12 Famous People From Jacksonville: The Song Behind the Black National Anthem, King Kong, Lynyrd Skynyrd and More

Jacksonville gave the country the Black National Anthem, the man who made King Kong, the founders of Southern rock and an Olympic sprinter who became a Hall of Fame receiver.

Some of the people on this list were born here and moved away young. Others came as kids or young adults and got their start here. Here are 12 famous people with real Jacksonville ties, and what connects each one to the city.

1. James Weldon and J. Rosamond Johnson: "Lift Every Voice and Sing"

James Weldon Johnson, born in Jacksonville in 1871, wrote "Lift Every Voice and Sing" as a poem in 1900. His brother, John Rosamond Johnson, set it to music.

The song was born in Jacksonville. According to the NAACP, it was first performed by a choir of 500 schoolchildren at the segregated Stanton School, where James Weldon Johnson was principal, to celebrate President Abraham Lincoln's birthday. James Weldon Johnson went on to become a leader of the NAACP, which calls the song the Black National Anthem.

In Jacksonville today: James Weldon Johnson Park, downtown in front of City Hall, is named for him.

2. A. Philip Randolph: civil rights and labor leader

Asa Philip Randolph was born in 1889 in Crescent City, Fla. His family moved to Jacksonville in 1891, where he grew up, the AFL-CIO says.

In June 1925, Pullman porters asked Randolph to lead the union that became the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters. He spent the rest of his life fighting for Black workers and civil rights.

In Jacksonville today: A. Philip Randolph Boulevard runs past VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena and EverBank Stadium.

3. Ray Charles: "The Genius" got his start here

Ray Charles was born in 1930 in Albany, Ga., and went to school at the Florida School for the Deaf and the Blind in St. Augustine. As a teenager, he moved to Jacksonville.

Jacksonville Today's history of his time here says he played piano with bands at the Ritz Theatre in LaVilla. He joined Local 632 of the American Federation of Musicians, the union for the area's Black musicians, whose hall was on the third floor of the Clara White Mission building. The union hall had a piano he could practice on, and the contacts he made there led to his first jobs with bigger bands. He later left for Orlando.

In Jacksonville today: the Ritz Theatre and Museum still stands in LaVilla.

4. Pat Boone: 1950s teen idol

Pat Boone was born in Jacksonville on June 1, 1934, according to Encyclopaedia Britannica. His family moved to Nashville when he was a toddler, and he grew up there. He became one of the best-selling singers of the 1950s.

5. Ronnie Van Zant and Lynyrd Skynyrd

Lynyrd Skynyrd started in Jacksonville. The band's name is a tongue-in-cheek tribute to Leonard Skinner, a gym teacher at Robert E. Lee High School, NPR reported when he died in 2010. Skinner once sent guitarist Gary Rossington and some other boys to the principal's office over their long hair. The band later played a Jacksonville bar that Skinner owned.

Singer and founder Ronnie Van Zant was killed with other band members in a plane crash in Mississippi on Oct. 20, 1977. Lynyrd Skynyrd was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2006.

Read more in our story on how Jacksonville built Southern rock.

6. The Trucks family: Allman Brothers drummer and his guitarist nephew

Jacksonville drummer Butch Trucks was a founding member of the Allman Brothers Band, which was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 1995. His nephew, guitarist Derek Trucks, born in Jacksonville in 1979, later played in the Allman Brothers Band and now leads the Tedeschi Trucks Band with his wife, Susan Tedeschi.

7. Bob Hayes: "Bullet Bob"

Bob Hayes starred at Jacksonville's Matthew Gilbert High School, then Florida A&M. He won two gold medals at the 1964 Tokyo Olympics, the Pro Football Hall of Fame says.

He then played receiver for the Dallas Cowboys from 1965 to 1974, followed by a final season with San Francisco in 1975. He was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2009.

8. Merian C. Cooper: the man behind King Kong

Merian C. Cooper, a Jacksonville native, co-directed and produced the 1933 film King Kong. In 1952, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences gave him an honorary Oscar.

9. Augusta Savage: a Harlem Renaissance sculptor who started out here

Augusta Savage was born Feb. 29, 1892, in Green Cove Springs, in Clay County, the Smithsonian American Art Museum says. Her family later moved to West Palm Beach, where her clay figures won a special prize at the county fair in 1919.

Encouraged, she moved to Jacksonville, hoping to make a living sculpting portrait busts of the city's Black leaders. When the work didn't come, she moved to New York and became one of the best-known artists of the Harlem Renaissance.

For the 1939 New York World's Fair, she made a 16-foot sculpture called The Harp, inspired by "Lift Every Voice and Sing," by Jacksonville's Johnson brothers. With no money to cast or store it, it was destroyed after the fair.

10. Tim Tebow: Heisman winner

Tim Tebow was born in Makati City in the Philippines and grew up in the Jacksonville area. He played at Trinity Christian Academy and then Nease High School, where he led the team to a state title, according to the Heisman Trust.

At the University of Florida, he became the first sophomore to win the Heisman Trophy, in 2007. He led the Gators to the 2008 national title.

11. Ryan Murphy: five Olympic gold medals

Backstroke swimmer Ryan Murphy, a Jacksonville native and graduate of The Bolles School, has won five Olympic gold medals, according to Team USA:

12. Ron DeSantis: Florida's governor

Ron DeSantis was born in Jacksonville in 1978. His family later moved to the Tampa Bay area, where he grew up. He became Florida's governor in 2019.

Quick answers

Who wrote "Lift Every Voice and Sing"?
Jacksonville's James Weldon Johnson wrote the words, and his brother J. Rosamond Johnson wrote the music. It was first performed by 500 schoolchildren at Jacksonville's Stanton School, the NAACP says.

Was Ray Charles from Jacksonville?
He was born in Albany, Ga., but started his career playing in Jacksonville as a teenager.

Is Lynyrd Skynyrd from Jacksonville?
Yes. The band started in Jacksonville and is named after a gym teacher at Robert E. Lee High School.

Was Augusta Savage from Jacksonville?
No. She was born in Green Cove Springs and lived in Jacksonville briefly before moving to New York.

Know a famous Jacksonville native we missed? Tell us at [email protected].

How we did this

Jax Times rebuilt this list on Oct. 24, 2026, from each person's institutional biography:

• the NAACP
• the AFL-CIO
• the Smithsonian American Art Museum
• the Pro Football Hall of Fame
• the Heisman Trust
• Team USA
• the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences
• the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame
• Encyclopaedia Britannica
• reporting by NPR and Jacksonville Today

An earlier version relied on Wikipedia. It wrongly said Augusta Savage was born in Jacksonville and that Bob Hayes played 11 seasons for Dallas, and it included an editor's note that should have been deleted. We also dropped three entries we couldn't confirm in these sources.