Miles Davis was born in Alton, Illinois in 1926. He was an American jazz musician, trumpeter, bandleader, and composer. In 1944, following high school graduation, Davis moved to New York City to study at the Juilliard School of Music. In 1945, Davis began playing professionally, recording as a band leader the following year. In 1948 he gave birth to the “cool jazz” movement. The following year, Davis went on tour in Paris, returning to New York, where he soon began to feel under-appreciated by the critics. Davis blamed these factors for the heroin habit that deeply affected him for the next four years. By 1953, his drug addiction began to impair his playing ability, trying several times to end his drug addiction, finally succeeding in 1954.

Despite all the personal turmoil, the 1950–54 period saw Davis assume a central position in what is known as hard bop. During this time, Davis also began using the Harmon mute, in a way that became his signature. The "nocturnal" quality of Davis' playing and his somber reputation earned him the lasting moniker of "prince of darkness", adding mystery to his public persona.

In the late 1950s and early 1960s, Davis recorded a series of albums with Gil Evans, including Porgy and Bess, from George Gershwin's opera, and Kind of Blue, which proved to be the best selling jazz album of all time. From 1964-1968, the last of his acoustic bands was referred to as the “second great quintet”. By the end of the decade, Davis’s influences included Sly and the Family Stone, James Brown, and Jimi Hendrix, ushering in the era of jazz-rock fusion.

In the early 1970’s, Davis entered a period of new creative exploration called "space music". These records featured cover art more in line with psychedelic art or black power movements than that of his earlier albums. During this time, Davis also contributed extensively to the soundtrack of a documentary about the African-American heavyweight boxing champion Jack Johnson. Davis drew parallels between Johnson, whose career had been defined by the fruitless search for a Great White Hope to dethrone him, and Davis's own career, in which he felt the musical establishment of the time had prevented him from receiving the acclaim and rewards that were due him. As Davis stated in his autobiography, he wanted to make music for the young African-American audience and On the Corner, recorded in 1972, blended funk elements with the traditional jazz styles he had played his entire career. I

n 1975, Davis withdrew almost completely from the public eye for six years, describing himself as a hermit, and detailing his drug and sex addictions. By 1979, Davis rekindled his relationship with actress Cicely Tyson, overcoming his cocaine addiction and regained his enthusiasm for music. Having first taken part in the Artists United Against Apartheid recording, Davis signed with Warner Brothers records and Tutu, recorded in1986, would be his first to use modern studio tools such as programmed synthesizers to create an entirely new sound. Ecstatically reviewed, the album won a Grammy in 1987. His last recordings, both released posthumously, were the hip hop-influenced studio album Doo-Bop and Miles & Quincy Live at Montreux,1991. For the first time in three decades, Davis returned to the songs of the 1950s albums, leaving a lot of people who had been disappointed with his newer, more experimental works happy that he had ended his career in such a way.