Inch Nails, Ohio Players, Pere Ubu, Slave, the Breeders, the Dead Boys, the Isley Brothers, Times New Viking, Zapp

It may seem random but it's no accident that the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame is in Cleveland. Ohio has contributed to almost every angle of modern music. First off, in 1970, Ohio's the Pacemakers' members Bootsy and Catfish Collins gave James Brown's band an infusion of fresh blood before decamping for Parliament-Funkadelic. During these same years, funk, soul, and R&B outfits the Isley Brothers, Ohio Players, Slave, and Zapp busted out of the state, while its small label Capsoul Records brilliantly captured similarly minded local talent (some of which has been compiled by reissue label the Numero Group).

As the 1970s proceeded, Ohio spit out punk forerunners Devo, Chrissie Hynde, and the Dead Boys. In the '80s, the state gave us Guns N' Roses drummer Steven Adler and in the '90s GNR's hired gun rhythm guitarist Gilby Clarke. Around the same time, Ohio native Dave Grohl joined Nirvana and assisted in transforming the landscape of rock music, a change that made possible the career of a ramshackle band like the Breeders—helmed by two sisters from Dayton. This also paved the way for the ascendency of Guided By Voices and later Times New Viking, lo-fi miracles from the Buckeye State.

In terms of hip-hop, Ohio hasn't been quite as prolific. But tongue-twisting Ouija-board mystics Bone Thugs-n-Harmony put Cleveland rap on the map back in the '90s. And folks like Ray Cash, Kid Cudi, and Chip the Ripper have kept the output flowing. Most recently, in 2010, a little-known rapper from a little-known town called Massillon had a windfall when Rick Ross signed him to his Maybach Music Group. His name is Stalley. He's good. And funny.

12. Washington

Artists Who Were Born There: Kurt Cobain, Bing Crosby, Jake One, Jimi Hendrix, Macklemore, Sir Mix-a-Lot
Bands Formed There: Alice in Chains, Bikini Kill, Fleet Foxes, Foo Fighters, Green River, Heart, Mad Season, Melvins, Modest Mouse, Mother Love Bone, Mudhoney, Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Queensryche, Screaming Trees, Shabbaz Palaces, Sleater-Kinney, The Sonics, Soundgarden, Sunn O))), Swollen Members, Tad, Temple of the Dog, The Fartz

Two left-handed singing guitarists—Jimi Hendrix and Kurt Cobain—are all we need to put Washington on the musical map, but they're really just the tip of the iceberg. Hendrix found international fame in the late '60s via psychedelic blues-based rock that excellently framed his spectacular guitar playing. He is the greatest guitarist in the history of the world, and he died young, which was to become a pattern among musicians from the Evergreen State.

Meanwhile, a surprisingly active soul and funk scene developed in Seattle; this was captured on Light In The Attic Records' 2004 compilation Wheedle's Groove: Seattle's Finest In Funk & Soul 1965-75, which spawned a documentary with the same title narrated by Sir Mix-A-Lot. In the '70s, Seattle nurtured female classic rockers Heart and in the early '80s it blasted out the Fartz, a hardcore group featuring future Guns N' Roses bassist Duff McKagan on drums.

Then, within a couple years, grunge began to take shape. The rock subgenre is always referred to as a uniform sound but is actually fairly diverse; Melvins don’t sound anything like Mother Love Bone, yet both are considered grunge. Spearheaded by Cobain's power trio Nirvana, grunge rock swept the nation in the early '90s, with Washington-based bands Alice in Chains, Pearl Jam, and Soundgarden becoming some of the biggest acts in the world, bringing deserving friends like Mudhoney, Screaming Trees, and Tad along for the ride. All of this spawned a sea of imitators; suddenly bands all over the globe sounded like some rough approximation of grunge. It also left a lot of bodies in its wake; Alice in Chains's Layne Staley, Mother Love Bone's Andrew Wood, and Hole's Kristen Pfaff all died of heroin overdoses, while Cobain shot himself in the head.

Washington hip-hop has been bubbling in recent years, with local talent like Jake One and Shabbaz Palaces making a name for themselves nationally. The past twelve months, though, have seen major-league level excitement here, as Seattle's Maclemore has become the state's first true rap star since the early '90s, when Mix-A-Lot let it be known that when it comes to ladies, Cosmo doesn't have anything to do with his selection.

11. New Jersey

Artists Who Were Born There: Count Basie, Biz Markie, Glenn Danzig, Donald Fagen, Whitney Houston, Ice-T, Queen Latifah, Redman, Wayne Shorter, Frank Sinatra, Bruce Springsteen
Bands Formed There: Bon Jovi, The Feelies, The Four Seasons, Fugees, Funkadelic, Kool & the Gang, The Misfits, Naughty By Nature, Parliament, Poor Righteous Teachers, The Rascals, The Smithereeens, Titus Andronicus, The Wrens, Yo La Tengo

You can't talk about music in New Jersey without talking about Bruce Springsteen, who has released 17 studio albums over the last four decades, amassing a huge, loyal, dedicated fan base across the globe. But the state's overall musical legacy is deeper than that.

An early example would be the Rascals, who from 1966 to 1972 defined blue-eyed soul—such that when Otis Redding first met the band, he reportedly said "My God, you guys are white!"—and evolved this into a signature brand of psychedelia, as many bands of the era did. During those same years, George Clinton's bands Parliament and Funkadelic took shape in Jersey; though Funkadelic spent its formative years in Detroit and both feel too otherworldly to attach to a place here on Planet Earth. One of Parliament-Funkadelic's closest competitors, Kool & the Gang, also formed here.

Meanwhile, Donald Fagen, one-half of the pointedly sophisticated '70s band Steely Dan, was born in Passaic. Horror punk progenitors The Misfits churned out of Lodi. Two of the biggest stars of the '80s—Jon Bon Jovi and Whitney Houston—also grew up in the Garden State, while the Smithereens' Especially For You is about the most perfect slice of Beatlesque pop you'll find this side of Liverpool.

"New Jerusalem" has also produced some very substantial hip-hop talent: Biz Markie, Queen Latifah, Redman, Fugees, Naughty By Nature, Poor Righteous Teachers and, most surprisingly, legendary L.A. rapper Ice-T, who was born in Newark.

10. Minnesota

Artists Who Were Born There: Bob Dylan, Jimmy Jam, Terry Lewis, Paul Westerberg, Prince, Slug
Bands Formed There: Atmosphere, Eyedea & Abilities, Hüsker Dü, Low, Information Society, The Replacements, Soul Asylum, The Time, Vanity 6

What music has come out of Minnesota is generally iconic. In fact, if we were judging solely based on the impact that a state's greatest native sons have had on American music (as opposed to taking into consideration broader, more abstract criteria like overall atmopshere, movements, scenes, etc.), there is a strong argument to be made for placing little ol' polite, unassuming, very, very cold Minnesota right up at the very top of this list. [Ed. note: At least one person has been bold enough, or stupid enough, to do this in the past.]

First off, a young man from Hibbing named Bob Dylan is widely considered the greatest songwriter of the modern era. His legacy runs so deep that a reissue of one of his least beloved albums, 1970's Self Portrait, recently hit stores to rave reviews—people just cannot stay mad at this guy. He got the Beatles stoned for the first time and basically taught everybody that lyrics were important. So, yeah.

The state's second most famous son is Prince, inventor of "the Minneapolis sound," a blend of R&B, funk, pop, new wave, and anything else that fit that propelled him to the top of the charts for decades. Prince acolytes Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis went from the funk band The Time (fronted by the irrepressible Morris Day) to producing 16 number one singles—most of them for Janet Jackson. This November, reissue label the Numero Group is issuing a compilation profiling the scene that nurtured Prince's accent titled Purple Snow: Forecasting the Minneapolis Sound.

The phrase "there must be something in the water" might have been coined for Minneapolis in the '80s. Because while Prince was setting new standards of excellence in funk rock, across town, a bunch of drunker dudes in less nice clothes were doing the same for the punk kind. Some people feel [Ed. note: This editor is one of those people] that American rock and roll has never gotten better than that made by The Replacements and Hüsker Dü in that magical, messy-headed era.

On the synthy new wave tip, there was the Information Society (although from their sound most people probably assumed they were English.) And the state boasts a rap label, Rhymesayers Entertainment, which has released plenty of music from local talent, including Atmosphere, Eyedea & Abilities and Brother Ali.

9. Illinois

Artists Who Were Born There: Chance the Rapper, Common, Miles Davis, Lupe Fiasco, Quincy Jones, R. Kelly, Frankie Knuckles, Curtis Mayfield, Rhymefest, Jeff Tweedy, Twista
Bands Formed There: Big Black, Cheap Trick, Chicago, Ministry, Smashing Pumpkins, Tortoise, Urge Overkill, Wilco

John Goodman's character on HBO's Treme, Creighton Bernette, once said, "Anything that's any good in Chicago comes from some place else." This is unfairly reductive, sure, but it has a ring of truth in terms of Illinois' musical legacy. The biggest thing about Chicago musically is that it's where Delta blues went electric. But this is a transition of no small significance, because when hotwired and sped up by Chuck Berry (himself transplanted from St. Louis), it led to the invention of rock and roll in the 1950s. As that innovation spread worldwide in the proceeding decades, the city came to nurture rock bands ranging from chart-toppers Cheap Trick, Urge Overkill, and the Smashing Pumpkins to more abrasive acts such as the Jesus Lizard, Big Black, and Shellac, as well as forward-thinkers Mahjongg, CAVE and Tortoise.

Chicago represents in other genres as well. There's soul; first with Sam Cooke, who was born in Mississippi but grew up in Chicago, where he mixed gospel and secular music to invent the genre, then with Curtis Mayfield (straight out of Cabrini-Green), Jerry Butler and their group, the Impressions, and later R. Kelly. Dance music, meanwhile, took a leap forward with the invention of Chicago house (but, again, this was built on Italian disco records and Germany's Kraftwerk).

Illinois has birthed a smattering of hip-hop artists over the years, Common, Twista, Do or Die, and a kid you may have heard of named Kanye West (born in Georgia, but Chi to the core), who deserves credit for putting Chief Keef and King L—leading lights of the South Side's thrilling, chilling, and much-maligned "drill scene"—on his recent album Yeezus.

8. Texas

Artists Who Were Born There: Beyonce, Bun B, Bushwick, Bill, Chamillionaire, DJ Screw, Buddy Holly, Janis Joplin, Mike Jones, Willie Nelson, Roy Orbison, Paul Wall, Pimp C, Scarface, Travis $cott Selena, Slim Thug, The D.O.C., Vanilla Ice, Townes Van Zandt, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Johnny "Guitar" Watson, Willie D., Edgar Winter, Johnny Winter
Bands Formed There: The Fabulous Thunderbirds, The Flatlanders, Geto Boys, Pantera, Scratch Acid, UGK, ZZ Top

Texas' musical legacy is as big as the state itself. Across every genre, it has produced some of the most intense artists and bands in existence. First off, a lot of the deepest, most dangerous country artists come from Texas, including Waylon Jennings, Willie Nelson, George Jones, George Strait, Townes Van Zandt, and Kenny Rogers. Its bluesmen include Blind Lemon Jefferson, Lightnin' Hopkins, Freddie King, and Albert Collins—all intimidating pickers.

Early rock legends Buddy Holly and Roy Orbison were both from Texas, and in subsequent decades the state gave us Red Krayola and the Thirteenth Floor Elevators, two of the farthest-out psychedelic bands of the 1960s, as well as the equally bizarre Butthole Surfers in the 1980s. And of course, Texas also gave us Billy Gibbons, Dusty Hill, and Frank Beard, the mighty, mighty ZZ Top, who, as famous as they are for their facial hair, will probably never get the credit they deserve as musicians.

The Lone Star State's rap rep goes just as deep. In the late '80s, Houston gave us Geto Boys, the first nationally recognized Southern rappers, whose shocking lyrics and unflinching worldview combined with a deep well of artistry to made them legends.

In the early '90s, Port Arthur's UGK stepped in, and over a span of six albums, even lasting through Pimp C's four-year jail stint, the duo's boundless creativity made them impossible to stop. (Until Pimp C's tragic death in 2007 did just that.) Further, Texas was home to the late DJ Screw, who, like the first human being to decide to eat a lobster, somehow got it in his head to slow down popular 12-inch singles by about 10 rotations per minute, apply sound effects and have his friends rap over them after drinking cough syrup. Somehow this worked out, and the result, chopped-and-screwed music, now influences hip-hop artists from coast to coast.

7. Michigan

Artists Who Were Born There: Juan Atkins, Danny Brown, J. Dilla, Bill Haley, Kid Rock, Derrick May, Ted Nugent, Iggy Pop, Smokey Robinson, Rodriguez, Diana Ross, Mitch Ryder, Kevin Saunderson, Bob Seger, Sufjan Stevens, Jack White, Stevie Wonder
Bands Formed There: Alice Cooper, Death, Destroy All Monsters, Grand Funk Railroad, Martha and the Vandellas, MC5, ? Mark and the Mysterians, The Supremes, The Stooges, The Temptations, The White Stripes

Ground zero for music in Michigan is Motown Records, named for a combination of the words "motor" and "town," since the record label, once known as "Hitsville, U.S.A.," was based in Detroit, home of the American automobile industry. From 1959 to 1972, Motown produced a seemingly endless stream of smash records and national pop stars: The Four Tops, The Temptations, The Supremes, Marvin Gaye, Martha and the Vandellas, Smokey Robinson, Stevie Wonder, performing material by the vaunted songwriting trio Holland-Dozier-Holland and backed by house session musicians the Funk Brothers. In 1972 the label relocated to California and lost much of its luster, but that's another story.

Meanwhile, in the late '60s, underground rock acts the MC5 and the Stooges bubbled up out of the suburbs surrounding Detroit, building the chassis on which punk rock would eventually be driven off the assembly line. More popular, slightly less dangerous acts of the era like Grand Funk Railroad and Alice Cooper were from Flint and Detroit, respectively. In the 1980s, Belleville became the birthplace of techno when three of its sons—Juan Atkins, Kevin Saunderson, and Derrick May—drew on their love of Kraftwerk and Parliament-Funkadelic to form Cybotron and create a new genre of dance music.

While greatly varied, with a more substantial history than you might think, all Michigan hip-hop stands in the long shadow cast by Eminem (himself a Missouri native). A newer school of stars, led by Big Sean and Danny Brown, have been making a big noise lately, while underground artists like Black Milk and the Crown Nation collective follow in the softer footsteps of J. Dilla. A beloved figure on what might be called the thinking man's side of hip-hop, Dilla needed only 32 years on this Earth to establish himself as one of the most highly revered hip-hop producers of all time. He completed his last album, the landmark Donuts, from a hospital bed before succumbing to illness in 2006.

6. Mississippi

Artists Who Were Born There: Mose Allison, David Banner, Big K.R.I.T., John Lee Hooker, Son House, Howlin' Wolf, Elmore James, Robert Johnson, B.B. King, Charley Patoon, Elvis Presley, Rick Ross, Mississippi John Hurt, Muddy Waters, Sonny Boy Williamson
Bands Formed There: The Mississippi Sheiks, 3 Doors Down

Mississippi's musical legacy would be secure with the birth of one man, Delta blues legend Robert Johnson. He lived from 1911 to 1938 and was only photographed three times but left behind over 40 recordings whose influence spread far and wide, particularly in England, where some of the most successful rock bands of the '60s and '70s tried to absorb and replicate his music. The Rolling Stones covered him twice and Eric Clapton once said there was a time in his life when he wouldn't speak to anyone who didn't know about him. (He eventually released two entire albums in tribute to Johnson.)

But Mississippi is a fount of musical talent that has issued forth a stunning number of greats—B.B. King, Muddy Waters, Elmore James, John Lee Hooker, and a white guy named Elvis. And long before them, before Robert Johnson, even, it gave us the man known as the "Father of Delta Blues," the even more mysterious Charley Patton, a man who no less a songwriter than Bob Dylan is reported to have said, "If I made records for my own pleasure, I would only record Charley Patton songs."

Beyond the blues, Mississippi boasts the beats. Very good ones, lately, made by Big K.R.I.T. a rapper/producer following in the footsteps of David Banner—whose 2003 album Mississippi: The Album featured "Mississippi," a track that pulled no punches in expressing how hollow the trappings of wealth feel in a state that still flies the Confederate Flag.

5. Tennessee

Artists Who Were Born There: Alex Chilton, DJ Paul, Donald "Duck" Dunn, Tennessee Ernie Ford, Aretha Franklin, Isaac Hayes, Juicy J, Al Jackson, Jr., Dolly Parton, Carl Perkins, Project Pat, Justin Timberlake, Yo Gotti, Young Buck
Bands Formed There: The Bar-Kays, Big Star, Booker T. and the MGs, 8Ball & MJG, The Mar-Keys, Superdrag

From end to end, Tennessee is sacred ground in four genres: country, blues, soul, and rock 'n' roll. First off, Bristol, set on the northeast border of Tennessee and Virginia, is officially recognized by the U.S. Congress as the "Birthplace of Country Music." The genre soon moved to claim the more centrally located Nashville as its capital. Meanwhile, in the southwest corner of the state, Memphis has staked its claim as the birthplace of both blues and rock 'n' roll. Some of the earliest commercially successful blues songs were written and recorded there, and Memphis-based Sun Records was home to rock progenitors Elvis Presley, Roy Orbison, Jerry Lee Lewis, and Johnny Cash.

Memphis was also home to soul labels Stax and Hi Records. The former rivaled Motown for supremacy in the '60s with acts like Otis Redding, Rufus Thomas, Sam and Dave, Wilson Picket backed by the multicultural house band (the best house band there's ever been, it says here) Booker T. & the MGs, and the "little brother" bands, with their horn sections, The Mar-Keys and the Bar-Kays.

Hi made its mark in the '70s when drummer Willie Mitchell started producing records for the likes of Al Green, Ann Peebles, O.V. Wright and Syl Johnson (who wrote the classic "Take Me to the River," made more famous by Green, and later, The Talking Heads).

Memphis has a glorious rap history, too; its brand of southern bounce made national stars out of 8Ball & MJG—who offer a master class in pimping (see their 1993 song "Pimps")—and Three 6 Mafia, surely the most awesomely weird group to ever win an Academy Award.

4. Georgia

Artists Who Were Born There: Andre 3000, Big Boi, Cee Lo Green, Ray Charles, Killer Mike, Lil Jon, Little Richard, Otis Redding, Sleepy Brown, T.I., Kanye West
Bands Formed There: Black Lips, Goodie Mob, OutKast, R.E.M., the B-52s, the Black Crowes, TLC, Widespread Panic

In assessing the musical legacy of Georgia, start with Atlanta, which has become the capital of Southern hip-hop since OutKast burst out of East Point in 1994. In this sense, the duo's significance cannot be overemphasized; before them, Southern rap was limited to local artists, Geto Boys being the exception that proved the rule. After OutKast, Southern rap went national, eventually eclipsing the genre's earlier centers of New York and California. Since then, whether a Southern rapper is from the ATL or not, they end up there. As Jermaine Dupri once said, "People don't visit, they move out here."

But the Peach State's recent rap dominance should not overshadow its important place in the history of older forms. Ray Charles was from Albany (and gave a lot of thought to the fact). Little Richard, too. Considering those two together, the state has a very serious claim to the roots of all the pop music that has been made in the last sixty-five years. (Did Little Richard invent rock and roll? At least as much as, if not more than, any other single person, he did.) Otis Redding was from Dawson, and along with him, the greatest natural soul voice ever to be set to record. (Well, at least the greatest male one. Aretha, the Queen, should have her say.) And James Brown grew up in Augusta and rose to fame out of Macon, so: funk.

In other genres, too, Georgia represents: country stars Alan Jackson, Trisha Yearwood, and Travis Tritt are natives. The fecund atmosphere around the college town Athens birthed '80s giants R.E.M. and the B-52s and the lesser lights like Pylon and Love Tractor. More hippieishly, the south's answer to the Grateful Dead, the Allman Brothers Band, was originally based in Macon, and Atlanta's Black Crowes survived '90s stardom with enough classic rock bona fides intact to back Jimmy Page on tour playing Led Zeppelin songs at the end of the decade.

3. Louisiana

Artists Who Were Born There: Louis Armstrong, Dave Bartholomew, Sidney Bechet, B.G., C-Murder, Curren$y, Dr. John, Fats Domino, Lee Dorsey, Juvenile, KLC, Lead Belly, Lil Boosie, Lil Wayne, Jerry Lee Lewis, Jeff Mangum, Mannie Fresh, Wynton Marsalis, Mia X, Mo B. Dick, Mystikal, Jelly Roll Morton, Aaron Neville, Lloyd Price, Professor Longhair, Silkk the Shocker, Soulja Slim, Huey "Piano" Smith, Irma Thomas, Allen Toussaint, Webbie, Young Bleed

Bands Formed There: The Dirty Dozen Brass Band, Big Tymers, Eyehategod, The Hot Boys, The Meters, Neutral Milk Hotel, The Neville Brothers, TRU, The Wild Magnolias

Louisiana is one big gumbo pot of musical tradition. The birthplace of jazz, and an early bastion of blues, New Orleans and its history of musical miscegeny makes a very strong argument for the number one spot on any list about American music. It is the country's musical fertile crescent.

As such, the Crescent City has birthed multiple stripes of jazz, blues and gospel, as well as the unique genres of Cajun, Creole, and Zydeco music, which sprung forth from the state's French and Spanish settlers. Even more exotic is the folk music of Mardi Gras Indians; African-Americans who sing tribal songs backed by little more than tambourines and drums while dressed in Native American ceremonial apparel. And then there's second line parades, in which brass bands march through residential streets performing a mix of standards and popular songs followed by dancing crowds. The city's NFL team, The Saints, is named after a Dixieland jazz standard.

Beginning in the late '40s, New Orleans was home to a bountiful R&B scene, helmed by legends like Professor Longhair, Fats Domino, Lloyd Price, Lee Dorsey, and Huey "Piano" Smith. New Orleans' rollicking, soulful, piano-based R&B was a major influence on early rock 'n' roll and found a wider audience in the '70s with albums by Dr. John and the Meters (the latter of whom would be an oft-sampled source for early hip-hop producers).

In the late '90s, New Orleans surprised much of the country by becoming a rap Mecca, first with Master P's No Limit Records followed by the world-conquering Cash Money Millionaires. Founded by brothers Slim and Brian "Baby" Williams, built on the electro beats of Mannie Fresh, Cash Money served as the springboard of the Hot Boys: Juvenile, Turk, B.G. and Lil' Wayne—and Wayne's ascent to worldwide superstardom has powered the machine for past ten years.

Traceable to the intro of a single, little-known gangsta rap song from 1986, "Drag Rap (Triggerman)," by a duo from Queens called Showboys, the distinctive sound of New Orleans "bounce" has morphed into an incredible variety of subgenres, a cornucopia of styles worthy of the state's musical history. With the recent prominence awarded to the sexy dance style called "twerking," for example, New Orleansian "Sissy Bounce" is coming to the fore, as performed by flamboyant cross-dressing rappers like Big Freedia and Sissy Nobby.

2. California

Artists Who Were Born There: Roy Ayers, Captain Beefheart, Del the Funky Homosapien, DJ Qbert, DJ Quik, DJ Shadow, Dr. Dre, E-40, Earl Sweatshirt, Eazy-E, Flying Lotus, Etta James, Frank Ocean, Ice Cube, Kendrick Lamar, Too $hort, Tyler the Creator
Bands Formed There: The Beach Boys, Black Flag, Buffalo Springfield, The Byrds, Country Joe and the Fish, Digital Underground, The Doors, Fishbone, The Flamin' Groovies, The Grateful Dead, Guns N' Roses, Jane's Addiction, Jefferson Airplane, Journey, Love, Minutemen, Moby Grape, The Mothers of Invention, N.W.A, Quicksilver Messenger Service, Red Hot Chili Peppers, The Runaways, Santana, Sly and the Family Stone, Souls of Mischief, Tower of Power, Van Halen, Tom Waits, X

You need a road map to navigate California's immense musical legacy. In just the last 60 years, it has given rise to wave after wave of musical movements that have swept the rest of the country. First off, many people think country music is purely a southern phenomenon, but in the mid-to-late 1950s, "the Bakersfield sound" developed in Bakersfield, led by artists like Buck Owens and Merle Haggard, who felt Nashville country had grown too slick and robbed the genre of its essence.

Concurrently, folk music and surf rock were cropping up in the state's urban centers. As the 1960s came to fruition, San Francisco became a center for psychedelic rock bands like the Grateful Dead, the Jefferson Airplane, the Chocolate Watch Band and countless others. The Bay Area was also home base for the groundbreaking Sly & the Family Stone. In the south, Los Angeles' Sunset Strip birthed bands both more commercially appealing and dangerous.

Throughout the '70s, California continued to explode, serving as a center for country- and folk-influenced rock from bands like the Eagles and Fleetwood Mac and, almost as a reaction to that, at the end of the decade, the rise of punk from landmark bands like X, Black Flag, and, later, the Minutemen.

In the 1980s, the state redefined itself yet again via the glam metal scene exemplified by bands like Quiet Riot, Motley Crue, Poison, and Guns N' Roses. At the close of that decade, California gave rise to its own form of hip-hop, a genre which, to that point, was primarily a product of New York City. Artists like Ice-T, Too $hort and N.W.A first put Cali on the map and by the early-to-mid '90s, the state's take on rap threatened to render NYC obsolete, as artists like Dr. Dre, Snoop Doggy Dogg, Ice Cube, and Tupac dominated airwaves.

Meanwhile, alternative hip-hop acts like the Pharcyde, Freestyle Fellowship, and later Shape Shifters established the state's quasi-underground bona fides. And all of this is just in L.A. Up in the Bay, the Digital Underground offered a party-friendly Nor Cal counterpart to L.A.'s gangsta rap (not to mention launching the career of Tupac). Hieroglyphics (Del the Funky Homosapien, Souls of Mischief, Casual, Extra Prolific) served as the West Coast's answer to Native Tongues, and E-40 established a beachhead for hyphy while Mac Dre released a dizzying slew of albums and EPs before being gunned down in 2004.

1. New York

Artists Who Were Born There: Afrika Bambaataa, Akinyele, A$AP Rocky, Big Daddy Kane, Big L, Cam'ron, Chubb Rock, Cyndi Lauper, Dion, Ace Frehley, Jay Z, Kool G Rap, Lord Finesse, Lou Reed, Marley Marl, N.O.R.E., Nas, Notorious B.I.G., Pete Rock, Prince Paul, R.A. the Rugged Man, Teddy Riley
Bands Formed There: Beastie Boys, Blondie, Blue Oyster Cult, Boogie Down Productions, Chic, Contortions, D.N.A., De La Soul, Dirty Projectors, EPMD, Eric B. & Rakim, Gang Starr, Kiss, LCD Soundsystem, Mars, The New York Dolls, Public Enemy, The Ramones, Run D.M.C., Simon & Garfunkel, Sonic Youth, The Strokes, Suicide, Talking Heads, Teenage Jesus and the Jerks, Television, A Tribe Called Quest, Ultramagnetic MCs, Wu-Tang Clan

Punk rock and hip-hop were invented in New York City. That's it. That's all we have to say to justify placing New York at the top of this list. Without punk rock, rock 'n' roll in general would have been dead in the water 35 years ago. However loathed it might have been by the general public at the time, it moved the center of rock back toward youth, rebellion, and innovation, at a time when it'd become bogged down in excess, studio-bred perfectionism, and endless displays of musicianship at the expense of songs. Hip-hop, meanwhile, is the most influential and widely copied genre birthed since rock itself. It sent a seismic wave through the globe, changing how we dress, dance, speak, and even vote.

Punk in New York starts with the Velvet Underground, a quartet (and Nico) that snuck in the backdoor of the psychedelic rock movement fashionable in the mid-'60s, stuffing their music with wild experimentation and lyrics about then-taboo topics such as drug use and sexual deviancy. The Velvets stepped out of Andy Warhol's Factory and started the scene that eventually gave us the first wave of bands that could be considered punk (whatever that meant). The scene was centered in the East Village, nurtured at the legendary CBGB's, and featured bands like the New York Dolls, Television, Patti Smith, Blondie, Talking Heads, and perhaps most importantly, the Ramones. England had a punk scene of its own before too long, as did California, but it started here.

Hip-hop in New York, meanwhile, starts with the DJ, namely Kool Herc, a Jamaican who moved to the Bronx in 1967. In the '70s, he decided to get behind the turntables because, as he recounted in the 2002 book Yes Yes Y'all, he was so often dissatisfied with the DJs at the parties he attended. "I had heard a lot of gripe on the dance floor, 'Why is this guy not playin' the music? Why's he, you know, F-in' up?' And I was agreeing with them." His simple action of refining and improving how a DJ serviced a dance floor led to the invention of hip-hop, particularly when MCs got involved to lead the party. Over time, the focus shifted to the MC, and this deceptively simple role—rhythmically speaking rhymes into a microphone over a beat—proved explosive.

Rap's imprint on New York (and vice versa) is indelible: It started in the Bronx (just ask KRS-One); the first rap song, "Rapper's Delight," was by the Sugarhill Gang, named after a neighborhood in Harlem; the greatest MC of all time is from a massive housing project in Queens—unless you think the greatest MC (or MCs) hail from Bed-Stuy in Brooklyn—and its most unique group emerged from the slums of Shaolin, aka Staten Island. Everywhere you go in New York, hip-hop is there, and everywhere hip-hop has gone in the last three decades—every corner of the globe—it's brought New York with it.

Jazz started in New Orleans, but New York City is where its power was consolidated. Particularly in the mid 20th century, during the birth and evolution of bebop, free jazz and fusion, New York served as a focal point, where the largest talents from all over the country (particularly the American South) and world gathered, collaborated and innovated, establishing new directions in music. A similar process occurred with salsa music; only there it was drawn from Latin America.

In the early 1960s, Greenwich Village was home to a vibrant anti-establishment folk music scene that supported the Civil Rights and Anti-War Movements that grew throughout the decade to a culmination at the Woodstock Music & Art Fair, held on a farm upstate in the summer of '69.

In the '70s, disco began at clubs like Studio 54, though once it was no longer fashionable it was shipped off to the Midwest to get converted into house and techno.