Scott Joplin
By Alex Irizarry and Braden Creel
Define
Scott Joplin was an American composer who achieved great fame through rag time music, and eventually became known as the "The King of Ragtime".
Detail
1. Joplin had been in the music business for a few years without much success, before he began composing ragtime pieces. Through his short career, Joplin would go on to write 44 original pieces, one ragtime ballet, and two operas.
2. One of Joplin's first pieces, the "Maple Leaf Rag", became the first and most influential rag time hit.
3. While nothing he did was as popular as Maple Leaf Rag during his lifetime, his pieces are now considered to be greatly influential to the culture of American pop music.