- Born
- Died
- Birth nameLionel Leo Hampton
- Nickname
- The Gates of Swing
- Lionel Hampton is an American jazz vibraphonist, pianist, percussionist, and bandleader.
Hampton was born in Louisville, Kentucky and was raised by his grandmother. In the 1920s, he took xylophone lessons and began playing drums and later flute and percussion at Holy Rosary Academy near Chicago. Lionel Hampton mastered percussion instruments at school, then switched to timpani and marimba in a youth military orchestra.
Hampton worked with jazz musicians from Teddy Wilson, Benny Goodman, and Buddy Rich to Charlie Parker, Charles Mingus, and Quincy Jones. In 1992, he was inducted into the Alabama Jazz Hall of Fame, and was awarded the National Medal of Arts in 1996.- IMDb mini biography by: Tango Papa
- SpouseGladys Neal Riddle(November 11, 1936 - April 29, 1971) (her death)
- Ability to play multiple instruments in a single show
- Was injured in a band bus crash in October 1955 and sidelined for several months.
- Hampton received his first basic training in military drumming from a Dominican nun at Holy Rosary Academy at Collins, Wisconsin. His uncle Richard Morgan, a bootlegger, bought him his first drum kit and encouraged him to become a musician. Hampton first played drums for Major N. Clark Smith's Chicago Defender Newsboys Band. He subsequently received tuition on xylophone from his idol, the Mississippi musician Jimmy Bertrand (1900-1960).
- Served on the New York City Human Right Commission.
- Helped fund low-income housing, music scholarships and departments.
- Suffered a stroke on March 31, 1995.
- Gratitude is when memory is stored in the heart and not in the mind.
Contribute to this page
Suggest an edit or add missing content