From musical pioneers to contemporary superstars, this list of books for Black Music Month tells the stories of amazingly talented, charismatic, and dynamic artists. While exploring all the titles, let’s recognize and appreciate the founders of Black Music Month, Kenny Gamble and Dyana Williams. Their desire and vision for Black artists and the music they create to be celebrated and respected as an essential part of Black and American culture led to the month-long observance. Happy Black Music Month; our stories matter!
Clicking on the book links will direct you to a different site. BCBA may earn a small percentage on purchases.
1. Charley’s Honky Tonk Mission
Beatrice Winifred Iker | Miguelina Milien | Kokila | June 9, 2026 | PB | Amazon | Bookshop
2. Color Me Country: A Celebration of Black Women Who Shaped Country Music
Kelly McCartney (Ed.) | Rissi Palmer (Ed.) | Rhiannon Giddens | Candlewick Studio | May 5, 2026 | PB | Amazon | Bookshop
3. Blues Boy: The B. B. King Story
Alice Faye Duncan | Carl Joe Williams | Greenwillow Books | January 27, 2026 | PB | Amazon | Bookshop
4. Just Like Tina: Inspired by the Life of Tina Turner
Ebony Lynn Mudd | Maruga Koops | Penguin Workshop | January 27, 2026 | PB | Amazon | Bookshop
5. Prince: A Little Golden Book Biography
Nikki Shannon Smith | Don Tate | Golden Books | January 6, 2026 | PB| Amazon | Bookshop
6. Legends of Hip-Hop: Kid ‘n Play
Pen Ken | Saxton Moore | HarperCollins | October 7, 2025 | Bd Bk | Amazon | Bookshop
7. Beyoncé: A Who Was? Illustrated Biography
Tyiana Combs | Claudia Marianno | Penguin Workshop | October 14, 2025 | Chp Bk | Amazon | Bookshop
8. What You Never Knew about Rihanna
Kirstie Myvett | Capstone Press | August 1, 2025 | Chp Bk | Amazon | Bookshop
9. What You Never Knew about Sza
Kirstie Myvett | Capstone Press | August 1, 2025 | Chp Bk | Amazon | Bookshop
10. Make a Pretty Sound: A Story of Ella Jenkins—The First Lady of Children’s Music
Traci N. Todd | Eleanor Davis | Chronicle Books | January 7, 2025 | PB | Amazon | Bookshop
11. Bridges Instead of Walls: The Story of Mavis Staples
Mavis Staples | Carole Boston Weatherford | Steffi Walthall | Rocky Pond Books | July 9, 2024 | PB | Amazon | Bookshop
12. Legends of Hip-Hop: Biggie Smalls
Pen Ken | Saxton Moore | HarperCollins | June 18, 2024 | Bd Bk | Amazon | Bookshop
13. Ordinary Days: The Seeds, Sound, and City That Grew Prince Rogers Nelson
Angela Joy | Jacqueline Alcántara | Roaring Brook Press | October 24, 2023 | PB | Amazon | Bookshop
14. Legends of Hip-Hop: Queen Latifah
Pen Ken | Saxton Moore | HarperCollinsl | September 19, 2023 | Bd Bk | Amazon |Bookshop
15. Legends of Hip-Hop: 2Pac
Pen Ken | Saxton Moore | HarperCollins | September 19, 2023 | Bd Bk | Amazon | Bookshop
16. Little Rosetta and the Talking Guitar
Charnelle Pinkney Barlow | Doubleday BYR | February 28, 2023 | PB | Amazon | Bookshop
17. Rock, Rosetta, Rock! Roll, Rosetta, Roll!
Tonya Bolden | R. Gregory Christie | HarperCollins | February 14, 2023 | PB | Amazon | Bookshop
18. A is for Aretha
Leslie Kwan | Rachelle Baker | Kokila | January 24, 2023 | Bd Bk | Amazon | Bookshop
19. The Green Piano: How Little Me Found Music
Roberta Flack | Tonya Bolden | Hayden Goodman | Schwartz Books | January 10, 2023 | PB | Amazon | Bookshop
20. Beyonce: A Little Golden Book Biography
Lavaille Lavette | Anastasia Williams | Golden Books | January 3, 2023 | PB | Amazon | Bookshop
21. Harry Belafonte: A Little Golden Book Biography
Lavaille Lavette | Anastasia Williams | Golden Books | January 3, 2023 | PB | Amazon | Bookshop
22. Somebody to Love: The Story of Valerie June’s Sweet Little Baby Banjolele
Valerie June Hockett | Marcela Avelar | Third Man Books | November 1, 2022 | PB | Amazon | Bookshop
23. Sing, Aretha, Sing!: Aretha Franklin, Respect, and the Civil Rights Movement
Hanif Abdurraqib | Ashley Evans | Farrar, Straus and Giroux | February 1, 2022 | PB | Amazon | Bookshop
24. Darryl’s Dream
Darryl “DMC” McDaniels | Shawnee Warfield, et al. | Random House | January 4, 2022 | PB | Amazon | Bookshop
25. She Raised Her Voice!: 50 Black Women Who Sang Their Way into Music History
Jordannah Elizabeth | Briana Dengoue | Running Press Kids | December 28, 2021 | MG | Amazon | Bookshop
26. Song for Jimi: The Story of Guitar Legend Jimi Hendrix
Charles R. Smith Jr. | Edel Rodriguez | Neal Porter Books | November 23, 2021 | PB | Amazon | Bookshop
27. Nina: A Story of Nina Simone
Traci Todd | Christian Robinson | G.P. Putnam’s Sons BYR | September 28, 2021 | PB | Amazon | Bookshop
28. Song in a Rainstorm: The Story of Musical Prodigy Thomas Blind Tom Wiggins
Glenda Armand | Brittany Jackson | Albert Whitman | January 1, 2021 | PB | Amazon | Bookshop
29. By and By: Charles Tindley, the Father of Gospel Music
Carole Boston Weatherford | Bryan Collier | Atheneum BYR | January 14, 2020 | PB | Amazon | Bookshop
30. A Voice Named Aretha
Katheryn Russell-Brown | Laura Freeman | Bloomsbury | January 7, 2020 | PB | Amazon | Bookshop
31. The Legendary Miss Lena Horne
Carole Boston Weatherford | Elizabeth Zunon | Atheneum BYR | January 24, 2017 | PB | Amazon | Bookshop
32. Just a Lucky So and So: The Story of Louis Armstrong
Lesa Cline-Ransome | James E. Ransome | Holiday House | February 27, 2016 | PB | Amazon | Bookshop
33. Oscar Lives Next Door: A Story Inspired by Oscar Peterson’s Childhood
Bonnie Farmer | Marie Lafrance | Owlkids | September 15, 2015 | PB | Amazon | Bookshop
34. Trombone Shorty
Troy Andrews | Bryan Collier | Abrams BYR | April 14, 2015 | PB | Amazon | Bookshop
35. Little Melba and Her Big Trombone
Katheryn Russell-Brown | Frank Morrison | Lee & Low Books | August 4, 2014 | Amazon | Bookshop
36. Harlem’s Little Blackbird: The Story of Florence Mills
Renee Watson | Christian Robinson | Random House BYR | October 23, 2012 | PB | Amazon | Bookshop
37. Odetta: The Queen of Folk
Samantha Thornhill | Stephen Alcorn | Scholastic Press | December 1, 2010 | PB | Amazon
38. I and I Bob Marley
Tony Medina | Jesse Joshua Watson | Lee & Low Books | April 30, 2009 | PB | Amazon | Bookshop
39. Becoming Billie Holiday
Carole Boston Weatherford | Floyd Cooper | WordSong | October 1, 2008 | PB | Amazon | Bookshop
40. Before John Was a Jazz Giant: A Song of John Coltrane
Carole Boston Weatherford | Sean Qualls | Henry Holt and Co. (BYR) | April 1, 2008 | PB | Amazon | Bookshop
41. Ella Fitzgerald: The Tale of a Vocal Virtuosa
Andrea Davis Pinkney | Brian Pinkney | Disney-Hyperion | April 1, 2002 | PB | Amazon | Bookshop
42. Ray Charles
Sharon Bell Mathis | George Ford | Lee & Low Books | May 10, 2001 | Amazon | Bookshop
43. The Blues Singers: Ten Who Rocked the World
Julius Lester | Lisa Cohen | Jump At The Sun | May 1, 2001 | PB | Amazon
44. Marian Anderson: A Great Singer
Patricia McKissack | Fredrick McKissack | Enslow | January 1, 2001 | PB | Amazon | Bookshop
45. Duke Ellington: The Piano Prince and His Orchestra
Andrea Davis Pinkney | Brian Pinkney | Little, Brown BYR | March 3, 1999 | PB | Amazon | Bookshop
If you enjoy the new releases announcements, book lists, and other features on our blog, go here to support BCBA with a tax-deductible donation and here to subscribe to our newsletter. Thanks for your support.
