Born in Texas in 1868, Scott Joplin was an African-American pianist and composer who is now referred to as the ‘King of Ragtime’. While most of his 100 songs – including “Maple Leaf Rag” and “The Entertainer” – fall under the ragtime genre, he also penned a ragtime ballet and two operas. Growing up in Texarkana, Arkansas, he became a musician with help from local teachers. He left his job as a railway laborer and pursued a career as a musician. In 1894, he moved to Sedalia, Missouri and taught piano for a living. The following year, he started publishing his music and by 1899, “Maple Leaf Rag” became a sensation. The song became the most influential ragtime of all time. Joplin moved to St. Louis in 1901 and continued to write. He had written his first opera entitled A Guest of Honor, but it was confiscated, along with his other belongings, when he couldn’t afford to pay his bills. Joplin relocated to New York in 1907 in hopes of finding someone to produce Treemonish, his second opera. While he continued to write popular rags, they didn’t achieve the same level of success as “Maple Leaf Rag”. Joplin contracted syphilis and descended into dementia in 1916. Three months after being admitted to Manhattan State Hospital, Scott Joplin died on April 1, 1917. While ragtime’s popularity waned after his passing, Joplin’s influence lived on in jazz and swing music. Nearly 50 years after his death, there was a resurgence of interest in Joplin’s music and career. Joshua Rifkin released the million-selling album Piano Rags in 1970 while Joplin’s music was used on the soundtrack to the 1973 motion picture The Sting. Marvin Hamlisch’s rendition of “The Entertainer” from the soundtrack became a Number 3 Billboard hit.
