Even though he spent most of his early years in Louisiana, Tim McGraw, country music superstar, spent his late teens in Jacksonville. His mother moved to Jacksonville in 1987 and McGraw attended Florida Community College in Jacksonville and played with bands around town. In 1989 he dropped out of college and moved to Nashville to pursue his dream of country music stardom.

 

Ray Charles, soul legend, also passed through Jacksonville on his way to becoming a popular music icon. He was 15 years old in 1945 which was the year that his mother died. Charles (then Charles Ray Robinson) had been playing in various Tallahassee clubs before moving to Jacksonville. After his mother’s death he decided that he was not returning to school. He played in various Jacksonville locales like the Ritz Theatre. Eventually, he would leave Jacksonville for Orlando and Tampa. He would later change his name to Ray Charles so as to avoid being mistaken for boxer Sugar Ray Robinson.

Unlike the other two artists on this list, Durst was actually born in Jacksonville. Durst joined the navy in 1990 but left before finishing boot camp. He chose, instead, to pursue a career as a tattoo artist. In 1995 he would start Limp Bizkit and much of the band’s subsequent success would arise from contacts Durst made with musicians via his tattoo artistry while in Jacksonville. For example, his relationships with members of the bands Korn and Garbage. Others members of Limp Bizkit from Jacksonville include bassist Sam Rivers and drummer John Otto.