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

Jacksonville has produced a Black National Anthem, the man who made King Kong, the founders of Southern rock and the only athlete with both an Olympic gold medal and a Super Bowl ring.

Some of the people on this list were born here and moved away young. Others came here as kids and grew up here. Either way, Jacksonville helped shape them. Here are 15 famous people from Jacksonville, in no particular order of fame, with what ties each one to the city.

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

• Born: June 17, 1871, in Jacksonville
• Known for: writing the words to "Lift Every Voice and Sing," now known as the Black National Anthem. His younger brother, J. Rosamond Johnson, wrote the music.

The Jacksonville connection: Johnson's father was the headwaiter at the St. James Hotel, back when Jacksonville was one of Florida's first winter resort towns. His mother was the first Black woman to teach school in Florida.

The song itself was born in Jacksonville. Johnson wrote it as a poem honoring Booker T. Washington, who was visiting the Stanton School, and 500 schoolchildren recited it there for Abraham Lincoln's birthday in 1900.

Johnson went on to lead the NAACP from 1920 to 1930, served as a U.S. diplomat and, in 1934, became the first Black professor hired at New York University.

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

• Born: April 15, 1889, in Crescent City, Fla.
• Moved to Jacksonville: in 1891, at age 2

Randolph grew up in Jacksonville and graduated as valedictorian of the Cookman Institute in East Jacksonville in 1907. At the time, it was the only academic high school in Florida for Black students.

In 1925, he organized the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters, the first successful Black-led labor union. His pressure helped push President Franklin D. Roosevelt to ban discrimination in defense industries in 1941 and President Harry Truman to desegregate the armed forces in 1948.

In Jacksonville today: A. Philip Randolph Boulevard runs past VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena and EverBank Stadium, and Edward Waters University has a permanent exhibit on his life.

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

• Born: Sept. 23, 1930, in Albany, Ga.
• The Jacksonville connection: after attending the Florida School for the Deaf and the Blind in St. Augustine from 1937 to 1945, a teenage Ray Charles moved to Jacksonville.

He played piano for bands at the Ritz Theatre in LaVilla for more than a year, earning $4 a night. He joined the local musicians' union, partly so he could practice on the piano at the union hall because he didn't have one at home. At 16, he moved on to Orlando.

He went on to pioneer soul music and record "Georgia on My Mind," the first of his three No. 1 hits.

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

4. Pat Boone: 1950s teen idol

• Born: June 1, 1934, in Jacksonville
• Moved away: at age 2, to Nashville, where he grew up

Boone became one of the most popular singers of the 1950s and early 1960s, selling nearly 50 million records with 38 Top 40 hits. He was second only to Elvis Presley in popularity for much of the '50s, and he once spent 220 straight weeks on the Billboard charts.

His younger brother, Cecil, who sang as Nick Todd, was born exactly one year later, on June 1, 1935.

5. Ronnie Van Zant: founder of Lynyrd Skynyrd

• Born: Jan. 15, 1948, in Jacksonville, where he was raised
• Died: Oct. 20, 1977, in a plane crash in Mississippi

In 1964, Van Zant formed a band with schoolmates Allen Collins, Gary Rossington, Larry Junstrom and Bob Burns. After several names, they settled on Lynyrd Skynyrd, a joking tribute to Leonard Skinner, a gym teacher at Robert E. Lee High School on the Westside.

Two of his younger brothers became rock singers too: Donnie Van Zant founded .38 Special, and Johnny Van Zant has sung lead for Lynyrd Skynyrd since the band re-formed in 1987.

Today, Oct. 20, marks 49 years since the crash. (Delete this line if publishing on another day.)

6. Butch and Derek Trucks: the Allman Brothers connection

Butch Trucks (1947–2017) was born and raised in Jacksonville. He found his talent for drumming when a band director at Ribault Junior High handed him sticks. He became a founding member of the Allman Brothers Band in 1969 and was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1995.

His nephew, Derek Trucks, was born in Jacksonville in 1979. He bought his first guitar at a yard sale for $5 at age 9, played his first paid show at 11 and joined the Allman Brothers Band in 1999. Today he leads the Tedeschi Trucks Band with his wife, Susan Tedeschi, and he's twice been on Rolling Stone's list of the 100 greatest guitarists.

7. Bob Hayes: "Bullet Bob," Olympic gold and a Super Bowl ring

• Born: Dec. 20, 1942, in Jacksonville
• Died: Sept. 18, 2002, in Jacksonville

Hayes starred at Matthew Gilbert High School, where the 1958 Panthers went 12–0 and won the state championship for Black high schools in front of more than 11,000 fans.

At the 1964 Tokyo Olympics, he won two gold medals and tied the world record in the 100 meters at 10.0 seconds. Then he played 11 seasons for the Dallas Cowboys.

He's still the only athlete to win both an Olympic gold medal and a Super Bowl ring. He was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2009.

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

- Born: Oct. 24, 1893, in Jacksonville, the son of a local lawyer

Cooper is best known for making the 1933 movie King Kong. Before Hollywood, he was a World War I pilot and helped found a squadron of American volunteer pilots in the Polish Air Force, and he spent time as a Soviet prisoner of war.

He helped invent the Cinerama widescreen process, received an honorary Oscar in 1952 and got a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1960.

9. Augusta Savage: Harlem Renaissance sculptor

- Born: Feb. 29, 1892, in Jacksonville

As a child, Savage made small animal figures out of her hometown's red clay. She became one of the best-known sculptors of the Harlem Renaissance and a teacher who launched a generation of artists.

For the 1939 New York World's Fair, she created a 16-foot sculpture called Lift Every Voice and Sing (also known as The Harp), inspired by the song by Jacksonville's Johnson brothers. It was one of the most photographed works at the fair.

See her work here: her sculpture The Diving Boy is at the Cummer Museum of Art & Gardens in Riverside.

10. Ashley Greene: Alice Cullen in Twilight

• Born: Feb. 21, 1987, in Jacksonville
• Grew up: in Jacksonville and Middleburg

Greene went to University Christian School and then Samuel W. Wolfson High School. She finished high school early and moved to Los Angeles at 17. She's best known for playing Alice Cullen in the Twilight movies.

11. Fred Durst: Limp Bizkit

- Born: Aug. 20, 1970, in Jacksonville

Durst was born here but grew up mostly in North Carolina. After two years in the Navy, he moved back to Jacksonville, working as a landscaper and tattoo artist.

In 1994, he formed Limp Bizkit in Jacksonville with bassist Sam Rivers and drummer John Otto. Guitarist Wes Borland joined later. The band hit it big with Significant Other (1999) and Chocolate Starfish and the Hot Dog Flavored Water (2000).

12. Tim Tebow: Heisman winner

• Born: Aug. 14, 1987, in Manila, Philippines
• Moved to Jacksonville: at age 3

Tebow was homeschooled, which under Florida law let him play for a local high school. He played for Trinity Christian Academy and then Nease High School in St. Johns County, where he became a national star as a junior.

At the University of Florida, he became the first sophomore to win the Heisman Trophy (2007) and won two national titles. In 2021, he came home to try out for the Jacksonville Jaguars as a tight end.

13. Mac Jones: from Bolles to the NFL

- Born: Sept. 5, 1998, in Jacksonville

Jones led The Bolles School to the Florida 4A state title in 2016, throwing 29 touchdowns as a senior. At Alabama, he won the 2021 national championship and set NCAA single-season records for passer rating and completion percentage. He played for the Jaguars in 2024 and signed with the San Francisco 49ers in 2025.

14. Ryan Murphy: five-time Olympic gold medalist

Backstroke swimmer Ryan Murphy graduated from The Bolles School in 2013. At the 2016 Rio Olympics, he swept both backstroke events and won a relay gold with Michael Phelps, for three golds in one Games. He's a five-time Olympic gold medalist in all.

15. Ron DeSantis: Florida's governor

- Born: Sept. 14, 1978, in Jacksonville

DeSantis' family later moved to Orlando and then to Dunedin, near Tampa, when he was 6. He became Florida's 46th governor in 2019.

Honorable mentions

• Eartha M.M. White (1876–1974), born in Jacksonville, a humanitarian and businesswoman who spent her life helping the city's poor
• Artis Gilmore, the Hall of Fame center who led Jacksonville University to the 1970 NCAA championship game
• Jack Youngblood, the Pro Football Hall of Fame defensive end for the Los Angeles Rams
• Nancy Hogshead-Makar, who moved to Jacksonville at 11 and won three Olympic gold medals in swimming in 1984

Quick answers

Who wrote "Lift Every Voice and Sing"?
Jacksonville native 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 in 1900.

Was Ray Charles from Jacksonville?
He was born in Albany, Ga., but went to school in St. Augustine and started his career playing at the Ritz Theatre in Jacksonville as a teenager.

Is Lynyrd Skynyrd from Jacksonville?
Yes. The band formed on the Westside in 1964 and was named after a gym teacher at Robert E. Lee High School.

Was Tim Tebow born in Jacksonville?
No. He was born in the Philippines and moved to Jacksonville at age 3.

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