American music, at its core, is inseparable from a history defined by reinvention, resilience, and Black artists.

Stacker takes a look at Black artists music wouldn't be the same without, from Sister Rosetta Tharpe to Tupac Shakur.

Today in Music History for Nov. 4: In 1740, English clergyman Augustus Toplady, who wrote the hymn "Rock of Ages," was born. In 1847, composer Felix Mendelssohn died at Leipzig at age 38.