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Photo by Gabri Guerrero. .

Top 10 Iconic Singers from Oklahoma City

Despite being a less-populated central state in America, Oklahoma has churned out hundreds of popular and well-liked musicians over the years! Ranging from Blues to Rock music, Oklahoma is known for its creative artists and hit songs that people still sing until this day. Listed below are the 10 Most Iconic Singers from Oklahoma City.

1. Charlie Christian

Charlie Carver, Cody Christian and Shelley Hennig speaking at the 2017 San Diego Comic Con International. Photo by Gage Skidmore. .

Raised in Oklahoma City, Christian first gained national exposure playing with Benny Goodman’s Sextet and Orchestra from 1939-42. His guitar playing influenced jazz artists as diverse as Dizzy Gillespie, Charlie Parker, Thelonious Monk, and even Miles Davis.

His electric guitar playing is also credited for paving the way for later players like Eddie Cochran, B.B. King, Chuck Berry, Carlos Santana, and Jimi Hendrix. On the jazz side, Christian’s technique and style led him to be credited as being an important contributor to the development of bebop and an early influence on cool ‑jazz.

2. Sandi Patty

Sandra Faye “Sandi” Patty is an American Christian music singer, known for her wide soprano vocal range and expressive flexibility. While studying at Anderson University, she worked as a studio musician for area recording studios, singing background vocals and recording commercial jingles, including one for Juicy Fruit gum. Her reputation as a performer and studio singer grew during the late 1970s, and it was during this time that she initiated contact with legendary Christian musician Bill Gaither.

3. Toby Keith

Toby Keith Covel is an American country music singer, songwriter, actor, and record producer. Known professionally by his given names, Keith released his first four studio albums—1993’s Toby Keith, 1994’s Boomtown, 1996’s Blue Moon and 1997’s Dream Walkin’, plus a Greatest Hits package—for various divisions of Mercury Records before leaving Mercury in 1998.

These albums all earned Gold or higher certification, and produced several Top Ten singles, including his debut “Should’ve Been a Cowboy”, which topped the country charts and was the most-played country song of the 1990s. The song has received three million spins since its release, according to Broadcast Music Incorporated.

4. Aranda

Aranda is an American rock band from Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, United States. The band is composed of Dameon and Gabe Aranda. Their latest album Recollections Of A Painted Year was released on July 29, 2022 through The Fuel Music. Dameon and Gabe Aranda have been creating music since an early age.

The band became Aranda in 2001 and signed to Epic Records after years of playing locally in Oklahoma City with various groups under various names such as “Image” and “Freewill” in the 1990s.

5. Jimmy Rushing

Jimmy Rushing. Photo by William P. Gottlieb. .

James Andrew Rushing was an American singer and pianist from Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, U.S., best known as the featured vocalist of Count Basie’s Orchestra from 1935 to 1948. Rushing was known as “Mr. Five by Five” and was the subject of an eponymous 1942 popular song that was a hit for Harry James and others; the lyrics describe Rushing’s rotund build: “he’s five feet tall and he’s five feet wide”.

He joined Walter Page’s Blue Devils in 1927 and then joined Bennie Moten’s band in 1929. Rushing was a powerful singer who had a range from baritone to tenor. He has sometimes been classified as a blues shouter. He could project his voice so that it soared over the horn and reed sections in a big-band setting.

6. Don Lamond

Don Lamond at the 1966 Newport Jazz Festival. Photo by Zoot mojo. .

Donald Douglas Lamond Jr.  was an American jazz drummer. Born in Oklahoma City, Lamond attended the Peabody Conservatory in Baltimore in the early 1940s, and played with Sonny Dunham and Boyd Raeburn at the outset of his career.

In 1944, he performed baritone saxophone and drums on Charlie Parker’s ‘’The Complete Savoy and Dial Studio Recordings 1944-1948’’ and he took over Dave Tough’s spot in Woody Herman’s big band First Herd in 1945, where he remained until the group disbanded at the end of 1946. According to The Jazz Discography, by Tom Lord, Lamond is listed on 549 recording sessions from 1943 to 1982.

7. Tommy Overstreet

Thomas Cary Overstreet was an American country singer. Often known simply as “T.O.” by fans and radio disc jockeys, Overstreet had five top-five hit singles in the Billboard country charts and 11 top-10 singles.

His popularity peaked in the 1970s. He lived in Hillsboro, Oregon. Overstreet’s musical career started when he was 17, singing on country and western star Slim Willet’s television show in Abilene. In the late 1950s, Overstreet started a group called The Shadows. Overstreet died at his home in Oregon on November 2, 2015.

8. Lutricia McNeal

Lutricia McNeal is an American soul and pop singer. She achieved worldwide success with her cover version of “Ain’t That Just the Way” which sold two million copies worldwide. McNeal was discovered by Rogers/Grantham.

Her career took off during a visit to Europe, when she teamed up with the Swedish producer team Rob’n’Raz. Their 1993 hit “In Command” went to No. 1 in Sweden. A few years later she started her own solo career with the single “Ain’t That Just the Way”. The single went gold and platinum in several countries.

9. Marjorie Fulton

Photos to illustrate the World Music Day. Photo by Lukasz Kobu. .

Marjorie Fulton was an American concert violinist and music educator of distinction. Fulton was born in Oklahoma City, where she began studying piano at age nine, in 1918. She attended the Curtis Institute of Music and held fellowships at The Juilliard School, graduating with honors in 1935.

As a violin teacher, Fulton taught privately in Boston (from 1936 to 1937), New York, and Dallas. She had taught at the University of North Texas College of Music, beginning in 1958, and became an artist in residence there in 1960. She also had taught at the Aspen Music Festival and School where her husband was director from 1954 until his death in 1960.

10. Robert German

Robert German is a United States singer, guitarist, and songwriter. Robert German was born in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma 1978. In 1996, at the age of eighteen after he quit attending Oklahoma State University, German bought is first guitar and began writing songs.

On November 14, 2006, German released his self-produced debut album, sirens of Brooklyn, containing 12 original tracks. His song Well formed man was featured on National Public Radio’s Open Mic series as well as the Village Voice’s High Bias with Uncle LD.