Pop music: Artists who have famous fathers

Presley passed away in January of 2023 after a tumultuous life that included a couple of rather interesting choices for a spouse. She released three albums in her life, but Lisa Marie was always going to be stuck in the shadow of her father. He was, after all, Elvis Presley, arguably the biggest musician to ever live.

Country musicians are often prolific, and Roseanne follows in the footsteps of her dad Johnny Cash on that front. She has released 14 albums in her career and has won multiple Grammys as well. While Johnny is a legend of his genre, Roseanne is no slouch herself, clearly.

Sean and his half-brother Julian had a lot to deal with having John Lennon for a father, and Sean also has Yoko Ono for a mother, further complicating matters. Both Julian and Sean have released music, and Sean has also created film scores and produced music for other artists as well, including Lana Del Rey.

Harrison, son of Lennon’s fellow Beatle George, has spent a lot of his adult life bolstering the legacy of his father. However, he has made some of his own music as well. Dhani released three albums with the band Thenewno2 before releasing a solo album in 2017.

The Zappa brothers Ahmet and Dweezil were synonymous with one another for a while, and made a couple of albums together. Then, the two had a falling out related to the family trust left by their father Frank Zappa. Dweezil currently leads a tribute band to his father called Zappa Plays Zappa, six solo albums of his music as well.

So far, this has been a list of children who have not been able to surpass their iconic fathers as musicians. Now, though, we get to a musician who has had a better career than their dad, though Miley has never had a hit quite as big as “Achy-Breaky Heart.” However, Billy Ray Cyrus was basically a one-hit wonder, while Miley has had an extensive music career.

Willow doesn’t seem to be making music anymore, or maybe she is. Frankly, we never got too engaged in the music of Willow, given that she was a tween who seemed to mostly be getting music released because her dad was Will Smith. Hey, if Jaden got to have a movie career, it’s only fair Willow got to release hits like “Whip My Hair.”

The time of Robin Thicke has come and gone, with lawsuits and weird albums dedicated to his ex-wife what has been left behind. However, he was a successful musician for a bit there, and his dad was certainly famous. Alan Thicke was more famous as a sitcom actor, but he did write a couple of TV theme songs as well, including the “Diff’rent Strokes” theme.

King has been nominated for a few Grammys and has a top-10 hit to her name in “Ex’s and Oh’s.” She went with her mother’s last name, King, to avoid accusations of trading on her father’s fame. Her father, unexpectedly, is Rob Schneider, of “The Animal” and “The Hot Chick” fame.

Jones has won nine Grammys, though she is the kind of musical artist the Grammys seem to love. You know, kind of jazz adjacent. Her father’s music was more idiosyncratic, at least for an American audience. Jones’ dad is Ravi Shankar, the Indian sitarist who, yes, played with the Beatles.

Osbourne’s music career was born entirely out of the fame of her family, and their reality show. “The Osbournes” was a big hit for MTV, and it was largely built on the fame and personality of Ozzy Osbourne, the legendary musician. Kelly used the fame from that time to release two albums, both of which came out during the time “The Osbournes” were on the air.

Back when he was a kid, Romeo Miller was known as Lil’ Romeo, and he was a true star. Also, a solid basketball player, as he played for USC in college. Of course, he was helped by the fact he was signed as a kid to No Limit Records, which was founded by his father, the rapper Master P.

In the 1990s, Enrique was a huge success singing in Spanish, his native language. Then, he crossed over and became a hit with English-speaking audiences as well. Some have called Iglesias the “King of Latin Pop,” which is significant given who his father is. Julio Iglesias is one of the best-selling musical artists of all time, and he even has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

Remember the brief run of LMFAO? Hey, it was a time, and the duo was truly successful. You may know that Sky Blu was the nephew of Redfoo, but did you know Redfoo came from famous stock? Born Stefan Kendal Gordy, Redfoo is the son of Berry Gordy, the founder of Motown Records.

Yes, Bob Dylan is the father of Jakob, and Bob Dylan is a huge icon. We are going to lead off with that, because we want to shout out Jakob and his band The Wallflowers. They had some really good songs! “One Headlight” was truly catchy! Sure, Jakob may never be as successful as Bob, but he had a better musical career than most.

Given Eddie Van Halen’s dedication to his craft and ear for music, it’s not surprising that his son has shown a knack as well. He joined his father’s band as their new bass player in 2007, when he was all of 16 years old. Wolfgang then joined the metal band Tremonti as well, and after the passing of his father, Wolfie released his first solo album as Mammoth WVH, an album for which he played all the instruments. Oh, and his mom is Valerie Bertinelli, so that’s cool.

Nas is a living legend of hip hop, and his debut album “Illmatic” is still considered one of the best rap albums ever. What you may not know, though, is that his father was also a musician. Olu Dara Jones is a jazz musician who sings, plays guitar, and plays the cornet as well. His musical career ran from 1964 all the way until 2007. One of the albums he played on? “Illmatic” of course.

The son of the legendary Bob Marley, Ziggy released 10 albums with his band the Melody Makers. After they broke up, Ziggy has since released eight solo albums as well. Ziggy has cleaned up in the reggae categories at the Grammys, winning eight awards from that group.

Nancy had an enviable career as a singer, even if she was never going to become as big of a success as her father Frank. She had several hits, though Nancy is likely most synonymous with her massive song “These Boots Were Made for Walkin’,” an iconic piece of 1960s pop culture.

Hawke is better known as an actor than a musician, mostly thanks to “Stranger Things.” However, she indeed has released two albums, including one in 2022. Hawke is, arguably, also more famous for her parental lineage than her music, as she is the daughter of Ethan Hawke and Uma Thurman.