Why Are There Ads in Your Music?

Simple! Slacker Radio needs to pay your favorite artists.

Please disable your ad blocker or, better yet, upgrade to Radio Plus.

For only $3.99/month we'll remove all ads and give you unlimited song skips.

The music will continue in seconds.

Select to cast music to your TV or stereo

Your browser is not supported by the Slacker Radio web site.

Update your browser to the latest available version to use the Slacker Radio web site:

Google Chrome

Firefox

An error has occurred. Please check your username and password.

Need an account?

We'll start the music back up once
you go through this security check.

Have an account?

Feedback

Choose the Right Membership For You

Basic

FREE

Personalize your radio experience.
Choose from our hand-crafted stations
Skip up to 6 songs per hour/station
Listen on multiple devices
Create stations based on artists, albums, or songs
Personalize stations and save your preferences

current membership

Plus

$3.99/month

Personalized radio with no interruptions or limits.
Enjoy an ad-free experience
Skip unlimited songs
Download stations and shows to listen data-free on your mobile device
Customize ESPN Radio (a Slacker exclusive)
Hear maximum audio quality (320kbps)

current membership

Premium

$9.99/month

You're in total control of the ultimate listening experience.
Play thousands of songs and albums on-demand
Jump to the favorite parts of songs
Download playlists and albums and listen data-free on your mobile device
Create playlists from our massive library of songs
Along with all benefits of Plus membership

current membership

Message

Lionel Hampton

Top Related Artists

Biography

Lionel Hampton's first interest in music came with the xylophone which he learned from Jimmy Bertrand as a teenager. He changed his allegiances to the drums and played for the Chicago Defender Newsboys' Band. Relocating to California in 1927, Hampton found a spot playing drums for the Dixieland Blues-Blowers. This step opened many doors for Hampton and he began receiving offers to play with the likes of Paul Howard and Les Hite. Feeling the need to spread his wings he started to learn the vibraphone and when he received a personal request to play on two of Louis Armstrong's new songs, he ditched the drums for good to focus on his new-found love, the vibraphone. After playing for a while in the Benny Goodman Quartet (with Goodman, Teddy Wilson and Gene Krupa), Hampton made the decision to start his own band, and so was born the Lionel Hampton Orchestra. During the 1940s and '50s the Lionel Hampton Orchestra became one of the most popular and successful jazz bands, with their most well-known song 'Flying Home' in 1942 being credited with influencing the age of the rhythm and blues. As well as notching up hit records, the Lionel Hampton Orchestra was also the place where many great musicians found their feet. Through Hampton's tutelage, the likes of Wes Montgomery, Charles Mingus, Johnny Griffin, Dinah Washington and even Dizzy Gillespie all became renowned musicians in their own right. Into the 1960s when pop began to take over the airwaves, the Orchestra struggled to compete with record sales and found themselves reduced to playing the odd local jazz festival. In 1991 Hampton suffered a stroke whilst performing in Paris and his health gradually declined until heart failure finally took him in 2002.

Read All Read Less