List of atheists (music)

Music

* Larry Adler (1914–2001): American musician, widely acknowledged as one of the world's most skilled harmonica players. ["I was among friends and family who packed a chapel at Golders Green crematorium on Friday to hear more than two hours of tributes to Larry Adler. In accordance with Larry's wishes - he was an inveterate atheist who refused to recognise the supernatural in any shape or form - there were no religious observances." Richard Ingrams, 'Larry Adler: brilliant musician, formidable campaigner', "The Observer", August 12, 2001, Observer News Pages, Pg. 24.]
* Roy Bailey (1935–): British socialist folk singer. ["I think of myself as a militant atheist and I never knew quite where Tony [Benn] was coming from on the religion side." [http://www.bennites.com/INTERVIEWWITHROYBAILEY.html The Writing on the Wall: An Interview with Roy Bailey] (accessed April 14, 2008).]
* Matthew Bellamy (1978–): British guitarist, pianist and vocalist with Muse. [From the March 2001 issue of Kerrang magazine: ""Being an atheist means you have to realise that when you die, that really is it. You've got to make the most of what you've got here and spread as much influence as you can. I believe that you only live through the influence that you spread, whether that means having a kid or making music."]
* Björk (1965–): Icelandic singer/song writer, composer and producer. ["If I get into trouble, there's no God or Allah to sort me out. I have to do it myself." [http://www.abc.se/~m8996/bjork/interviw/hotpress.html] ]
* David Bowie (1947–): English musician, actor, producer, arranger and audio engineer, active in five decades of rock music and frequently reinventing his music and image, and regarded as an influential innovator, particularly for his work through the 1970s. [" "I honestly believe that my initial questions haven't changed at all. There are far fewer of them these days, but they're really important. Questioning my spiritual life has always been germane to what I was writing. Always. It's because I'm not quite an atheist and it worries me. There's that little bit that holds on: Well, I'm almost an atheist. Give me a couple of months." [Laughs] " David Bowie interviewed by Anthony Decurtis in June 2003, ' [http://www.rollingstone.com/news/story/7378097/in_other_words_david_bowie In Other Words: David Bowie] ', "Rolling Stone".]
* Isaac Brock (1975–): American singer, guitarist, banjoist, and songwriter for the indie rock band Modest Mouse. [When asked "Do you still consider yourself an atheist?" Brock replies "Pretty much, but there are things that make me think...I'm 100 percent on the whole Christianity thing being a crock of shit..." [http://www.avclub.com/content/node/23015] ]
* Geoffrey Burgon (1941–): British composer notable for his television and film themes. ["Geoffrey Burgon [...] has declined a generous Hollywood offer to write the music for award-winning John Carpenter's remake of "The Thing", a 1950s horror film. An atheist with a remarkable feel for "church" music, Burgon tells me that time prevents his crossing the Atlantic; he is busy writing two operas [...] " Peter Watson, 'The Times Diary', "The Times", January 12, 1982; pg. 8; Issue 61129; col C. ]
* Henry Burstow (1826–1916): English shoemaker, singer and bellringer from Horsham, Sussex, best known for his vast repertoire of songs, many of which were collected in the folksong revival of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. ["Burstow was a fascinating man. A shoemaker by trade, he shared the radical and non-conformist attitudes of many who followed the gentle craft. His reading included Darwin and Lyle and he was a convinced atheist, this in spite of the fact that he was a well known church bell-ringer." Vic Gammon, Chairman of the Oral History Society, [http://www.mustrad.org.uk/articles/boney.htm 'The Grand Conversation: Napoleon and British Popular Balladry'] , March 26, 1999 (accessed May 2, 2008). ]
* Ferruccio Busoni (1866–1924): Italian composer, pianist, teacher of piano and composition, and conductor. ["Aside from his undisputed powers as composer, pianist and man of letters, Busoni was an enterprising (if sometimes erratic) conductor, a passionate bibliophile, a talented draughtsman and a bon vivant. Baptized into the Catholic church, he was at heart an atheist; a lucid commentator on world affairs, he remained politically uncommitted." Beaumont, Anthony: 'Busoni, Ferruccio (Dante Michelangelo Benvenuto)', "Grove Music Online" ed. L. Macy (accessed April 28, 2008), [http://www.grovemusic.com/] .]
* Vic Chesnutt (1964–): American singer-songwriter. ["Chesnutt's contrary nature was forged in isolation, in the backwoods of Pine County, Georgia. Though he loved the closeness of nature, and was loved by friends and parents, he found himself "at odds with the Protestant power structure". "I had a revelation that I was an atheist at a very early age," he remembers, "and I bumped up with these fuckers my whole time there. Sometimes it felt great to be at war with them. But I knew I needed to go somewhere else." " Nick Hasted interviewing Chesnutt, 'The Dark side of the Tune', "The Independent" (London), April 4, 2003, Features, Pg. 21.]
* Eddie Collins (a.k.a. Greydon Square) (19??–): African-American hip hop artist. ["Written, produced and recorded by Greydon Square, The Compton Effect fuses atheism, critical thinking, and rationality with hip hop to spread free-thought and education about the dangers of faith and religion. It's a giant step towards the enlightenment of urban culture's dependency on religious indoctrination. "This is music that transcends genres," says Greydon. "This is bigger than just hip hop, these are cultural issues that need to be addressed before humanity can safely take another evolutionary step. I am the minority of the minority, an African-American atheist, from a community that does not tolerate threats to the status quote unless it's based on religion. This album is the manifestation of the thought, research and education that has been used to free myself from the shackles of religion." " [http://www.greydonsquare.com/atheist_rapper_african_american_hip_hop_artist_shatters_stereotype_tackling_age_old_theological_positions_in_unique_form_of_rap Atheist Rapper - African American Hip-Hop Artist Shatters Stereotype Tackling Age Old Theological Positions in Unique Form of Rap] ', Greydon Square's website January 25, 2008; reposting [http://top40-charts.com/news.php?nid=33326 an article] from [http://www.top40-charts.com/ top40-charts.com] June 11, 2007. (Accessed June 23, 2008.)]
* Wayne Coyne (1961–): American lead singer, guitarist, and principal songwriter for the band The Flaming Lips. ["Coyne is a comically rationalist atheist ("I wish I did believe in God. It would be a great relief to think, 'God'll take care of it. God'll put gas in the car tomorrow'") who makes music that, for all its quirkiness and frivolity, is in its essence spiritually transcendental. [...] For an atheist, he has a touching faith in the power of song to ease our shared burden. "There's some comfort in saying, I'm joining this long line of humanity," he says. "We're all going to get in line and our parents will die and our friends will die but I'm in the line with you and you're in it with me and, for some reason, if we're in it together, it's better than doing it alone. That's why music is always going to save us." Neil McCormick interviewing Wayne Coyne, "Daily Telegraph", March 23, 2006, Features section: Music On Thursday, Pg. 23.]
* Justin Currie (1964–): Scottish singer and songwriter, best known as a founder member of Del Amitri. ["Currie isn't praying for salvation, either. Echoing recent bestsellers by Richard Dawkins and Christopher Hitchens, he finds organized religion "fascinating, intellectually, but completely redundant. So I'm an extreme atheist who also believes in human rights." " [http://www.examiner.com/a-1342859~Justin_Currie_on_a_roll.html Justin Currie on a roll] , "The Examiner", April 15, 2008 (accessed April 21, 2008).]
* Frederick Delius CH (1862–1934): Noted English composer. ["In the "Mass of Life" (1904–05) Delius testified to his atheism. With Cassirer's assistance, he selected the words from Nietzsche's prose-poem "Also sprach Zarathustra" [...] In music that touches extreme poles of physical energy and rapt contemplation, Delius celebrates the human 'Will' and the 'Individual', and the 'Eternal Recurrence of Nature'." Diana McVeagh, [http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/32775 'Delius, Frederick Theodor Albert (1862–1934)'] , "Oxford Dictionary of National Biography", Oxford University Press, 2004 (accessed May 2, 2008).]
* King Diamond (1956–): Danish heavy metal singer [ [http://www.heavymetal.dk/interviews_view.php?id=101 heavymetal.dk - metal på den hårde måde] ]
* Ian "Dicko" Dickson (1963–): English-born music industry and television personality in Australia, best known as a judge on the television shows Australian Idol and The Next Great American Band. ["I have developed a spirituality which I suppose you could call metaphysics or science of mind - nothing to do with Scientology, I hasten to add. It's something that was developed by a guy called Ernest Holmes, and it's about the law of the universe, the law of attraction. It's all that stuff that's been popular on The Secret but there's far more to it than that. I'm an atheist but I've got a spirituality I can fall back on. I don't like religion because I see it as a bureaucracy of faith and I've never really been big on bureaucracy." Ian Dickson interviewed by Bridget McManus, ' [http://www.theage.com.au/news/tv--radio/addicted-to-fame/2007/08/01/1185647908623.html?page=fullpage#contentSwap2 Back to where he once belonged] ', "The Age" (Australia), August 2, 2007 (accessed May 22, 2008).]
* Ani DiFranco (1970–): Singer, guitarist, and songwriter. ["I'm an atheist, for Chrissake!" cite web |url=http://www.pioneerplanet.com/justgo/music/0313walsh.htm |title=Question: Do DiFranco and Brown have all the answers? |archiveurl=http://web.archive.org/web/20010825152325/http://www.pioneerplanet.com/justgo/music/0313walsh.htm |archivedate=2001-08-25, 2000 interview with DiFranco by Jim Walsh, "Pioneer Planet" (Archived August 25, 2001)]
* Beth Ditto (1981–): American vocalist with the band Gossip. [" "Southern life really was God-fearing. Granny Ditto was a strict Pentecostal, with hair down to her knees. I said in an interview not long ago that I didn't believe in God, and people called my mother saying, 'How do you feel about Beth being an atheist?'" She realised she was gay when she was only five years old. "I loved the sound of women's voices, not those of guys. I would pray because I didn't want to go to hell." She's not joking; her eyes fill with tears. "In my teens, my motor skills quit, I was shaking all the time." Did her pubic hair really turn white? "Yes. In fact, it's still half white!" A revelation about her atheism, at 19, saved Ditto from her fate. "I realised that every 2,000 years, there's a religion that happens to rule, and Christianity is just today's religion," she says." Jane Bussman interviewing Ditto, 'Queen Beth', "The Sunday Times" (London), February 4, 2007, Features; Style; Pg. 10.]
* Brian Eno (1948–): English electronic musician, music theorist and record producer, known as the father of modern ambient music. ["The ecumenical echoes are no accident. Eno describes himself as an "evangelical atheist", and has spoken of his intent to create a space in which one could have "secular spiritual experiences"." James Flint, 'This 'art for airports' is merely screen deep', "Daily Telegraph", February 2, 2007, Features: Film on Friday, Pg. 32.]
* Fenriz (1971–): Norwegian drummer and lyricist for the two-piece black metal band Darkthrone. ["For meg har aldri opprøret vært greia. Det har heller handlet om en slags ateistisk vind-i-håret-frihet og kritikk av organisert religion." [http://www.nytid.no/?id=4050] retrieved January 15, 2008]
* Liam Gallagher, (1972–): Lead singer for Oasis, younger brother of Noel Gallagher. [ [http://www.atheistalliance.org/aaw/atheistmusicians_ftom.html Atheist Musicians F to M ] ]
* Noel Gallagher, (1967–): Lead guitarist for Oasis, older brother of Liam Gallagher. [The hard-living Oasis star Noel Gallagher has revealed to the New Musical Express that he has read Richard Dawkins’ book "The God Delusion" and loved it "Anything that disproves God, bring it on". [http://www.secularism.org.uk/comingoutasatheistnoelgallaghera.html] ]
* Bob Geldof, (1951–): Irish singer/songwriter, organized the Live Aid and Live 8 charity concerts. ["Mr Geldof said that as an atheist he was not going along with this "if you like fundamental Christian agenda". " [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/5384564.stm] ]
* David Gilmour CBE (1946–): English guitarist, songwriter and vocalist of Pink Floyd. [From Newsday, published March 30, 2006: "I'm an atheist, and I don't have any belief in an afterlife..."] ["The theme of the new album - those Pink Floyd habits die hard - is mortality. One song, 'This Heaven', reflects Gilmour's atheism. 'There is an element of contended resignation in that song. It extols the virtues of living in the moment and accepting your mortality. Perhaps the closest I will get to immortality will be through Dark Side of the Moon. I think that record will go on being played for a while yet.' " Nigel Farndale interviewing Gilmour, 'Still on the dark side', "The Sunday Telegraph" (London), May 28, 2006, Section Seven, Pg. 8.]
* Dave Godin (1936–2004): English champion of African-American music who coined the term 'Northern soul'. ["There was more to Godin than a love of music, however. A militant atheist, a conscientious objector who argued his way out of national service, a vegetarian from the age of 14, a campaigner against cruelty to animals and cinema censorship, he abhorred violence and believed in fairness in all areas of human conduct." Richard Williams, 'Obituary: Dave Godin', "The Guardian", October 20, 2004, Pg. 27.]
* Greg Graffin (1964–): Lead singer of the punk rock band Bad Religion. Received his zoology PhD with the thesis "Monism, Atheism and the Naturalist Worldview: Perspectives from Evolutionary Biology". ['Graffin is a smart, proud atheist...'—Kinsella, Warren (January 2007), [http://www.anglicanjournal.com/culture/books/041/article/the-punk-and-the-professor-and-what-they-say-about-god/ The punk and the professor and what they say about God] , "Anglican Journal". Retrieved August 9, 2007.] [' [Graffin] describes himself as a naturalist, which to him means someone who holds that the natural world is all there is. "If you can believe in God, then you can believe in anything," he says. "It's a gang mentality."'—Olson, Steve (November 2006), [http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/14.11/faces1.html Faces of the New Atheism: The Punk Rocker] , "Wired News", Condé Nast Publishing. Retrieved November 15, 2007.]
* Kathleen Hanna (1968–): Lead singer of Le Tigre. ["I don't believe in God, but I believe God invented four-tracks". Kathleen Hanna, interviewed at cite web |url=http://www.sfbg.com/AandE/32/49/julie.html |title=SFBG Arts and Entertainment: September 9, 1998: Woman vs. rock |archiveurl=http://web.archive.org/web/19990429161215/http://www.sfbg.com/AandE/32/49/julie.html |archivedate=1999-04-29]
* Roy Harper (1941–): English rock / folk singer-songwriter and guitarist, known for his longtime associations with Jimmy Page and Robert Plant and for his guest lead vocals on Pink Floyd's song 'Have a Cigar'. ["Standouts in the first half included "Frozen Moment" and a recent, vehemently anti-war and anti-religion, epic, "The Death of God". This he prefaced with an atheist polemic that drew cheers from some but resolute silence from others. He also did the notorious ditty "Watford Gap", a much more focused attack, this time on 1970s motorway food." Simon Hardeman reviewing a Harper performance at London's 100 Club, "The Independent" (London), January 24, 2006, Features, Pg. 43.]
* Paul Heaton (1962–): English singer-songwriter, leading member of The Housemartins and The Beautiful South. ["Paul Heaton, frontman of the hugely successful Beautiful South and founder member of the iconic 80s band the Housemartins, discusses the inspiration behind his lyrics, speaks candidly about his atheist views and reviews a TV exclusive demo from his first ever band Tools Down." [http://www.trilt.ac.uk/ TRILT] : 'Faith and Music, ITV1 (various regions), Monday 30 Oct 06, 00:15 (50 mins)' (accessed May 22, 2008).]
* Anthony Heilbut (19??–): American record producer of gospel music and writer, a Grammy Award winner and noted for his biography of Thomas Mann. ["People are amazed that a German Jewish atheist would be supposedly the world's expert on gospel music." Anthony Heilbut interviewed by Barney Hoskyns, 'The gospel according to Anthony', "The Independent" (London), June 24, 1996, Arts; Pg. 26.]
* Mick Jagger Kt (1943–): Golden Globe-winning and two-time Grammy-winning English rock musician, actor, songwriter, record and film producer and businessman, best known as the lead vocalist and frontman of The Rolling Stones. ["Like most English people I'm not a great believer. I've read Richard Dawkins' book and it's very persuasive. I'm more in awe of the universe and that's not really a belief in God. It's a belief in something. I don't have belief in the Holy Book. I don't think many English people do. My parents' generation weren't religious either. They were the rebels." Mick Jagger, interviewed by David Lister, ' [http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/features/mick-jagger-why-he-likes-hard-work-and-thinks-his-parents-generation-were-the-real-rebels-464742.html Mick Jagger: Why he likes hard work and thinks his parents' generation were the real rebels] ', "Independent", September 28, 2007 (accessed July 15, 2008). (The Richard Dawkins book on the subject is "The God Delusion".)]
* Leoš Janáček (1854–1928): Czech composer, famous for his Glagolitic Mass. [Reviewing a recording of the Glagolitic Mass, John Allison wrote: "Sacred music may have lost some of its importance over the last century or so, but more cynical times have not discouraged composers completely. Even atheist composers, among whom Janácek is a good example, have taken to the genre, though his celebrated Glagolitic Mass is more of a national than religious statement." "Sunday Telegraph", April 2, 2006, Section 7, Classical, Pg. 29.]
* Stephan Jenkins (1964—): Musician, lead singer for the American rock band, Third Eye Blind. [Jenkins has expressed that he does not believe in God and that he thinks "religion is a bunch of hooey." December 16, 2000 AP report on the 'Jingle Ball' at New York City's Madison Square Garden by Jennifer Vineyard, as cited by [http://www.celebatheists.com/index.php?title=Stephan_Jenkins celebatheists.com] .]
* Alex Kapranos (1972–): Lead singer of Scottish band Franz Ferdinand. ["'Atheist or believer?' 'Atheist.'" [http://tmcq.co.uk/interviews/alex-kapranos/] , "The Mind's Construction Quarterly", (accessed May 4, 2008)]
* Linton Kwesi Johnson (1952–): British-based dub poet. ["as an atheist, 'I [Johnson] couldn't reconcile myself to the idea that Haile Selassie was God.'" [http://books.guardian.co.uk/poetry/features/0,,2263404,00.html 'I did my own thing'] , "Guardian Books", March 8, 2008 (accessed March 31, 2008)]
* Lemmy (1945–): English rock singer and bass guitarist, most famous for founding the rock band Motörhead. [ "I'm an atheist and an anarchist"—cite web | last = Eddy | first = Chuck | title = Damage Case: Lemmy and Motörhead | work = Motörhead Forever | date = 1997 | url = http://www.motorhead.ru/art11damagecase.htm]
*Till Lindemann (1963–): Lead singer of the German industrial metal band, Rammstein [Stated that he is an Atheist. [http://rammstein-europe.com/main.php?sekce=till-lindemann&l=en] ]
* Emcee Lynx (1980–): anarchist hip hop musician who identifies as potentially pantheist, agnostic or atheist. ["The closest word I’ve found to describe [my] belief system is Pantheism, but I could also call myself an agnostic (because I don’t claim to know if my own conception of divinity is ultimately true) or an atheist (because I believe that religions based around personified deities are definitely not true)."— [http://blog.circlealpha.com/?p=42 The Universe According to Lynx] (June 30, 2007), "Soundtrack for Insurrection", circlealpha.com. Retrieved October 21, 2007.]
* George Marshall-Hall (1862–1915): English-born Australian composer, conductor and professor of music. ["Opposed to pedantry, he spoke extravagantly of the power of emotive discipline—not a popular cause among strait-laced Melburnians; he expounded his socialist theories and declared his atheism." Maureen Thérèse Radic: ' [http://www.adb.online.anu.edu.au/biogs/A100412b.htm Marshall-Hall, George William Louis (1862 - 1915)] ', "Australian Dictionary of Biography", Online Edition (accessed July 16, 2008).]
* Sir Peter Maxwell Davies CBE (1934–): English composer and conductor, currently Master of the Queen's Music. [Interviewing Maxwell Davies, Ivan Hewett wrote: "An avant-gardist who uses ancient Christian chants, an atheist who's written pieces entitled Antichrist and Revelation and Fall - clearly there are tensions beneath that carefully controlled surface." 'A Life on the Edge', "Daily Telegraph", April 7, 2005, Features Pg. 015.]
* MC Chris (1975–): Underground hip-hop artist. ["she gave me a kiss every time i made her laugh and she hugged me extra tight when i said i was an atheist", [http://www.myspace.com/mcchris MySpace Blog] , July 29, 2008]
* George Melly (1926–2007): English jazz and blues singer, critic, writer and lecturer. [Interviewed by Nigel Farndale, Melly said: "I don't understand people panicking about death. It's inevitable. I'm an atheist; you'd think it would make it worse, but it doesn't. I've done quite a lot in the world, not necessarily of great significance, but I have done it." "Daily Telegraph", October 24, 2005, Features section, Pg. 023.]
* Napalm Death: grindcore/death metal band from Birmingham, England. All members hold atheistic outlooks. [Mark "Barney" Greenway writes regarding the album Smear Campaign: "People are also very supportive about the new album theme of atheism/free thought in a world being driven by aggressive religious mythology." [http://www.roadrun.com/blabbermouth.net/news.aspx?mode=Article&newsitemID=58867] [http://www.napalmdeath.org/plague/viewtopic.php?p=18902&sid=f1338c41d1c4bb99ac6a1f2443795ae5] ]
* Simon Napier-Bell (1939–): English music producer, songwriter, journalist and author, best known as manager of (among others) The Yardbirds, Marc Bolan, T. Rex and Wham!. ["Bob was arguing the point but Dick was having none of it. 'Look, I'm telling you. There'll be no fucking religion - not Christian, not Jewish, not Muslim. Nothing. For God's sake, man - you were born Jewish, which makes your religion money, doesn't it? So stick with it, for Christ's sake. I'm giving you 20 million bucks - it's like baptising you, like sending you to heaven. So what are you fucking moaning about? You want 20 million bucks from us? Well, you gotta do what we tell you. And what we're telling you is... No Torah! No Bible! No Koran! No Jesus! No God! No Allah! No fucking religion. It's going in the contract.' As a devout atheist, I could hardly object, though it seemed tough that a contract should include such specific restrictions." Simon Napier-Bell, 'The life and crimes of the music biz', "The Observer" (England), January 20, 2008, Observer Music Magazine, Pg. 41.]
* Gary Numan (1958—): British New Wave and industrial musician whose albums "Sacrifice" (1994), "Exile" (1997), "Pure" (2000), and "Jagged" (2006) mock and condemn religious beliefs. ["After writing "Sacrifice" I received a number of complaints about the religious imagery that I had started to use on that album. Some of the people complaining were so fiercely protective of their faith, that I tried to write material with more of a middle ground religiously speaking. The first song I wrote was about the dangers of blind faith. When I had looked at my own lack of faith, I had come up with the idea that God and the Devil might be the same thing. That being in Heaven or Hell was all a matter of prospective. By the time I got to the third song, it was obvious that the entire album was going to work along this theme. Oddly enough it was all sparked by the religious faithful who had complained to me about "Sacrifice". "Exile" to me is one big horror story. Personally. I don't believe in God at all, but if I'm wrong and there is a God, what kind of god would it be who would give us the world we live in? It certainly cannot be a good deity. At best God would have to be cruel, selfish, and he would have to have a huge ego. "Thou shalt not worship any other gods before me." That is just one huge ego trip." Gary Numan, ' [http://www.sonic-boom.com/interview/gary.numan.interview.html Interview with of Gary Numan] ', "Sonic Boom Magazine", May 16, 1998 (accessed July 30, 2008).]
* Alice Nutter (19??–): British singer and percussionist for Chumbawamba. ["Singer and atheist Alice Nutter, a Jewish student and an Anglican businessman each join a Muslim family in Bradford to experience Ramadan first hand, and through some hard conversations get a unique view of what it's like to be a Muslim in contemporary Britain." [http://www.trilt.ac.uk/ TRILT] : 'Fast Friends, BBC1, Sunday 14 Nov 04, 23:45 (35 mins)' (accessed May 22, 2008).]
*Andy Partridge (1953—): Member of English rock band XTC. ["...I don't believe in God..." From the essay "The Ballad of the Pumpkinheads: A Stratosphearic History of the Dukes of Swindon", by Riccardo Bertonce, as reported at [http://www.celebatheists.com/index.php?title=Andy_Partridge celebatheists.com] . (Accessed August 26, 2007)] ["Basically I don't believe in God." From an interview with Partridge in "The Limelight Annual", 1987, as reported at [http://www.celebatheists.com/index.php?title=Andy_Partridge celebatheists.com] . (Accessed August 26, 2007)]
*Guy Pratt (1962—): Session bassist, actor, comedian and radio DJ. ["...There is no God..." amongst many other more humorous anti-religious remarks broadcast on Planet Rock (radio station), July 20, 2008.]
*Marc Riley (19??—): British musician, alternative rock critic and radio DJ. ["The Bible made me an atheist." Marc Riley in response to the question "A book that changed me...", 'My Secret Life', "The Independent" (London), May 22, 2004, Features, Pg. 7.]
* Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov (1844–1908): Russian Nationalist composer, member of "The Five", best-known for the symphonic suite "Scheherazade". ["The Guardian" describes as "a devout atheist - Stravinsky later described him rather disapprovingly as having a mind 'closed to any religious or metaphysical idea'" [http://arts.guardian.co.uk/fridayreview/story/0,12102,1416434,00.html] ]
* Richard Rodgers (1902–1979): American composer of the music for more than 900 songs and 40 Broadway musicals, best known for his songwriting partnerships with the lyricists Lorenz Hart and Oscar Hammerstein II. [Rodgers' biographer William G Hyland states: "That Richard Rodgers would recall, at the very beginning of his memoirs, his great-grandmother's death and its religious significance for his family suggests his need to justify his own religious alienation. Richard became an atheist, and as a parent he resisted religious instruction for his children. According to his wife, Dorothy, he felt that religion was based on "fear" and contributed to "feelings of guilt." " "Richard Rodgers", Yale University Press 1998, ISBN 0300071159. [http://www.nytimes.com/books/first/h/hyland-rodgers.html Chapter 1] at "New York Times" Books (accessed April 30, 2008).]
*Ned Rorem (1923–): American composer [ quoted as saying "I'm an atheist" in interview for American Music Box [http://www.newmusicbox.org/article.nmbx?id=4621] ]
*Eric Sams (1926–2004): British musicologist and Shakespeare scholar. ["To these he brought the disciplines that had stood him in such good stead in music, most particularly the rejection of traditional beliefs unsupported by hard evidence. This also lay behind his own atheism." Andrew Lamb, [http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/93975 'Sams, Eric Sydney Charles (1926–2004)'] , "Oxford Dictionary of National Biography", online edition, Oxford University Press, January 2008 (accessed May 6, 2008).]
*Dmitri Shostakovich (1906–1975): Soviet composer, one of the greatest and most popular of the 20th century. [Laurel Fay, "Shostakovich: A Life" p. 263]
*Robert Smith (1959–): British musician, songwriter, singer and guitarist of the band The Cure. ["Smith, lead singer from the band The Cure, stated in a press conference in 1992: "I don't believe in god. I wish I did." A quote from a 1989 issue of The Face magazine [1] that further clarifies Smith's religious position: "....I used to lay myself open to visions of God, but I never had any. I come from a religious family, and there have been moments when I've felt the oneness of things, but they never last, they fade away, leaving me with the belief that it's only fear that drives people to religion. And I don't think I'm ever going to wake up and know that I was wrong."As of June 2007, the official Cure homepage also includes a link to http://www.the-brights.net/.]

*Wayne Static (1965–): Frontman for Industrial Metal band Static-X [ quoted saying that he is an atheist in an interview with concertlivewire.com [http://www.concertlivewire.com/interviews/staticx.htm] ]
*Richard Strauss (1864–1949): German composer of the late Romantic and early modern era, particularly noted for his tone poems and operas. ["Both composers celebrate the potential of music to contain the irrational in human experience, although in stance they are antithetical. Strauss, the atheist, examines the vagaries of desire and the human psyche. Mahler, the visionary, goes on a solitary quest to find his God." Tim Ashley, Review: Classical: LPO/Elder: Royal Festival Hall, London 5/5', "The Guardian", December 6, 2002, Pg. 22.]
*Tracey Thorn (1962–): English pop singer and songwriter, best known as one half of the duo Everything but the Girl. ["I've always been an atheist. We grew up in a village and I was like 'I'm not joining the Christian Youth Club'. Believing something that's unprovable is not how my mind works." Tracey Thorn, 'G2: Pieces of me: Tracey Thorn, Singer', "The Guardian", July 23, 2007, Features pages, Pg. 14.]
*Sir Michael Tippett OM (1905–1998): English composer, regarded as one of the greatest of the 20th century. ["He then went as a boarder to Stamford grammar school, Lincolnshire, where he was much happier, though still a notorious character largely on account of his now fully developed atheism. [...] He was cremated on January 15 at Hanworth crematorium, at an explicitly non-religious service." Geraint Lewis, [http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/69100 'Tippett, Sir Michael Kemp (1905–1998)'] , "Oxford Dictionary of National Biography", Oxford University Press, 2004 (accessed May 6, 2008).]
*Roger Waters (1943–): English rock musician; singer, bassist, guitarist, songwriter and composer, best known for his career with Pink Floyd. ["Please, God - I'm an atheist so maybe I shouldn't be asking God - but let Barack Obama finally win the Democratic nomination and elect a person who seems to be not just enormously intelligent but also deeply humane and seems to have an imagination." Roger Waters interviewed by Mark Brown, [http://blogs.rockymountainnews.com/rocky_mountain_music/2008/04/read_the_complete_roger_waters.html Rocky Mountain Music] , April 25, 2008 (accessed June 10, 2008).]
*Jerry Wexler (1917–2008): American music journalist and producer, regarded as one of the major record industry players behind music from the 1950's through the 1980's, coiner of the term Rhythm & Blues. ["The music business held a curious appeal to a man who had hitherto dreamed only of becoming the Jewish John O'Hara - and whose fiction had been published in Story magazine. It was dominated by Jews, and therefore exluded from Wasp high culture. "I was determined to use all my wit and courage to confound the Christian tormenters," Wexler says, referring to the "immanent anti-Semitism that existed then and exists now. It's like Dr John says, 'I don't want no one hangin' no jacket on me'." He is, in fact, a confirmed atheist of many years' standing." Barney Hoskyns interviewing Wexler, 'Crossing the divide', "The Independent" (London), May 30, 1993, Sunday Review Pages, Pg. 10.]
*Earl Wild (1915–): American classical pianist, considered a leading virtuoso of his generation. ["He is against pianists who express concentration by leaning their heads back with their eyes closed: "When you give a recital, God doesn't help you." (Wild claims to be an atheist largely for musical reasons, having at age ten asked his mother how there could be a God when the organist at their local church in Pittsburgh was so lousy.)" Leo Carey interviewing Wild, ' [http://www.newyorker.com/archive/2003/08/11/030811ta_talk_carey Wilding] ', "The New Yorker", August 11, 2003 (accessed June 10, 2008).]

Notes and references