John Birks “Dizzie” Gillespie was born in Cheraw, South Carolina in 1917. He was an American jazz trumpeter, bandleader, composer and occasional singer. Gillespie started to play the piano at the age of four and taught himself how to play the trombone as well as the trumpet by the age of twelve. He joined Cab Calloway's orchestra in 1939 and during this time he started writing big band music for bandleaders Woody Herman and Jimmy Dorsey. In 1943, Gillespie joined the Earl Hinds band, which included Charlie Parker. During the mid-40’s, Gillespie jammed at famous jazz clubs like Minton's Playhouse and Monroe’s Uptown House, while appearing frequently as a soloist with Norman Granz's Jazz at the Philharmonic. Also, during that same time, Gillespie finally put together his first successful big band, trying to popularize bop, making him a symbol of the new music. In the late 1940s, Gillespie was also involved in the movement called Afro-Cuban music, bringing Afro-Latin American music and elements to greater prominence in jazz and even pop music, particularly salsa. During the 1964 United States presidential campaign, the artist put himself forward as independent write-in candidate. Campaign buttons had been manufactured for publicity, as a gag", but later proceeds from them went to benefit the Congress of Racial Equality, Southern Christian Leadership Conference and Martin Luther King, Jr.

In the 1980s, Gillespie led the United Nation Orchestra. In 1989 Gillespie gave 300 performances in 27 countries, appearing in 100 U.S. cities. He received the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres; France's most prestigious cultural award, and was named Regent Professor by the University of California, receiving his fourteenth honorary doctoral degree. In addition, he was awarded the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award the same year. In 1990, Gillespie received the Kennedy Center Honors Award and the American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers Duke Ellington Award.He was also known for speaking out on social issues- particularly civil rights. Gillespie performed at Martin Luther King, Jr.’s family church two days before the reverend's burial service. King’s message of peace became an increasingly important motivator for him, especially after being introduced to the Bahai faith in 1966, which stressed racial and religious unity. “Bahai gave me a new spiritual dimension,” says Gillespie, "a new understanding of god’s plan for mankind."No one did more to demonstrate the power of jazz to cross all the international boundaries than Gillespie. “The role of music and musicians, he said, was to “help set things right."