21 iconic musical acts from the state of Texas

Before he was the king of Nashville, George Jones was a small-town boy from Colmesneil, a tiny East Texas town where he grew up in the Pentecostal church. He began his career as a radio DJ in Jasper when he was just a teen, then started recording music in Beaumont. The rest, as they say, is history. 

Born in Houston, Texas, there are few artists more closely associated with their home city than Beyonce Knowles. She launched her career with Destiny's Child in H-Town, and isn't afraid to represent her hometown in songs like "Drunk in Love" and "Pretty Hurts." 

Perhaps the most famous country star from the state, Willie Nelson was born in Abbott, Texas in 1933. Though he now spends a lot of time in Hawaii, Nelson still owns the sprawling Luck Ranch in Spicewood. 

Responsible in large part for bringing Tejano music to the maintream, Selena Quintanilla was born in Houston-area Lake Jackson and raised in Corpus Christi. Following her tragic murder in 1995, the city erected a statue of Quintanilla that is still visited by fans to this day. 

Born in Fort Worth, Townes Van Zandt's stunning songwriting influenced many of his contemporaries, including Willie Nelson and Merle Haggard, who recorded his song "Pancho and Lefty" to great success. 

In 1943, blues-rock icon Janis Joplin was born in Port Arthur, Texas. She attended the University of Texas and recorded her first songs while studying there, just before she hit the road to San Francisco to begin her career as one of the most influential artists of the 1960s. 

Formed in 1981 in Arlington, Texas, Pantera is one of metal's most legendary acts. And despite the tragic death of guitarist "Dimebag" Darrell Abbott, who was murdered on stage in 2004 as he played with his band Damageplan, Pantera's popularity lives on in the hearts of metalheads in Texas and beyond. 

Before she won the first season of American Idol, Kelly Clarkson was a standout choir student at her high school in Burleson, Texas. Clarkson later moved to California to pursue her showbiz dreams, but made her way back to her hometown just in time to audition for Idol, and the rest is history. 

Widely regarded among the most legendary blues guitarists, Stevie Ray Vaughan was a staple of the Texas music scene. He played his first shows in Dallas, where he was born and grew up, then headed to Austin, a.k.a. the Live Music Capital of the World. 

Born in Dallas, Erykah Badu got her big break opening for fellow R&B icon D'Angelo at a Fort Worth venue in 1994. From there, she's gone on to be one of the genre's most influential artists, and is still a regular presence in the Big D. 

Born in 1938 in Houston, Kenny Rogers attended the University of Houston before he started pursuing his dream of becoming a musician. Like many artists, Rogers headed out to California, where he found massive success as a songwriter, singer, and actor. 

Waylon Jennings was born in 1937 in the tiny West Texas town of Littlefield, and is so Texan that his very first band was called the Texas Longhorns. His storied career as one of the founders of outlaw country earned him a spot in the Texas Country Music Hall of Fame in 1999. 

The legendary bearded trio of Billy Gibbons, Dusty Hill, and Frank Beard got its start in Houston in the late 1960s, and "that little ol' band from Texas" has been rocking with songs like "Legs," and "La Grange" — named for a town in Texas — ever since. 

Though his career was tragically cut short when he died in a plane crash in 1959, Buddy Holly's influence has still played a major role in the state's musical history. Holly was born in Lubbock in 1936, and decided to strike out on his own as a musician after seeing Elvis Presley perform in the Hub City as a teenager. 

Though she was born in New York City, Norah Jones spent most of her childhood in the Dallas suburb of Grapevine. The daughter of legendary sitar player Ravi Shankar, Jones attended the prestigious jazz program at the University of North Texas before embarking on her wildly successful solo career. 

Formed in Dallas in 1989, The Chicks (formerly known as the Dixie Chicks) are Texas through and through. Frontwoman Natalie Maines is the daughter of legendary Texas musician Lloyd Maines, and sisters Martie Maguire and Emily Strayer have become honorary Texans over the past three decades. 

Demi Lovato's connection to Dallas began before she was even born — her mother was a Dallas Cowboys cheerleader — and she grew up in the city's suburbs until she got her first big role in Disney's "Camp Rock" in 2008. 

The velvet-voiced bass known for songs like "Can't Get Enough of Your Love Babe" might have grown up in California, but Texas can definitely claim Barry White as one of their own. He was born in Galveston, Texas in 1944, then moved to South Central Los Angeles as a child. 

Eagles frontman Don Henley was born in the small East Texas town of Gilmer, and attended college at both Stephen F. Austin State University in Nacogdoches and the University of North Texas in Denton. 

Born in Poteet and raised in Pearsall, George Strait is the definition of a small-town Texan. He went into the Army after high school and attended Texas State University before he decided to go all-in on music and start touring with the Ace in the Hole Band in the 1970s. 

Born Marvin Lee Aday, the artist who rose to fame as Meat Loaf is a Dallas native, and even claimed to have been at the city's Parkland Hospital when Jacqueline Kennedy arrived after the assassination of John F. Kennedy in 1963.