Black musicians have through their music influenced British society and culture. John Blanke represents the long existence of black musicians and their influence at British royal courts. John was a royal trumpeter in the courts of Henry VII and Henry VIII and remains the only black Tudor for whom there is an identifiable image. There are other accounts of black musicians in Britain in 1504.
Credit: Bradford Timeline. Attribution-NonCommercial 2.0 Generic (CC BY-NC 2.0). https://www.flickr.com/photos/bradford_timeline/31015092591/.
There are also records of black musicians in Bristol in the eighteenth century. Thus, long before the current generation of black British musicians such as Stormzy, there have been many black musicians that have played a significant part in the music industry in the UK.
Aldwyn Roberts (Lord Kitchener) was a regular performer on BBC radio. Winifred Atwell is the first black musician – male or female – to have a UK No.1. She’s also thought to be the first black artist in Britain to sell a million records.