kids encyclopedia robot

The Entertainer (rag) facts for kids

Kids Encyclopedia Facts
Quick facts for kids
The Entertainer
by Scott Joplin
The front cover of "The Entertainer"'s sheet music. It has a green background and in the center is a red ink drawing of a caricatured African-American performer on stage in top hat and tails
First edition cover of "The Entertainer"
Genre Ragtime
Form Ragtime two step
Published 1902 (1902)
Publisher John Stark & Son
Duration Typically 3:53

"The Entertainer" is a 1902 classic piano rag written by Scott Joplin. It was sold first as sheet music, and in the 1910s as piano rolls that would play on player pianos. The first recording was by blues and ragtime musicians the Blue Boys in 1928, played on mandolin and guitar.

As one of the classics of ragtime, it returned to international prominence as part of the ragtime revival in the 1970s, when it was used as the theme music for the 1973 Oscar-winning film The Sting. Composer and pianist Marvin Hamlisch's adaptation reached #3 on the Billboard pop chart and spent a week at #1 on the easy listening chart in 1974. The Sting was set in the 1930s, a full generation after the end of ragtime's mainstream popularity, thus giving the inaccurate impression that ragtime music was popular at that time.

The Recording Industry Association of America ranked it #10 on its "Songs of the Century" list.

See also

Kids robot.svg In Spanish: The Entertainer para niños

kids search engine
The Entertainer (rag) Facts for Kids. Kiddle Encyclopedia.