
MAREN MORRIS
English and Irish American
285 profiles — ethnicity, nationality & ancestry
Music has always been a cross-cultural force, and the ethnic backgrounds of the world's most famous singers and musicians reflect that richness. From Rihanna's mixed Afro-Barbadian, Afro-Guyanese, and Irish heritage to Zayn Malik's British-Pakistani and white British roots, the ancestry behind the music is as compelling as the art itself.
Questions about musicians' race and ethnicity rank among the most commonly searched celebrity topics. Fans want to understand the cultural influences behind the music — and often, knowing a singer's ethnic heritage reveals the roots of their sound, style, and artistic identity. Beyoncé's Louisiana Creole and African-American background, for instance, directly informs the cultural themes woven throughout her catalogue.
Our singer and musician ethnicity profiles provide fully sourced breakdowns of each artist's racial makeup, national origin, parents' heritage, and self-identification. We address questions like: What is this singer's nationality? Is she mixed race? What ethnicity is he? Are his parents immigrants? Each profile is built on careful research — not assumptions or rumours.

MAREN MORRIS
English and Irish American

EARTHA KITT
Mixed (African American and Cherokee Native American)

DOJA CAT
Biracial (South African Zulu and Jewish American)

STEVE PERRY
Portuguese (Azorean)

SERJ TANKIAN
Armenian

SABRINA BRYAN
Mexican, German, Cherokee

MIKE SHINODA
Mixed (Japanese-American, European — German, English)

MICHELLE BRANCH
Multiracial (Indonesian, Dutch, French, Irish, German, Scots-Irish, Welsh, Norwegian, English)

LEONA LEWIS
Mixed (Afro-Guyanese, Welsh, Irish, Italian)

JOHNNY CASH
Scottish and English

GRIMES
French Canadian (Québécois), Ukrainian, Italian, English, Swedish

ADRIENNE BAILON
Latina (Puerto Rican, Ecuadorian)

TOM MORELLO
Mixed (Kenyan Kikuyu, Italian, Irish)

SHAKIRA
Lebanese (paternal), Spanish, Italian, Colombian, Indigenous, African, Basque, Galician (maternal)

SELENA GOMEZ
Mexican-American (paternal) and Italian descent (maternal, via adoption)

LIN-MANUEL MIRANDA
Puerto Rican (primarily), Mexican, African American (distant)

FREDDIE MERCURY
Indian Parsi (Zoroastrian, Persian origin)

FKA TWIGS
Mixed (Jamaican, English, Spanish)

DUA LIPA
Albanian (Kosovar)

DJ KHALED
Palestinian-Arab (Arab-American)

DAVE NAVARRO
Mixed (Mexican, English, German, Welsh)

BENNY BLANCO
Ashkenazi Jewish, Puerto Rican

GEORGE MICHAEL ZIMMERMAN
Hispanic-Peruvian

ZEDD
Russian Jewish (Ashkenazi)

ZAIN JAVADD MALIK
British Pakistani, English, Irish

YOVANNA VENTURA
Unknown

SAUL HUDSON
African-American, English, Ashkenazi Jewish

PETER LEWIS WENTZ III
Mixed Race (Biracial)

PAULA EMDINA ABDUL
Syrian Jewish, Ashkenazi Jewish

NICOLE PRASCOVIA SCHERZINGER
Filipino, Native Hawaiian, Ukrainian, Polish, German (through stepfather)

MIGUEL JONTEL PIMENTEL
African-American, Mexican

GAZZY FABIO GARCIA
Colombian, Latin American

DEMETRIA DEVONNE LOVATO
Mexican (Spanish, Indigenous), English, Scottish, Scots-Irish, Portuguese, Je...

BILLIE EILISH PIRATE BAIRD O'CONNELL
Irish, Scottish, English, German, Swiss-German, Belgian

VANESSA L. WILLIAMS
African-American, European (West African, British Isles, Finnish, Southern Eu...

USHER RAYMOND IV
African-American, Haitian

TYRESE GIBSON
Unknown

TYNISHA KELI SOARES
Portuguese American

TORI KELLY
Jamaican, Puerto Rican, Irish, German

TONY KANAL
Unknown

SHELTON JACKSON LEE (SPIKE LEE)
African American

ALEXANDER ELI MORAND (SMILEY)
Mixed Race (Mexican/Haitian)

SIR TOM JONES (THOMAS JOHN WOODWARD)
Welsh, English, Scottish, Irish

SHIRLEY BASSEY
Nigerian (West African), English

SHEREE ELIZABETH ZAMPINO
African American-Italian

SHAMEIK ALTI MOORE
Jamaican American

SAM ELLIOTT
White American (English, Scottish — Texas roots)

RUSSELL WILSON
African American (62% African, 36% European, small Native American/Asian)

RONNIE SPECTOR (LEAD)
Ira Bennett (White Irish-American)

ROBYN RIHANNA FENTY
Mixed Race (African-Caribbean-European)

RICH DOLLAZ
Unknown

RENÉE ELISE GOLDSBERRY
African-American

RAYMOND SCOTT
Cape Verdean, African-American, Puerto Rican

PRINCE ROGERS NELSON
African-American (with Louisiana roots)

PIA TOSCANO
Italian American

PHOEBE SNOW
Unknown

PHARRELL LANSCILO WILLIAMS
African-American (with Native American ancestry)

OLIVIA ISABEL RODRIGO
Filipino, Irish, German, Polish

NINA ALU
Nigerian-American

NICOLE PANTENBURG
African American

NICKI MINAJ
Afro-Trinidadian, Indo-Trinidadian (Dougla)

NASRI TONY ATWEH
Palestinian-Canadian

MILEY RAY STEWART CYRUS
Scottish, German, English, Irish, Dutch

MELODY THORNTON
Mexican-American & African-American

MEL B
Afro-Caribbean (Saint Kitts and Nevis), English

MASON TEMPLE
Unknown

MARIAH CAREY
African (Cuban), Irish, English

MAITE PERRONI BEORLEGUI
Italian-Spanish-Mexican

LOLO WOOD (LAUREN WOOD)
Multiracial (White, African, Caribbean, Indian)

LLOYD POLITE
Unknown

LIONEL BROCKMAN RICHIE JR.
African-American (with English, Scottish, French-Canadian ancestry)

LIONEL RICHIE
African American (with distant English/Scottish/French-Canadian ancestry)

LIL FIZZ
Unknown

LISA LEFT EYE LOPES
Unknown

LANDON CUBE
Unknown

STEFANI JOANNE ANGELINA GERMANOTTA
75% Italian (including Sicilian), 25% French, English, German, Scottish, Iris...

VANESSA URBIETA CORNEJO
Mexican, Irish, English, German

KEITH URBAN
White New Zealand/Australian (British/European descent)

KARINA PASIAN
Dominican-Armenian

KANDYSE MCCLURE
Cape Coloured (Mixed Black African/European), Afrikaans

JUSSIE SMOLLETT
Ashkenazi Jewish/Russian/Polish (father), African American/Irish (mother)

JOY BRYANT
African American (Cape Verdean heritage)

JOHN LEGEND (JOHN RAYMOND STEPHENS)
African American (64% West African, 32% European, 4% Native American)

JOHN LEGEND
African American (64% African, 32% European, 4% Native American)

JOSEPH LAWRENCE MIGNOGNA III
Italian-English-Northern Irish

JHENÉ AIKO
African American, Japanese, Native American, Spanish, Dominican, German Jewish

JESSICA SIMPSON
Unknown

JADEN CHRISTOPHER SYRE SMITH
African American (Afro-Caribbean, Portuguese Jewish heritage)

JADEN ISAIAH HOSSLER (JXDN)
White/Caucasian (European)

HALSEY
African American, Italian, Hungarian, Irish

GWEN STEFANI
Italian, English, Irish, Scottish, German, Norwegian

GUSTAVO CARR
Hispanic/Latino

GORDON LIGHTFOOT
English, Cornish, some German (not Scottish despite family belief)

NAYVADIUS DEMUN WILBURN (FUTURE)
African American (Haitian heritage)

FRANKIE JAMES GRANDE
Italian-American

FAT JOE (JOSEPH ANTONIO CARTAGENA)
Puerto Rican, Cuban

EVAN ROSS
African American (mother's side), Norwegian/German (father's side)

EUDOXIE BRIDGES (MBOUGUIENGUE)
Black African, American

JENNIFER LYNN LÓPEZ
Puerto Rican (Spanish, African, Indigenous Taíno)

CHRISTINA MARÍA AGUILERA
Ecuadorian, English, German, Irish, French, Welsh, Dutch

PETER GENE HERNANDEZ
Puerto Rican, Filipino, Spanish, Ashkenazi Jewish

ESPERANZA SPALDING
Mixed (African American, Welsh, Native American, Hispanic)

ELLIE GOULDING
English (with Welsh great-grandmother)

DRAKE
African American, Ashkenazi Jewish (Russian, Polish, Latvian)

DOJA CAT
Unknown

SUNNERY GORRÉ (SUNNERY JAMES)
Surinamese-Dutch (Caribbean)

DENISE KATRINA MATTHEWS
Mixed Race (Biracial)

DEMETRIA DEVONNE LOVATO
Mixed Race (Latina - Nuevomexicano-Irish-Scandinavian)

DEBARGE FAMILY
African American-White-American Indian

CYPRESS HILL
Unknown

COLBY O'DONIS
Unknown

COLBIE MARIE CAILLAT
European (French/English/German/Dutch)

CYNTHIA JEAN CAMERON BREAKSPEARE
Mixed (Jamaican-Canadian)

CHRISTINA AGUILERA
Ecuadorian (Latino), German, Irish, Welsh, Dutch

CHINA ANNE MCCLAIN
African American

CHILI TLC
Bengali Indian/Arab (father), African American/Native American (mother)

ARMANDO ANTHONY COREA
Italian-American

CHERILYN SARKISIAN
Armenian, English, German, Irish, French, Dutch, Cherokee

CHANCE THE RAPPER
African American

CASSIE VENTURA
Unknown

CASSIE VENTURA
Filipino, African-American, West Indian, Mexican

CAROL JOAN KLEIN (CAROLE KING)
Ashkenazi Jewish (Polish and Belarusian)

BELCALIS MARLENIS ALMÁNZAR CEPHUS
Dominican, Trinidadian, Spanish, African

BRITTANY HOWARD
Mixed (African American, English, Irish)

BRAVE WILLIAMS (CHRISTINA WILLIAMS)
Black-Cherokee-Czech Slovakian

JAIME LUIS GÓMEZ
Mexican, Shoshone, Hopi, African diaspora

BJORK
Unknown

ALYSSA MICHELLE STEPHENS (LATTO)
Mixed (African American, White, Native American)

BEYONCÉ GISELLE KNOWLES-CARTER
Mixed (African American, Louisiana Creole)

BENJAMIN CHASE HARPER
Mixed Race (African-American/Jewish)

ANTHONY RAMOS
Puerto Rican (Afro-Latino — African, Taíno, Spanish, Canary Islands Guanche)

AMY WINEHOUSE
Ashkenazi Jewish (Russian, Polish, Belarusian)

AMY CORREA BELL
Multiracial (Puerto Rican, Guatemalan, Japanese)

ALICIA KEYS
African American (Jamaican descent), Italian (Sicilian, Calabrian), Irish, Sc...

ALESHA ANJANETTE DIXON
Mixed Race (Jamaican/English)

DOMINIK SMITH
Mixed

DAVID ABBRUZZESE
Italian, Lithuanian, Irish (Mixed)

50 CENT
African American (both parents)

AESOP ROCK
European-American (white)

ARIANA GRANDE
Italian American (Sicilian and Abruzzese)

CHESTER BENNINGTON
English, German, Welsh, Scottish, Irish, Dutch

CAM'RON
African-American

BRANDON BOYD
White American / European descent (both parents)

KERI HILSON
Black American (African-American)

KALI UCHIS
Colombian (paternal), English/German/Welsh/Scottish/Irish (maternal)

JUELZ SANTANA
African American and Dominican (mixed background)

JORDIN SPARKS
African American (paternal) / White American/European (maternal)

JONAS BROTHERS
German, English, Scottish (father); Irish, Italian, French-Canadian (mother)

JON BERNTHAL
Ashkenazi Jewish (Austrian, German, Russian, Polish, Lithuanian)

JOHNATHON SCHAECH
White American (Italian / German / English / Scottish)

JOHN OATES
Italian (maternal) / Gibraltarian — English, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese (paternal)

JOHN DENVER
German and Irish American (with German-Russian Mennonite roots)

JOE BUDDEN
Black American (African American)

JIMI HENDRIX
African American, Cherokee Native American, Irish

JIM JONES RAPPER

JESSIE J
English / Irish (paternal Irish roots from County Clare)

JC CHASEZ
White American (French and European heritage)

JAZMINE SULLIVAN
Black American (African American)

JASON DERULO
Haitian

ISRAEL HOUGHTON
African-American, French-Canadian, German

IRENE CARA
Cuban (Afro-Cuban/Spanish), Puerto Rican, African-American

ICE SPICE
Black American / Nigerian (paternal), Dominican / Afro-Latina (maternal)

HEAVY D
Jamaican-American (African-Caribbean heritage)

GENE SIMMONS
Hungarian-Jewish (Ashkenazi)

FOXY BROWN
Afro-Trinidadian/Indo-Trinidadian (paternal) + Chinese-Trinidadian (maternal)

FIONA APPLE
Scottish, Irish, Welsh (paternal), Swiss-German, German, French, English (maternal)

FABOLOUS
African-American

EMMY RAVER-LAMPMAN
Black American / White (European-American)

EL DEBARGE
African American and Native American (maternal) + French/English/Irish American (paternal)

DRAKE BELL
White American / European descent (both parents)

DON TOLIVER
African-American

DJ DRAMA
African-American, Russian-Jewish (Ashkenazi)

DIANA ROSS
African American (both parents)

DEWAYNE TURRENTINE
Black American (African American)

DEMI LOVATO
Spanish/Nuevomexicano/Native American (paternal), Irish/English/Scottish (maternal)

DEBARGE
Mixed race — White (French/English) and African American/Native American

DAVID ARCHULETA
Basque, Danish, Irish, German, Iroquois Native American, Honduran Mestizo

DAVE GROHL
White American (German/English/Irish)

DANIEL CAESAR
Jamaican (paternal) / Barbadian (maternal)

DAMIAN MARLEY
Jamaican (mixed: Afro-Jamaican, English, Portuguese, Jamaican Chinese, white Jamaican)

DADDY YANKEE
Puerto Rican — Spanish, African, and Taíno heritage

COLBY O'DONIS
Puerto Rican and Italian

CHRISTINA MILIAN
Cuban (African, Spanish)

CHRIS IVERY
African American (paternal) / Jewish (maternal)

CHRIS DAUGHTRY
White American (English / Irish / German)

CHILLI (TLC)
African American, Native American, Bengali Indian, and Arab

CHILLI
Bengali-Indian, Arab, African-American, Native American

CHERYL COLE
White British (Irish / English)

CHER'S
50% Armenian, 50% English/Irish/German/Dutch/Scottish

CHARLI BALTIMORE
Biracial: White American (father) + African-American (mother), or vice versa

CARDI B
Dominican (Afro-Dominican) and Trinidadian

BRUNO MARS
Filipino, Spanish, Puerto Rican, Ashkenazi Jewish

BRUCE SUDANO
Italian American (Campanian — from Corleto Monforte, Salerno)

BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN
Dutch, Irish, Italian

BRIAN STOKES MITCHELL
African American (paternal) / Filipino and European (maternal)

BRENT FAIYAZ
Biracial (Dominican & African-American)

BRENDON URIE
English, Scottish, Native Hawaiian, German, Portuguese, Welsh, Danish

BRADLEY NOWELL
Irish, German, English descent

BOB MARLEY
White Jamaican/Welsh (paternal); Afro-Jamaican (maternal)

BIZZY BONE
African-American (paternal), German/English/Scottish and Italian (maternal)

BILLIE EILISH
Irish, Scottish, English, German, Belgian

BIA RAPPER
Puerto Rican (paternal) + Italian American (maternal)

BHAD BHABIE
Father: Ashkenazi Jewish; Mother: Italian, Irish, Norwegian

BEYONCÉ
African American, Louisiana Creole, Native American

BENZINO
Cape Verdean, African-American, and Puerto Rican

B REAL
Mexican (paternal) and Afro-Cuban (maternal) — biracial Latino

AUSTIN MAHONE
White American (Irish/English)

APOLLONIA
Mexican-American (Hispanic / Latina)

ANDREW RIDGELEY
English and Egyptian

ANDRA DAY
African-American

AMY LEE
White American / European descent (both parents)

AMARA LA NEGRA

ALEX G
Italian-American (Abruzzo) and Russian Jewish

ALEX AIONO
Samoan (paternal) / White American/European (maternal)

ALBA FLORES
Spanish Romani (Gitano)

AIDAN GALLAGHER
White American / European descent (both parents)

ADAM LEVINE
Ashkenazi Jewish (paternal) / English and Irish (maternal)

ABEL TESFAYE
Amhara Ethiopian

6LACK
Black American

MILA J
Black American (with Japanese heritage through her father)

MANWELL REYES
Puerto Rican / Cuban / Latino

DOROTHY DANDRIDGE
African American (both sides)

PINK
Irish-American (paternal) / Ashkenazi Jewish (maternal)

SIERRA CAPRI
African American (paternal); Latina (maternal)

SHERYL LEE RALPH
Jamaican-American (African Caribbean / African American)

MAXWELL
Puerto Rican (Afro-Puerto Rican), Haitian

TORREY DEVITTO
Italian American (Sicilian and Neapolitan)

ROSHON FEGAN
Biracial (African-American & Filipino)

STEPHEN MCKINLEY HENDERSON
African-American

TRAVIS BARKER
English and Spanish (paternal) / Irish (maternal)

SARAH VIVAN
Vietnamese / White (European)

SMOKEY ROBINSON
African-American (French, Nigerian, Scandinavian, Portuguese, Cherokee)

NICOLE SCHERZINGER
Filipino (Ivatan), Native Hawaiian, Ukrainian, Polish

TAMARA TUNIE
Black American

LIL PUMP

SHEILA E
Mexican American (paternal); Creole-French/African American (maternal)

TYLA
Zulu South African (paternal) / Indian, Irish, and Malay (maternal)

STEVE AOKI
Japanese (both parents of Japanese heritage)

SEAN PAUL
Afro-Jamaican, Portuguese-Jewish, English, and Chinese

REBECCA CREWS
African American (both parents)

STEVIE RAY VAUGHAN
Anglo-American (English, Scots-Irish, Welsh)

LIL SKIES
African-American (father), White American (mother) — biracial

NIA GUZMAN
Mexican, Puerto Rican (Latina)

LISA "LEFT EYE "LOPES
African-American, Cape Verdean, Spanish (Asturian)

TAYLOR DAYNE
Ashkenazi Jewish

TABOO (BLACK EYED PEAS)
Mexican (Spanish/Indigenous) and Shoshone/Hopi Native American

LIL MOSEY
African-American, Puerto Rican (paternal), English, German (maternal)

REBECCA BLACK
Mexican (maternal) / English, Polish, Italian & other European (paternal)

RIHANNA
Afro-Barbadian, Afro-Guyanese, Irish/English/Scottish

RODENE RONQUILLO
Filipino-Canadian

PRINCESS NOKIA
Afro-Puerto Rican (African, Spanish, Taíno indigenous)

LINDA PERRY
Portuguese, Brazilian

PAULA ABDUL
Syrian Jewish (paternal), Ashkenazi Jewish (maternal)

SARA BAREILLES
Italian-American (Sicilian) / Portuguese-American

TIM MCGRAW
Italian, Irish, Scots-Irish, German, Czech, English, Dutch

NICKY JAM
Puerto Rican and Dominican (Afro-Caribbean blend)

NE-YO
African-American and Chinese (mixed)

SLASH
African American (maternal); English/British (paternal)

SUSANNA HOFFS
Ashkenazi Jewish

STEVE LACY
Filipino (paternal), African-American (maternal)

LADY GAGA
Italian (Sicilian), Italian (Lazio), Scottish, English, German

TONI BRAXTON
African-American

TRAVIE MCCOY
Biracial (Black American / White American)

SABRINA CARPENTER
German, English, Scottish, Austrian, Irish, distant Dutch

TUPAC SHAKUR
African-American

MARIAH CAREY

LOGIC
Biracial (African-American and White)

MIGUEL
Mexican / Black American

OLIVIA RODRIGO

QUEEN LATIFAH
African-American

PHARRELL WILLIAMS
African-American, with some Native American heritage claimed

PRINCE
African American (both parents)

MARINA DIAMANDIS
Greek (father) / Welsh (mother)

LUKE STEELE
English, Scottish, Irish (paternal); Belarusian/Eastern European (maternal)

SNOOP DOGG
African-American, Native American, European

KURT COBAIN
Irish, English, Dutch, French, German, Scottish

NE-YO
African-American (88% West African, 10% European, trace East Asian)

TAMIA
Black Canadian (African-Canadian/African-American)

ROBIN THICKE
English, Scottish, Irish, Norwegian, Welsh, Dutch

ROZONDA THOMAS
Black American / White (European-American)

ZHAVIA
Chinese / Cherokee / African-American / White (multiracial)

ZAYN MALIK
British Pakistani and white British (English/Irish)

WOLFMAN JACK
English, German, Scots-Irish

WAYNE NEWTON
English, Irish, Scottish, Welsh, German; claims Cherokee and Patawomeck Native American heritage

USHER