The following contains a list of notable alumni of Berklee College of Music. Members of this list have attended Berklee for at least one full-time semester (not including honorary degrees or summer programs) and are notable in their respective field in the music industry. Some list members may have achieved notability in the entertainment industry unrelated to music, or may be notable for achievements not related to music or entertainment.
* Designates did not complete degree/diploma program. In parentheses is year of graduation.
141 alums have won 332 Grammy awards. [1]
Melissa Lou Etheridge is an American singer, songwriter, musician, and guitarist. Her eponymous debut album was released in 1988 and became an underground success. It peaked at No. 22 on the Billboard 200 and its lead single, "Bring Me Some Water", garnered Etheridge her first Grammy Award nomination for Best Rock Vocal Performance, Female in 1989. Her second album, Brave and Crazy, appeared that same year and earned Etheridge two more Grammy nominations. In 1992, Etheridge released her third album, Never Enough, and its lead single, "Ain't It Heavy", won Etheridge her first Grammy Award.
John Scofield is an American guitarist and composer. His music over a long career has blended jazz, jazz fusion, funk, blues, soul and rock. He first came to mainstream attention as part of the band of Miles Davis; he has toured and recorded with many prominent jazz artists including saxophonists Eddie Harris, Dave Liebman, Joe Henderson, and Joe Lovano; keyboardists George Duke, Joey DeFrancesco, Herbie Hancock, Larry Goldings, and Robert Glasper; fellow guitarists Pat Metheny, John Abercrombie, Pat Martino, and Bill Frisell; bassists Marc Johnson and Jaco Pastorius; and drummers Billy Cobham and Dennis Chambers. Outside the world of jazz, he has collaborated with Phil Lesh, Mavis Staples, John Mayer, Medeski Martin & Wood, and Gov't Mule.
The Berklee College of Music is a private music college in Boston, Massachusetts. It is the largest independent college of contemporary music in the world. Known for the study of jazz and modern American music, it also offers college-level courses in a wide range of contemporary and historic styles, including rock, hip hop, reggae, salsa, heavy metal and bluegrass.
Joseph Salvatore Lovano is an American jazz multi-instrumentalist. Though best known as a tenor saxophonist, Lovano has also recorded on alto clarinet, flute and drums, amongst other instruments. He has earned a Grammy Award and several mentions in Down Beat magazine's critics' & readers' polls. His wife is singer Judi Silvano, with whom he records and performs. Lovano was a longtime member of the late drummer Paul Motian‘s trio alongside guitarist Bill Frisell.
Kenny Garrett is an American post-bop jazz musician and composer who gained recognition in his youth as a member of the Duke Ellington Orchestra and for his time with Miles Davis's band. His primary instruments are alto and soprano saxophone and flute. Since 1985, he has pursued a solo career.
Susan Tedeschi is an American singer and guitarist. A multiple Grammy Award nominee, she is a member of the Tedeschi Trucks Band, a conglomeration of her band, her husband Derek Trucks's band, and other musicians.
Patrice Louise Rushen is an American jazz pianist, R&B singer, record producer, multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, and music director.
Danilo Pérez is a Panamanian pianist, composer, educator, and a social activist.
Miguel Zenón is a Puerto Rican alto saxophonist, composer, band leader, music producer, and educator. He is a Grammy Award winner, the recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship, a MacArthur Fellowship, and a Doris Duke Artist Award. He also holds an Honorary Doctorate Degree in the Arts from Universidad del Sagrado Corazón. Zenón has released many albums as a band leader and appeared on over 100 recordings as a sideman.
Chief Xian aTunde Adjuah is an American jazz trumpeter, multi-instrumentalist, composer, and producer.
Alex Lacamoire is a Cuban-American composer, arranger, conductor, musical director, music copyist, and orchestrator who has worked on many shows both on and off-Broadway. He is the recipient of multiple Tony and Grammy Awards for his work on shows such as In the Heights (2008), Hamilton (2016), and Dear Evan Hansen (2017). Lacamoire was awarded the Kennedy Center Honor in 2018.
Tia Fuller is an American saxophonist, composer, and educator, and a member of the all-female band touring with Beyoncé. Fuller is currently a faculty member in the ensembles department at Berklee College of Music. Fuller was a Featured Jazz Musician in Pixar's animated film Soul. For the film Fuller plays an alto saxophone with a Vandoren mouthpiece for the character Dorothea Williams. The appearance of Dorothea Williams is influenced by Fuller, and the character's speaking lines are voiced by Angela Bassett.
Jeffrey Nath Bhasker is an American record producer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist based in Los Angeles. He won the Grammy Award for Producer of the Year in 2016 and was nominated for the award in 2013.
Charlie Colin was an American musician. He was the bassist for the rock band Train, of which he was a founding member. He also played guitar and provided background vocals for many other bands after his departure from the group in 2003.
Charles Otto Puth Jr. is an American singer-songwriter. His initial exposure came through the viral success of his song covers uploaded to YouTube. Puth signed with the record label eleveneleven in 2011 after performing on The Ellen DeGeneres Show, during which he contributed songwriting and production work for other artists.
Paul Boutin is a French-born American music mixer, audio engineer and a long-time collaborator with producer/songwriter/artist Kenneth "Babyface" Edmonds.
Richard Oliver Furch is an American music engineer, mixer, and pianist. He has worked with many prominent names in music, including: Usher, Prince, Boyz II Men, Macy Gray, Ruben Studdard, Chaka Khan, India.Arie, and Tyrese, as well as Chinese recording artists, JJ Lin, Tanya Chua, Wang Leehom, Jolin Tsai, and G.E.M. amongst many others.
Marianella Rojas, known as Nella, is a Venezuelan singer, originally from Porlamar, Margarita Island, Venezuela.
Brent Kolatalo is an American mixer, record producer, engineer and songwriter based in New York City. Kolatalo has worked with numerous artists and musicians, including Kanye West, Jay-Z, Eminem, Drake, Bruno Mars, X Ambassadors, Future, Chris Webby, Ella Henderson, Taylor Swift, Lorde, OneRepublic, Lady Gaga and Lana Del Rey among others.
Roopam Garg is an American musician, guitarist and composer. He is known for his idiosyncratic work with the guitar and in ambient music, and has recorded and released several singles. Guitar World has described his work as "some of the most compelling orchestral guitar music around today".
On July 14, 2009, Berklee trombone principal Aubrey Logan won the prestigious Shure-Montreux Jazz Voice Competition in Switzerland
Chico Pinheiro entered the Berklee College of Music (Boston, Massachusetts) in 1996 on a scholarship, graduating in performance and arranging in 1998. He was given two awards: The professional Music Endowed Scholarship award and The William G. Leavitt Scholarship award.