Scott Joplin Essentials

The most famous composer of ragtime—early, syncopated jazz and Dixieland music—Scott Joplin was born in Texas and spent his early years teaching music. In 1899, Joplin found success with his composition "Maple Leaf Rag." Despite going on to write two operas, a ballet, and 44 original ragtime pieces, his brief career peaked with that work, and Joplin died in 1917 of complications from syphilis. After "The Entertainer" and other Joplin works were revived in the movie The Sting, he was awarded a posthumous Pulitzer Prize in 1976.