Miles Dewey Davis III was born on 26 May 1926, in Alton, Illinois USA, and was a bandleader, composer, and rated as one of the noted trumpeters of all time, best known for his various musical contributions to jazz. His career spanned five decades, and he was responsible for influencing several genres. All of his efforts have helped put his net worth to where it was prior to his passing in 1991.
How rich was Miles Davis? As of late-2016, sources inform us of a net worth that was at $10 million, mostly earned through a successful career in the music industry. He helped develop cool jazz, while recording many albums. He also performed around the country and internationally, with all of his achievements ensuring the position of his wealth.
Miles Davis Net Worth $10 million
At the age of 13, Miles would start his journey in music when his father gave him a trumpet and started arranging lessons for him. Three years later, he became a member of a music society and began performing at Elks Club after school. The following year, he performed with Eddie Randle’s band, and was invited to join the Tiny Bradshaw Band. He matriculated from East St. Louis Lincoln High School, and afterwards joined the band of singer Billy Eckstine, despite Davis’ parents wanting him to continue his studies.
He moved to New York City and attended the Juilliard School of Music. He also held nightly jam sessions at Monroe’s and Minton’s Playhouse, and eventually he dropped out of Julliard because he disliked the school’s style which focused on European and ‘white’ music. He started performing professionally, and also took his first step into a recording studio. He would then perform with several groups, and helped move the bebop era forward. After one of his recordings, he helped popularize cool jazz with a nonet group including a tuba and French horn. They were active until 1949 and then had a contract with Capitol Records, which then led to the album “Birth of the Cool” which would solidify the “cool jazz” movement. During this time, Miles’ net worth started to steadily increase.
He travelled to Paris at the end of 1949, and found that African-Americans were less discriminated against there. A lot of people urged him to stay but he returned to the US, but after returning he would become depressed, mainly because of his separation from French singer Juliette Greco. He also started to develop an addiction to heroin, which eventually effected him greatly. Despite these struggles, his music continued to move forward and he would collaborate with a lot of other artists. He then signed a contract with Prestige records and would release numerous songs with them. He helped popularize what would be known as hard bop, which distanced itself from cool jazz. After a throat operation, he developed a whisper in his voice due to a vocal outburst, and this led him to get the nickname “prince of darkness”.
He returned to New York City and started performing again, performing with a quintet. The new group would sign a contract with Columbia Records, and Davis along with his group would release four albums, but in 1957 the group disbanded mainly due to drug problems. The following year, he would form a sextet and commence recording once again. Going into the early 1960s, Davis did a series of recordings with a jazz big band, and started incorporating European classical music. In 1964, he would form his second great quintet, which produced a series of recordings, and around this time, he started introducing music that would later influence both the rock and funk genres. He further experimented with music, however, because of health problems, he would eventually retire after a successful tour in Japan. He re-emerged in 1979, and then continued to make music until his death; his net worth continued to rise once again.
For his personal life, Miles Davis was married to Frances Davis (m. 1958–1968), Betty Davis (m. 1968–1969) and Cicely Tyson (m. 1981–1988). Davis passed away in Santa Monica, California in September 1991, due to the combined effects of respiratory failure, pneumonia, and a stroke. Many would consider his numerous musical developments as being most influential in helping pioneer 20th century music. A lot of future artists would later cite him as an influence.
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