Photo by Justin Higuchi.  .

Top 10 Iconic Singers from Long Beach, California


 

Long Beach is a city in Los Angeles County, California. It is the 42nd-most populous city in the United States, with a population of 466,742 as of 2020. A charter city, Long Beach is the seventh-most populous city in California. California is commonly associated with the film, music, and arts industries; there are numerous world-famous Californian musicians.

Hardcore punk, hip hop, country, and heavy metal have all appeared in California. Furthermore, new genres of music, such as surf rock and third wave ska, have their origins in California. Listed below are the 10 Most Iconic Singers from Long Beach, California.

1. Snoop Dogg

Snoop Dogg. Photo by Remy Golinelli. Wikimedia Commons.

Calvin Cordozar Broadus Jr., known professionally as Snoop Dogg is an American rapper. His fame dates back to 1992 when he featured on Dr. Dre’s debut solo single, “Deep Cover”, and then on Dre’s debut solo album, The Chronic.

Broadus has since sold over 23 million albums in the United States and 35 million albums worldwide. His accolades include an American Music Award, a Primetime Emmy Award, and 17 nominations at the Grammy Awards.

2. Warren G

Warren Griffin III is an American rapper and producer known for his role in West Coast rap’s 1990s ascent. Along with Snoop Dogg and Nate Dogg, he formed the hip-hop trio 213, named for Long Beach’s area code. A pioneer of G-funk, he attained mainstream success with the 1994 single “Regulate”, a duet with Nate Dogg.

The younger stepbrother of rapper Dr. Dre, he introduced him to Snoop Dogg, who was later signed by him. His debut album, Regulate… G Funk Era, debuted at #2 on the US Billboard 200 chart, selling 176,000 in its opening week. The album later went on the sell over 3 million copies in the US and was certified 3x multi-platinum.

3. Nate Dogg

Nathaniel Dwayne Hale, known professionally as Nate Dogg, was an American singer and rapper. He gained recognition for providing guest vocals for a multitude of hit rap songs between 1992 and 2007, earning the nickname “King of Hooks”.

Nate Dogg also was notably featured on Dr. Dre’s “The Next Episode” and Eminem’s “‘Till I Collapse”. In addition to his guest work, Nate Dogg released three studio albums, as well as a string of moderately successful singles of his own in the 1990s.

4. Crooked I

Dominick Antron Wickliffe,  better known by his stage names Crooked I and Kxng Crooked, is an American rapper from Long Beach, California. He is best known as a former member of the hip hop supergroup Slaughterhouse with other members Joe Budden, Joell Ortiz and Royce da 5’9″. He is CEO of his own record labels, Dynasty Entertainment and C.O.B. Digital as well as Senior Vice President of Treacherous Records.

5. Jenni Rivera

Jenni Rivera. Photo by Julio Enriquez. Wikimedia Commons.

Dolores Janney “Jenni” Rivera Saavedra was an American singer known for her work within the Regional Mexican music genre, specifically in the styles of Banda, Mariachi and Norteño.

In life and death, several media outlets including CNN, Billboard, Fox News, and The New York Times have labeled her the most important female figure and top-selling female artist in Regional Mexican music. Billboard magazine named her the “top Latin artist of 2013”, and the “best selling Latin artist of 2013”.

6. Michelle Phillips

Michelle Gilliam Phillips is an American singer, songwriter, actress, and model. She rose to fame as a vocalist in the musical quartet the Mamas and the Papas in the mid-1960s. Her voice was described by Time magazine as the “purest soprano in pop music”.

She later established a successful career as an actress in film and television from the 1970s onwards. While working as a model in San Francisco, she met and married John Phillips in 1962 and went on to co-found the vocal group the Mamas and the Papas in 1965. The band rose to fame with their popular singles “California Dreamin'” and “Creeque Alley”, both of which she co-wrote.

7. Greg Laswell

Greg Laswell. Photo by Christian Reed. Wikimedia Commons.

Greg Laswell is an American musician, recording engineer, and record producer from San Diego, California. He attended high school at Valley Christian High School in Cerritos, California.

He has released 7 studio albums: Good Movie in 2003, Through Toledo in 2006, Three Flights from Alto Nido in 2008, Take a Bow in 2010, Landline in 2012, I Was Going to be an Astronaut in 2014, Everyone Thinks I Dodged A Bullet in 2016, and Next Time in 2018, as well as several EPs and special singles. Many of his songs have been featured in films and television shows.

8. Zack De La Rocha

Zacharias Manuel de la Rocha is an American musician, singer, songwriter, rapper, and political activist. He is best known as the vocalist and lyricist of the rock band Rage Against the Machine.

Through both Rage Against the Machine and his activism, de la Rocha promotes left-wing politics in opposition to corporate America, the military-industrial complex and alleged government oppression.

9. Jonathan ‘Lil J’ McDaniel

Jonathan Richard McDaniel better known by his stage name Lil J, is an American actor and rapper. He is best known for his role as Devon Carter (Raven Baxter’s boyfriend, and later ex-husband) on the hit Disney Channel shows That’s So Raven and Raven’s Home, as well as German Vega on BET’s Hit the Floor.

In 2002, he came on the music scene with his debut single “It’s the Weekend” from his debut album All About J. He later released a follow-up album the next year titled Back 2 J, which featured the single “Baby Girl”.

10. Spike Jones

Spike Jones. Photo by Unknown Author. Wikimedia Commons.

Lindley Armstrong “Spike” Jones was an American musician and bandleader specializing in spoof arrangements of popular songs and classical music. Ballads receiving the Jones treatment were punctuated with gunshots, whistles, cowbells, hiccups, burps, and outlandish and comedic vocals.

Jones and his band recorded under the title Spike Jones and His City Slickers from the early 1940s to the mid-1950s, and toured the United States and Canada as “The Musical Depreciation Revue”.