List of people from Tennessee

The following is a list of prominent people who were born in the U.S. state of Tennessee, live in Tennessee, or for whom Tennessee is a significant part of their identity:

A

*Roy Acuff (1903–1992), musician; born in Maynardville
*Charlie Adams; drummer, percussionist, and drum engineer
*Mary Hampton Adaams (1914-1998) Seven Flavor Poundcake Queen
*James Agee (1909–1955); Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist, screenwriter, journalist, poet, and film critic; born in Knoxville
*The Aldridge Sisters, singing duo that appeared on The Lawrence Welk Show from 1977 to 1982
*Lamar Alexander (b. 1940), lawyer and U.S. Senator from Tennessee; born and raised in Maryville
*Duane Allman (1946–1971); guitarist; born in Nashville
*Gregg Allman (b. 1947); singer, keyboardist, guitarist, songwriter; born in Nashville
*William R. Anderson (1921-2007); naval officer and member of Congress; born in Humphreys County
*Lil Hardin Armstrong
*Victor Ashe
*Chet Atkins (1924–2001); guitarist and record producer; born in Luttrell

B

*DeFord Bailey
*Howard Baker
*George Franklin Barber
*William M. Bass
*Kathy Bates
*Kate Batts (a.k.a. The Bell Witch)
*Robin Beard
*John Bell
*Bill Belichick, New England Patriots Head Coach, born in Nashville
*Aaron Benward
*Polly Bergen
*William Blount
*Willie Blount
*Alexander Bonnyman, Jr.
*Arna W. Bontemps
*Pat Boone
*Rachel Boston
*Rod Brasfield
*Clarence Brown
*William Gannaway Brownlow
*James M. Buchanan, economist, Nobel laureate
*Frances Hodgson Burnett
*Kenneth C. Burns, "Jethro" of Homer and Jethro
*Charles Burson
*Jake Butcher
*Joseph W. Byrns

C

*Archie Campbell
*Guy Carawan
*Hattie Caraway
*Dixie Carter
*Kellye Cash
*Johnny Cash
*June Carter Cash
*Rosanne Cash
*David Catching
*John Catron
*Tracy Caulkins
*Gen. Benjamin F. Cheatham
*Doc Cheatham
*Kitty Cheatham
*Richard Boone Cheatham
*Richard Cheatham
*Kenny Chesney
*Philander P. Claxton
*Jim Clayton
*Frank G. Clement
*Fred Coe
*Lynnette Cole - Miss USA 2000
*Mark Collie
*Darby Conley
*David "Davy" Crockett
*Dixie Lee Crosby
*Edward Hull "Boss" Crump
*John Cullum
*Lowell Cunningham
*Billy Ray Cyrus
*Miley Cyrus, star of "Hannah Montana"

D

*Beauford Delaney
*George Roby Dempster
*Jamie Denton
*Bobby Dodd
*Shannen Doherty
*Andrew Jackson Donelson
*Aaron Douglas

E

*William Edmondson
*Ralph Emery
*Sleepy John Estes

F

*David Farragut
*Lester Flatt
*Ric Flair
*Shelby Foote
*Harold Ford, Jr.
*Tennessee Ernie Ford
*Nathan Bedford Forrest
*Abe Fortas
*Megan Fox
*Aretha Franklin
*Morgan Freeman
*Bill Frist
*Phillip Fulmer

G

*Nikki Giovanni
*Guilford Glazer
*Dr. Ernest W. Goodpasture
*Albert Gore, Jr., 45th Vice President of the United States, 1993-2001
*Albert Gore, Sr.
*Yo Gotti
*Lou Graham
*Red Grooms

H

*Alex Haley
*George Hamilton
*W.C. Handy
*George "Two Ton" Harris
*James Haslam Jr.
*Isaac Hayes
*Henry D. Haynes, "Homer" of Homer and Jethro
*Todd Helton
*Will Hoge
*Charles O. (Chad) Holliday
*John Jay Hooker
*Ed Hooper
*Myles Horton
*Sam Houston
*Thomas Hughes
*Cordell Hull
*Con Hunley
*Alberta Hunter
*Dennis Hwang

J

*Andrew Jackson, Seventh President of the United States, 1829-1837
*Howell Edmunds Jackson
*Quinton Jackson, The Current UFC Light Heavyweight Champion, (Born in Memphis)
*Samuel L. Jackson
*Claude Jarman Jr.
*William L. Jenkins, U.S. House of Representatives (R-TN-01), 1997-2007
*Michael Jeter
*Andrew Johnson, Seventeenth President of the United States, 1865-1869
*Cave Johnson
*Cherry Jones
*Jesse Holman Jones

K

*Estes Kefauver
*David Keith
*Adm. Frank B. Kelso
*Johnny Knoxville
*Joseph Wood Krutch

L

*Dan Landrum - Hammer dulcimer player
*Jerry "The King" Lawler
*Arthur Lee
*Michael Levine
*Sondra Locke
*Z. Alexander Looby
*Horace Lurton
*Andrew Lytle

M

*Jean (Faircloth) MacArthur
*"Uncle Dave" Macon
*Johnny Majors
*Delbert Mann
*Sterling Marlin - Two-time Daytona 500 winner
*Wink Martindale
*Matthew Fontaine Maury
*Cormac McCarthy
*Tim McCarver
*Michael McDonald
*Brownie McGhee
*Stick McGhee
*Kenneth McKellar
*Jon Meacham
*Helen Monday (aka Munday) (c. 1910 - 1987) - silent film actress ("Stark Love" 1927), Knoxville
*Chris Moneymaker - poker player from Knoxville
*Grace Moore
*Shelly Moore - Miss Teen USA 1997
*Mary Noailles Murfree

N

*Patricia Neal
*Lindsey Nelson
*Robert Neyland, UT Vols football coach and namesake for Neyland Stadium
*Alfred O. P. Nicholson
*Bishop James Daniel Niedergeses

O

*Oconostota
*Joe O'Donnell

P

*Bettie Page
*John Palmer, former NBC News correspondent
*Hermes Pan
*Cindy Parlow
*Hope Partlow
*Dolly Parton
*Minnie Pearl
*Carl Perkins
*James K. Polk, Eleventh President of the United States, 1845-1849
*Bishop Leonidas Polk
*Sarah Childress Polk, First Lady of the United States, wife of President James K. Polk
*Annie Potts
*Elvis Presley

Q

*Jimmy Quillen

R

*John Crow Ransom
*Sam Rayburn
*J.J. Redick
*B. Carroll Reece
*Florence Patton Reece (folk singer)
*Brad Renfro
*Grantland Rice
*Lee Roberson
*James Robertson
*Oscar Robertson
*John Ross
*Mason Rudolph
*Wilma Rudolph

*Christine Sadler
*Clarence Saunders
*John T. Scopes
*Josey Scott (lead singer of Saliva)
*Rhea Seddon
*Sequoyah
*John Sevier
*Cybill Shepherd
*William Shepherd
*Dinah Shore
*John Seigenthaler, Jr.
*John Seigenthaler, Sr.
*Benjamin "Pap" Singleton
*Bessie Smith
*Daniel Smith
*Rachel Smith - Miss USA 2007
*Bobby Sowell
*Steve Spurrier
*John M. Stone
*Thomas S. Stribling
*Pat Summitt
*Frank Sutton

T

*Roscoe Tanner
*Quentin Tarantino; movie director, actor, and screenwriter; born in Knoxville.
*Allen Tate
*Peter Taylor
*Three 6 Mafia
*Fred Dalton Thompson
*Justin Timberlake
*Tina Turner

U

*Usher

W

*Barbara Walker- Miss America 1947
*William Walker
*Darrell Waltrip
*Taylor Ware
*Cameron Watson, actor and director
*Robert Penn Warren
*Ida B. Wells
*Tina Wesson
*Hugh Lawson White
*Reggie White
*John S. Wilder
*Hayley Williams, (singer) lead vocals for Paramore (originally from Meridian, MS)
*Oprah Winfrey (originally from Mississippi)
*Reese Witherspoon

Y

*Alvin York, World War I soldier who captured 132 Germans almost single-handedly

Z

*Gen. Felix Kirk Zollicoffer