List of people with absolute pitch

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This is a list of notable people with absolute pitch, or "perfect pitch".

Contents

Note for pre-19th century composers

Owing to uncertainty in the historical record, it is often impossible to determine whether composers and musicians of the past had absolute pitch. Since absolute pitch is rare in European musical culture, [1] claims that any particular musician possessed it are difficult to evaluate. Among composers of the Baroque and Classical eras, evidence is available only for Mozart, who is documented to have demonstrated the ability at age 7. [1] Experts have only surmised that Beethoven had it, as indicated from some excerpts from his letters. By the 19th century, it became more common for the presence of absolute pitch to be recorded, such as in the case of Camille Saint-Saëns and John Philip Sousa.

List

Mariah Carey Mariah Carey WBLS 2018 Interview 2.jpg
Mariah Carey
Kirsten Flagstad Madame Kirsten Flagstad, Norwegian soprano "The Home" August 1938.jpg
Kirsten Flagstad
Whitney Houston Whitney Houston (cropped3).JPEG
Whitney Houston
Michael Jackson Michael Jackson in 1988.jpg
Michael Jackson
Persons with absolute pitch
NameYear of birthYear of deathDescription
Bill Bailey [2] 1965(living)British comedian, musician and actor
Ludwig van Beethoven [3] 17701827German composer and pianist
Joshua Bell [4] 1967(living)American violinist and conductor
Nikolai Bernstein [5] 18961966Russian scientist
Mariah Carey [3] [6] [7] 1969(living)American singer, songwriter, actress, and record producer
Ray Charles [4] 19302004American musician
Frédéric Chopin [3] 18101849Polish composer and pianist
Jacob Collier [8] [9] 1994(living)English singer, composer and producer
Celine Dion [10] 1968(living)Canadian singer
Ella Fitzgerald [11] 19171996American jazz singer
Kirsten Flagstad [12] 18951962Norwegian opera singer
David Foster [13] 1949(living)Canadian musician, producer
Charly García [14] [15] 1951(living)Argentine singer-songwriter, musician and record producer
Glenn Gould [16] 19321982Canadian classical pianist
Jascha Heifetz [17] 19011987Russian-American violinist
Whitney Houston [18] 19632012American singer and actress
Michael Jackson [3] 19582009American singer, songwriter and dancer
James P. Johnson [19] 18941955American pianist and composer
Scott Joplin [20] 18681917American composer and pianist
Carole King [21] 1942(living)American singer, songwriter, and musician
Dimash Kudaibergen [22] 1994(living)Kazakh singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist
W. A. Mozart [23] [3] 17561791Austrian composer
Frederick Ouseley [24] 18251889English musician, professor
Derek Paravicini [25] 1979(living)British pianist, musical savant
Itzhak Perlman [4] 1945(living)Israeli-American violinist
Lucky Peterson [26] 19642020American musician
Oscar Peterson [27] 19252007Canadian jazz pianist
Charlie Puth [28] [29] 1991(living)American singer, songwriter, and record producer
Sviatoslav Richter [4] 19151997Russian classical pianist
Arthur Rubinstein [4] 18871982Polish-American pianist
Jordan Rudess [30] 1956(living)American keyboardist for Dream Theater
Lea Salonga [31] [32] 1971(living)Filipina singer, actress, producer, and columnist
Sheryn Regis [33] [34] 1979(living)Filipina singer, actress, host
Artur Schnabel [35] 18821951Austrian-American classical pianist
James Scott [36] 18851938American ragtime composer
Art Tatum [4] 19091956American jazz pianist
Arturo Toscanini [4] 18671957Italian conductor
Brian Wilson [37] 1942(living)American musician, singer, songwriter, record producer, and co-founder of the Beach Boys
Stevie Wonder [4] 1950(living)American musician
Yo-Yo Ma [38] 1955(living)American cellist

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References

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