John E. Fry ’62 (1944-2014)
Founded Ardent Studios in Memphis; associated with great music since the 1960s – Led Zeppelin, Sam & Dave, The Staple Singers, Booker T. & the M.G.’s, ZZ Top, R.E.M., B.B. King, Travis Tritt, Three 6 Mafia, Al Kapone, Cat Power, North Mississippi Allstars, The White Stripes, Bob Dylan; produced and engineered music for Big Star, with alumni Chris Bell ’69 and Andy Hummel ’69
John S. King III ’62
Partnered with John Fry ’62 and Fred Smith ’62 to form Ardent Records in 1958; DJ and publicist at Ardent in the 1970s; amassed a personal collection of music containing more than 60,000 singles, LPs, and CDs that now composes Crosstown Concourse’s Memphis Listening Lab
John Michael Beck Taylor ’67
Known as Michael Beck, studied at London’s Central School of Speech and Drama and has acted in television, movies, and theater; best known as Swan in The Warriors (1979) and Sonny Malone in Xanadu (1980); has narrated audiobooks, including many of John Grisham’s novels and also My Life by Bill Clinton
Chris Bell ’69 (1951-78)
Musician, guitarist, singer, and songwriter famous for his association with the band Big Star and its first album #1 Record (1972); engineered at John Fry’s ’62 Ardent Studios in Memphis; went on to a solo career
Andy Hummel ’69 (1951-2010)
Bassist and singer-songwriter best known for his association with the band Big Star and their albums #1 Record and Radio City; became an engineer with Lockheed Martin
S. Thomas “Tommy” Peters ’73 (1954-2021)
“Master of Vibe” responsible for revitalizing the historic Beale Street entertainment district in 1991 with the opening of B.B. King’s Blues Club, with locations in Nashville, Orlando, New Orleans, Montgomery, and even cruise ships; close friend to B.B. King; proprietor of Itta Bena on Beale Street, Lafayette’s Music Room in Overton Square, and Moondance Grill next to the Germantown Performing Arts Center
Joel B. Lazarov ’82
Emmy-winning television director and producer. Began career as production assistant on television commercials; worked in various capacities on the series Northern Exposure; producer and supervising producer on New York Undercover, Spy Game, The Agency, Threat Matrix, NCIS: Naval Criminal Investigative Service, The Mountain, Invasion, Psych, and Gossip Girl, where he made his directorial debut in 2008; won 2021 Emmy as co-executive producer of Dolly Parton's Christmas on The Square
J. Sherman Willmott ’84
Opened Shangri-La Records in 1989 and later began Shangri-La Projects, a record label, production company, and publisher; launched music and culture fanzine Kreature Comforts; first curator of the Stax Museum of American Soul Music in 1999; founding board member of Memphis Listening Lab, a collection of more than 67,000 singles, LPs, CDs, and books at Crosstown Concourse, gathered by co-founder of Ardent Records John King ’62; author of Memphis Rocks! a Concert History, 1955-1985 with Ron Hall (2014), Sputnik, Masked Men, and Midgets: The Early Days of Memphis Wrestling (2009) and Will Roy Sanders: The Last Living Bluesman (1999)
Richard L. Bloom ’94
Film and television production designer and art director; television credits include production design on USA’s Briarpatch and art direction on season one of the Golden Globe-nominated Homecoming and season two of True Detective; film credits include art direction on Bullet Train, The Matrix 4, Bumblebee, War for the Planet of the Apes and Halo: Forward Unto Dawn; TV commercial credits include art direction on Geico’s Crushed campaign and Target’s Toycracker: A Mini-Musical Spectacular
Elliott L. Ives ’96
Guitarist for Justin Timberlake and his Tennessee Kids band; collaborator and producer on Timberlake’s music; veteran of Memphis-based bands CYC, Lord T & Eloise, and FreeSol
Harrison M. “Harry” Ford ’01
TV and film actor; played Angus Leighton, a surgical resident, in all three seasons of the CBS medical drama Code Black; feature film debut was in Joachim Trier’s Louder than Bombs, which premiered at Cannes in 2015; also had a role in the 2015 movie The Grid: Zombie Outlet Maul
Henry P. “Hank” Sullivant III ’01
Rock musician and record producer; leader of rock band Kuroma; known for early work with pop-rock band The Whigs; toured as guitarist with pop and rock band MGMT; co-founded Georgia-based blues-rock band Blue Blood. Has produced albums for bands including Gift Horse, Wages, and Colour Revolt
Robert A. Baird IV ’05
Known as Rob Baird, Americana/country artist and singer-songwriter; released debut album Blue-Eyed Angels in 2010; I Swear It’s the Truth, named one of the top 20 albums of the year by Spin Magazine, in 2012; Wrong Side of the River in 2016; and After All in 2019. Songs from his albums used in Lifetime’s Army Wives, CW’s Hart of Dixie, and Netflix original series The Ranch