Red hot and blue

RHYthm and blues, or 'R&B', was originally a marketing term used in the late 1940s to describe upbeat music performed by African American artists. It was a combination of jazz, gospel

and blues.

In those days, there was no clear distinction between jazz and rhythm and blues. A lot of swing bands also recorded rhythm and blues, while most of the studio musicians in rhythm and blues were jazz musicians.

The 1980s saw R&B becoming a more distinct genre. The world was introduced to solo R&B artists such as Luther Vandross, Prince, Michael Jackson and his younger sister Janet, as well as Whitney Houston.

Popular R&B groups included New Edition, which later inspired the creation of boy bands such as New Kids On the Block and The Backstreet Boys.

In the 1990s, the tremendous success achieved by Mariah Carey, girl group TLC and male group Boyz II Men made contemporary R&B even more popular.