Who are the first families of music?

The Smith Family carved out a spot on this list despite the fact that most of its members are still pretty young, but patriarch Will Smith has four Grammys to his name, and that’s a solid base already. Daughter Willow Smith, born in 2000, launched her music career in 2010 with the wildly popular track “Whip My Hair,” which has since been followed numerous full-length albums. Jaden, born in 1998, also has several albums, a 5x platinum song, and a Grammy nomination to his name. And although he’s not nearly as famous, Will’s oldest son, Trey (bor 1992), is a DJ who has released a couple of EPs.

The Staple Singers own four Grammys (including a 2005 lifetime achievement award), more than a dozen appearances on the Billboard Hot 100 (including No. 1 songs “I’ll Take You There” and “Let’s Do It Again”), and a Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction in 1999. They were also one big family, as the lineup included patriarch Pops Staples, his son Pervis, and daughters Cleotha, Mavis, and Yvonne. Mavis also put together a very successful solo career as an R&B and gospel artist!

Although the seven musically talented Osmond siblings rarely played as a group, they are estimated to have collectively sold around 100 million records worldwide. Most of this fame came from Donny and Marie Osmond, who also had a successful stint as a duo (which included the TV show “Donny & Marie,” which aired from 1976-1979) and are also solo artists. It’s worth mentioning, however, that four of the Osmonds (Alan, Wayne, Merrill, and Jay) initially found fame before Donny and Marie embarked on their music careers, as the quartet were regulars for seven years on “The Andy Williams Show.” Most of the Osmonds continued to perform or otherwise work in music later in their lives, too!

Of course, this list has to include the wildly popular Isley Brothers. The group started as a trio consisting of brothers Rudolph, Ronald, and O’Kelly Isley Jr. in the late 1950s and later added brothers, Ernie and Marvin Isley, along with Rudolph’s brother-in-law, Chris Jasper. Best known for their hit songs “Shout” and “It’s Your Thing” and for first popularizing “Twist and Shout,” the Isley Brothers eventually won five Grammys (including a 2014 Lifetime Achievement Award), notched four Top-10 singles, and earned a Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction in 1992.

 When Rock and Roll Hall of Famers Sly and the Family Stone sang “Family Affair,” they really meant it. The group’s multitude of members included frontman Sly Stone, his brother Freddie Stone, sister Rosie Stone, sister Vet Stone (who also found a bit of fame with the band Little Sister), and contributions from cousin Moses Tyson, Jr., who spent most of his career as a moderately successful gospel musician. As for the following generation, Rosie Stone’s daughter performs in a Sly-produced band alongside her Aunt Vet, and Sly’s own daughter, Novena Carmel, was a member of the pop/hip-hop group Wallpaper. with Ricky Reed.

For the record: the real surname here was actually Stewart, not Stone - but hey, that’s showbiz.

The Everly Brothers have been credited for inspiring groups such as The Beatles, The Beach Boys, The Rolling Stones, Simon & Garfunkel, and the Bee Gees; they own 35 Billboard Top-100 singles; and they were one of the very first inductees to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. They were also real-life brothers who formed a duo after originally appearing as The Everly Family with their parents in the 1940s. Without The Everly Brothers, rock music never would have evolved the way it did, and the Grammys acknowledged this by giving them three honors, including a Lifetime Achievement Award in 1997.

Singer/songwriter Norah Jones has won nine Grammys, sold more than 50 million albums, and is the top jazz artist of the 21st century, yet most people don’t realize she is actually a second-generation musician. Her estranged father was Ravi Shankar, the world-renowned master sitar player and Indian musician who won five Grammys of his own and influenced bands such as The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, The Animals, and The Byrds. Additionally, Shankar’s other daughter is British-Indian sitar player and composer Anoushka Shankar (who owns a handful of Grammy nods herself) and his nephew was Bengali musician Ananda Shankar.

Forget the debate about whether David Lee Roth or Sammy Hagar was the better lead singer of Van Halen, because the true focus of the band should be the talented family at its core. (Besides, we all know Roth is better.) Van Halen was first formed in 1972 by brothers Eddie and Alex Van Halen, the sons of Dutch musician Jan Van Halen. After adding Roth and bassist Michael Anthony, the band found immense success in the hard rock genre, eventually selling more than 80 million records, earning the most No. 1 hits in the history of Billboard’s Mainstream Rock chart, and winning a Grammy. After Anthony departed in 2006, Eddie’s son Wolfgang took over on bass. Clearly, Wolfgang inherited some of those good Van Halen Family genes, as he is also a skilled musician who has played with Tremoni and his solo project, Mammoth WVH.

The music of rockers Heart has managed to stay the same for more than five decades thanks to founding members and sisters Ann and Nancy Wilson, who primarily sing and play guitar, respectively. To date, the band has received four Grammy nods, sold more than 35 million records worldwide, and had at least one Top-10 album on the Billboard charts in the 1970s, 1980s, 1990s, and 2010s. After waiting far too long, Heart, who is still actively touring, was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2013.

The Carter Family band is credited for not only contributing greatly to the genres of bluegrass, country, Southern gospel, rock, and pop music – and for being the first vocal group to become country music stars – but also for literally producing some future stars. The Carter Family was made up of Alvin “A.P.” Carter, his wife Sara Carter, and his sister-in-law Maybelle Carter, who was married to A.P.'s brother Ezra, and also happened to be Sara's first cousin. (Got all that?) The Carters’ five kids eventually joined the group, including June, who would eventually grow up and marry one Mr. Johnny Cash. As if that wasn’t enough, there’s also a third generation of about six Carter musicians – all of whom are either grandchildren of the original lineup or Cash’s children from other marriages. 

There will never be another Frank Sinatra – he of the perfect golden voice and striking blue eyes – but thankfully singing talent is at least partially hereditary. Sinatra’s oldest child, Nancy, is best known for her hit “These Boots Are Made for Walkin’” and released more than a dozen albums in all, most recently in 2013. His second child, Frank Jr., carried on his father’s legacy with a similarly smooth voice and style and found moderate success up until his death in 2016 at age 72. Sinatra’s youngest, Tina, is also a singer, as well as an actor and film producer.

Spanish singer and songwriter Julio Iglesias is one of the most popular Latin entertainers of all time. He has sold some 100 million records, had his music translated into at least 14 languages, won almost every major music award, and is estimated to have performed more than 5,000 concerts in a career spanning almost 50 years – and counting! He also fathered two successful musician sons, Enrique and Julio Jr. The former’s 11 studio albums, 160 million records sold, countless awards, and hits like “Bailamos” and “Hero” have propelled him to a level of superstardom that rivals his father’s. The latter has released a few albums himseld, won CMT’s “Gone Country” competition in 2008, and makes appearances on TV and at major music events all over the world.

Multi-platinum singer, songwriter, and actor Billy Ray Cyrus has made quite the splash with his 12 studio albums and 1992 smash-hit song “Achy Breaky Heart,” but to many music fans his biggest contribution was fathering daughter Miley Cyrus, a hugely successful multi-platinum singer, songwriter, and actor. Miley has had more Billboard 200 Top-5 albums than any female artist in the 21st century, received two Grammy nominations, and appeared on Time Magazine’s list of most influential people in 2008 and 2014. However, she isn’t Billy Ray’s only musically inclined offspring. Daughters Noah and Brandi, as well as son Trace, are also moderately successful musicians, with Noah earning her first Grammy nod in 2021.

The Allman Brothers original lineup of brothers Duane and Gregg Allman, Dickey Betts, Berry Oakley, Butch Trucks, and Jaimoe Johanson only lasted for two years before Duane was killed in a motorcycle accident at age 24, and dissolved completely only five years later. Still, the influence and importance of the band (who were induced into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1995) and that of the additional projects of Duane and Gregg can’t be denied. Duane was also a highly regarded session musician for Aretha Franklin, Wilson Pickett, King Curtis, Herbie Mann, and Derek and the Dominoes, and Gregg’s subsequent solo career earned him additional success and established him as one of the greatest vocalists of all time. Gregg's marriage to singer Cher also yielded son Elijah Blue Allman, who has worked with rockers 30 Seconds to Mars, Orgy, Coal Chamber, Korn, and Sugar Ray, and his marriage to Shelby Blackburn led to the birth of another future musician, daughter Layla Brooklyn Allman.

AC/DC's lineup changed over the years, but brothers Malcolm and Angus Young were mainstays since the band’s formation in 1973. Even when Bon Scott died of alcohol poisoning in 1980 and was replaced by Brian Johnson, the Young brothers held the group together and continued rocking for another 34 years, until Malcolm retired in 2014. The musical gifts of the Young Family aren’t limited to a single generation, however. Malcolm and Angus’ nephew Stevie replaced his uncle as the rhythm guitarist and backing vocalist of AC/DC after his departure, and Stevie's sons are also musicians!

Hugh Gibb was an English drummer, but his sons are the ones who became superstars. Brothers Barry, Robin, and Maurice Gibb, dubbed “Britain’s first family of harmony,” founded the disco group the Bee Gees in 1958 and went on to win eight Grammys and become one of the best-selling groups of all time, before embarking on successful solo careers. As if this isn’t enough already, youngest brother Andy Gibb also found fame as a multi-platinum recording artist with nine Top-20 songs in the United States before his tragic death at age 30 in 1988. Robin’s son, Spencer, and Barry's son, Steve, are also career musicians.

Despite dying young at age 29, Hank Williams made an enormous impact on country music and the music industry as a whole with hits like “Your Cheatin’ Heart,” “Hey, Good Lookin’,” and “I’m So Lonesome I Could Cry.” The Country Music, Songwriters, and Rock and Roll Hall of Famer and his musician wife, Audrey Sheppard, passed their talents on to son Randall Hank Williams, better known as Hank Williams Jr., a multi-platinum and Grammy-winning country singer, as well as daughter Jett Williams, who is also a country singer and songwriter. The lineage didn’t end there, however, as Junior’s son Shelton Hank Williams (a.k.a. Hank Williams III) is also a successful musician whose style fluctuates between outlaw country, punk, and metal. His half-sister, Holly Williams, is also doing her part to uphold the family name as a singer-songwriter and musician.

Reggae pioneer and cultural icon Bob Marley sadly died too soon at age 36, but he thankfully passed his musical gifts along to some of his 11 children, including Sharon, Cedella, David (a.k.a. “Ziggy”), Stephen, Julian, Ky-Mani, and Damian. Ziggy, Sharon, Cedella, and Stephen all won three Grammys in the ‘80s and ‘90s as part of Ziggy Marley and the Melody Makers, with Ziggy and Stephen each earning a handful more as solo artists and producers. Damian owns several Grammys himself, with Julian and Ky-Mani also earning past nominations. Almost all of them are still active in the music industry. 

The original lineup of The Beach Boys was brothers Brian, Dennis, and Carl Wilson, cousin Mike Love, and friend Al Jardine. Dennis died in 1983 and Carl in 1998, but not before The Beach Boys established themselves as one of the world’s best-selling bands for almost two decades. Brian, Mike, and Al continued to perform as The Beach Boys into the 2020's. And the Wilson talents didn’t stop at a single generation; Brian’s daughters Carnie and Wendy teamed up with Chynna Phillips (herself the daughter of The Mamas & the Papas members John and Michelle Phillips) to form the multi-platinum vocal group Wilson Phillips in 1990.

Joe Jackson’s own music career never took off, but five of his sons – Jackie, Tito, Jermaine, Marlon, and Michael – would find success as members of the incredibly popular pop group The Jackson 5. Of course, Michael Jackson would later become one of the best-selling musicians of all time, but the four other brothers would also continue their musical careers along with another son, Randy, and daughters Rebbie, La Toya, and Janet. Janet has also established herself as one of the world’s most successful entertainers, having sold more than 100 million records and counting. Additionally, there are numerous moderately successful third-generation Jacksons in the music biz, including the members of the R&B/pop group 3T.