William Christopher Handy (November 16, 1873 – March 28, 1958) was an African American blues composer and musician, often known as "the Father of the Blues." Handy was born in Florence, AL. His major influence in music came from the nearby university, University of North Alabama, where he would sneak over to the campus to listen to the band as a child. W. C. Handy remains among the most influential of American songwriters.

Read more about W.C. Handy on Last.fm.

User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License and may also be available under the GNU FDL.