Editing Street performance (section)

== Notable performers ==
[[File:Colin Huggins playing piano with listeners.jpg|thumb|[[Colin Huggins]] playing a grand piano in [[Washington Square Park]], New York City]]
[[File:Edward McMichael Seahawks NFCChamps 20060122 094.jpg|thumb|[[Edward Scott McMichael|Ed "Tuba Man" McMichael]] (''right'') in 2006]]
[[File:Arthur Nakane.jpeg|thumb|[[Arthur Nakane]], a street performer and former one-man band who performs regularly in the [[Little Tokyo, Los Angeles|Little Tokyo]] community of Los Angeles]]
[[File:Billy Waters, a one-legged busker. Coloured engraving by T.L Wellcome V0007298.jpg|thumb|[[Billy Waters (busker)|Billy Waters]], a London busker from the 19th century]]

<!--PLEASE KEEP THIS ALPHABETICAL --- PLEASE GET A CONSENSUS BEFORE ADDING ANY ADDITIONAL NAMES-->
*[[5 Seconds of Summer]], Australian pop rock band. Prior to achieving international fame, the band busked in [[Rouse Hill, New South Wales|Rouse Hill]] and other parts of [[Sydney]].<ref>{{Cite news|date=2014-08-01|title=Video surfaces of band's humble beginnings|url=https://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/newslocal/the-hills/before-they-were-famous-5-seconds-of-summer-busked-for-their-pennies-in-a-rouse-hill-mall/news-story/5c66a5f72a5fa8aa6a0590d467d11c8b|access-date=2020-08-26|newspaper=Daily Telegraph|language=en|last1=Murray|first1=Oliver}}</ref>
*[[Abby the Spoon Lady]] is a professional spoon player, street performer, and [[Street performing (U.S. case law)|busking]] advocate who lives in [[Asheville, North Carolina]].<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.citizen-times.com/story/life/2014/11/13/living-portrait-series-spoon-lady/18982245/|title=Living Portrait series: The Spoon Lady|newspaper=Citizen Times|language=en|access-date=2017-01-25}}</ref>
*[[Josephine Baker]] started street dancing to make money and was recruited for the St. Louis Chorus [[vaudeville]] show at the age of 15, which started her dancing career. 
*[[Joshua Bell]], a noted classical violinist, posed as a busker in the [[L'Enfant Plaza station|L'Enfant Plaza]] Metro station in [[Washington, D.C.]] at rush hour in 2007, as part of a feature in ''[[The Washington Post]]''. In the 45 minutes that Bell played, only seven people out of over a thousand who passed by stopped to watch, and he took in just over $32. [[Gene Weingarten]] later won a [[Pulitzer Prize]] for the story.<ref>[[Gene Weingarten|weingarten, Gene]] (April 8, 2008) [https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/magazine/pearls-before-breakfast-can-one-of-the-nations-great-musicians-cut-through-the-fog-of-a-dc-rush-hour-lets-find-out/2014/09/23/8a6d46da-4331-11e4-b47c-f5889e061e5f_story.html?noredirect=on "Pearls Before Breakfast: Can one of the nation's great musicians cut through the fog of a D.C. rush hour? Let's find out"] ''[[The Washington Post]]''</ref>
* [[Catfish the Bottleman]] a well-known busker from Sydney, Australia, so inspired Van McCann of [[Catfish and the Bottlemen]] that he named his band after him. He watched him perform as a child and said that it was his first memory of music.<ref>{{cite web|title=Catfish and the Bottleman reveal touching Aussie story behind their band name|url=http://www.abc.net.au/triplej/musicnews/s4132717.htm|website=abc.net.au|access-date=3 July 2015}}</ref>
*[[Tracy Chapman]] began her career busking in [[Harvard Square]] in [[Cambridge, Massachusetts]].
*[[Mike Doughty]], former singer for [[Soul Coughing]], released ''[[Mike Doughty|Busking]]'', which contains 12 tracks from a 2007 busking performance in the [[14th Street/Sixth Avenue (New York City Subway)|14th Street subway station]] in New York City.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.mikedoughty.com/blog/archives/000789.html |title=Mike Doughty |access-date=2009-11-26 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110514111241/http://www.mikedoughty.com/blog/archives/000789.html |archive-date=14 May 2011 |df=dmy-all }}</ref>
*[[Newton Faulkner]] has been known to busk and video footage of him busking has been made available on YouTube, including a full acoustic cover of [[Queen (band)|Queen]]'s "[[Bohemian Rhapsody]]".
*[[Benjamin Franklin]], the American inventor and statesman, was a street performer. He composed songs, poetry and prose about current events and went out in public and performed them. He would then sell printed copies of them to the public. He was dissuaded from busking by his father who convinced him it was not worth the stigmas that some people attach to it. It was this experience that helped form his beliefs in free speech, which he wrote about in his journals.<ref name="BF" />
*[[G4 (band)|G4]], the British [[popera]] quartet, performed as buskers across London during their college days.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/6532633.stm|title=Classical group G4 announce split|date=6 April 2007|access-date=12 September 2016|via=bbc.co.uk}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://metro.co.uk/2008/02/24/x-factor-star-tops-classical-charts-7844/|title=X Factor star tops classical charts|last=metrowebukmetro|date=24 February 2008|access-date=12 September 2016}}</ref>
*[[Mark Goffeney]], aka 'Big Toe', known for playing guitar despite being born [[Amelia (birth defect)|without arms]].<ref name="ABILITY1">{{Cite web |date=2010 |title=Mark Goffeney — There's No Business Like Toe Business |url=https://abilitymagazine.com/mark-goffeney-theres-no-business-like-toe-business/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220722203206/https://abilitymagazine.com/mark-goffeney-theres-no-business-like-toe-business/ |archive-date=2022-07-22 |access-date=2023-09-02 |website=ABILITY Magazine |language=en-US}}</ref>
*[[Shannon Hoon]], former singer for [[Blind Melon]], was known to busk all over the U.S.{{Citation needed|date=August 2011}}
*[[Colin Huggins]], a classical pianist who performs on a [[Steinway]] [[grand piano]] in [[Washington Square Park]] and other parks in [[Greenwich Village]], [[New York City]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/16/nyregion/coronavirus-pianist-washington-square-nyc.html|title=It's a Tough Time to Be a Street Musician With a 900-Pound Piano|author=Alex Vadukul|date=July 16, 2020|work=The New York Times|access-date=November 6, 2021}}</ref>
*[[Henry Johnson (acrobat)]] (1806–1910), [[circus]] acrobat and street entertainer using [[acrobatics]], [[tightrope-walking]] etc.
*[[Keytar Bear]], a busker in Boston, Massachusetts, who wears a bear suit and plays a keytar. 
*[[Guy Laliberté]] was a street performer when he founded the [[Cirque du Soleil]] theatrical company in 1984.<ref>[http://www.evancarmichael.com/Famous-Entrepreneurs/1689/From-Busker-To-Billionaire-How-Guy-Laliberte-Achieved-Success.html From Busker To Billionaire: How Guy Laliberté Achieved Success] EvanCarmichael.com.</ref>
*[[Loreena McKennitt]], developing a passion for Celtic music, learned to play the [[Celtic harp]] and began busking at various places, including St. Lawrence Market in [[Toronto]] in order to earn money to record her first album.
*[[Edward McMichael]] was a celebrated street musician known as Seattle's "Tuba Man", who busked outside the city's various sports and performing arts venues. In 2008, he was killed by attackers who were attempting to rob him.
*Sterling Magee and [[Adam Gussow]], AKA [[Satan and Adam]], were busking on [[125th Street (Manhattan)|125th Street]] in Harlem, New York City, in the summer of 1987 when the members of [[U2]], accompanied by a film crew, paused to watch the blues duo. The scene later appeared in the film ''[[Rattle and Hum]]''.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x6M2aWVx0LA| archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211107/x6M2aWVx0LA| archive-date=2021-11-07 | url-status=live|title=Satan and Adam – Harlem, 1987 (in U2's ''Rattle and Hum'')|last=Modern Blues Harmonica|date=6 March 2007|access-date=12 September 2016|via=YouTube}}{{cbignore}}</ref>
*[[George Michael]] used to busk near the [[London Underground]], performing songs such as [[A Night at the Opera (Queen album)#"'39"|'39]] by [[Queen (band)|Queen]].<ref>
[http://www.queenzone.com/news/a-night-at-the-opera.aspx A Night At The Opera] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150510152854/http://www.queenzone.com/news/a-night-at-the-opera.aspx |date=10 May 2015 }}  QueenZone.com Retrieved 23 January 2013
</ref>
*[[Peter Mulvey]], the singer-songwriter, recorded an entire album down in the [[Boston subway]], where he was a regular busker. In most cases, songs were recorded in one or two takes.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.npr.org/programs/wesun/features/2002/mulvey/ |title=The Subterranean World of Peter Mulvey |author=Hansen, Liane |date=22 September 2002 |access-date=2010-06-13 |work=Weekend Edition |publisher=[[National Public Radio]]}}</ref>
*[[Kristyna Myles]] won the BBC Radio 5 Live Busker of the Year competition in 2005 and has gone on to sign a recording contract with Decca. Her debut album is due for release in September 2012.
*[[Paul Oscher]], a famous Blues musician and harp player, has busked as "Brooklyn Slim" on the Venice Boardwalk to try out new material. Oscher, a two-time [[Blues Music Award|W.C Handy Award]] winner, was the harp player for [[Muddy Waters]] and his band in the late 1960s and early 1970s. He currently performs at blues festivals in the U.S. and internationally.
*[[Amanda Palmer]], singer-songwriter, internet personality and founder of [[The Dresden Dolls]] started out performing as a [[living statue]] around the world.
*[[Don Partridge]], an English singer and songwriter, known as the "king of the buskers". Achieved unexpected commercial success in the UK and Europe in the late 1960s with the songs "Rosie", "Blue Eyes" and "Breakfast On Pluto".
*[[Natalia Paruz]], aka 'Saw Lady', who can be seen in movies such as ''[[Dummy (2002 film)|Dummy]]'' and heard on many movie soundtracks, has been playing the [[musical saw]] in the New York City subway since 1994.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://vimeo.com/21236399 |title=Natalia Paruz, musical saw Player | work=subwaymusicblog.com (Vimeo)| date=15 March 2011 |access-date=2011-04-09}}</ref>
*Surf/ska band the [[Red Elvises]] boosted their career by playing outside in [[Santa Monica, California]], on the [[Third Street Promenade]]. Their manic performances attracted such large crowds that city officials asked them to stop.<ref>{{cite magazine |url=https://www.sanantoniomag.com/events/red-elvises/ |title=Red Elvises |date=November 2023 |magazine=San Antonio |access-date=25 January 2024}}</ref>
*[[Alice Tan Ridley]], busked in New York City subway stations for 30 years; semi-finalist in ''[[America's Got Talent]]'', mother of [[Gabourey Sidibe]]<ref>[https://www.nytimes.com/2016/09/18/nyregion/alice-tan-ridley-subway-singer-gets-the-spotlight-after-years-underground.html "After Years Underground, a Subway Singer Gets the Spotlight"] by Susan Hartman, ''[[The New York Times]]'', 16 September 2016</ref>
*[[Rodrigo y Gabriela]], began their career by busking in Dublin, Ireland.
*[[Peg Leg Sam]], a famous harmonica player from South Carolina, preferred busking over all other forms/venues. His most requested song was "[[John Henry (song)|John Henry]]".{{citation needed|date=June 2013}}
*[[Daniel Seavey]] performed in the streets of Portland, Oregon, and subsequently joined boy band [[Why Don't We]]. 
*Ketch Secor, whose group [[Old Crow Medicine Show]] started with busking and remains committed to it, has said: "People ... have short attention spans. ... So if you can get 'em to stop ... if you can get 'em to listen with a song, then you've got yourself a keeper."<ref name=Parton>{{cite news|last=Parton|first=Chris|title=Old Crow Medicine Show Carries Traditional Country New Album, Carry Me Back, Takes a Somber Approach|url=http://www.cmt.com/news/country-music/1690042/old-crow-medicine-show-carries-traditional-country.jhtml|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120722031923/http://www.cmt.com/news/country-music/1690042/old-crow-medicine-show-carries-traditional-country.jhtml|url-status=dead|archive-date=22 July 2012|access-date=25 September 2012|newspaper=CMT News|date=19 July 2012}}</ref>
*[[The Piccadilly Rats]], street performance group from Manchester, England
*[[Allie Sherlock]] sings on [[Grafton Street]], [[Dublin]]
*[[Tuba Skinny]], street band in New Orleans
*[[Rod Stewart]] began hanging around folk singer [[Wizz Jones]] and busking, at [[Leicester Square]] and other London spots in 1962.<ref name="eh-24-28">Ewbank and Hildred, ''Rod Stewart: The New Biography'', pp. 24–28.</ref> On several trips over the next 18 months, Jones and Stewart took their act to [[Brighton]] and then to Paris, sleeping under bridges over the river [[Seine]], and then finally to [[Barcelona]].<ref name="eh-24-28" /> Finally this resulted in Stewart being rounded up and deported from Spain for [[vagrancy]] during 1963.<ref name="eh-24-28" /><ref>{{cite book| last=Pareles | first=Jon | author-link=Jon Pareles | author2=Romanowski, Patricia | title=The Rolling Stone Encyclopedia of Rock & Roll | url=https://archive.org/details/rollingstoneency00pare | url-access=registration | publisher=[[Rolling Stone Press]]/[[Summit Books]] |year= 1983 |isbn=978-0-671-43457-1 | page=[https://archive.org/details/rollingstoneency00pare/page/530 530]}}</ref>
*[[Tash Sultana]], an Australian singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist who busked on the streets of Melbourne.<ref>{{cite news | url=http://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/music/tash-sultana-review-welcome-to-the-jungle-of-the-one-woman-band-20161019-gs5ieb.html | title=Tash Sultana review: Welcome to the jungle of the one woman band | newspaper=Sydney Morning Herald | date=October 19, 2016 | author=Lucy Cormack | access-date=2017-01-26 }}</ref>
*[[SungBeats]], a beatbox loop artist won the [[Apollo Theater|Amateur Night at the Apollo]] competition in 2014.
*[[Damo Suzuki]], the singer of the band [[Can (band)|Can]], was found by band members Czukay and Liebezeit busking outside a [[Munich]] café and was asked to perform with the band that same night. 
*[[Tones and I]], an Australian indie-pop singer-songwriter and musician.
*[[KT Tunstall]], a popular Scottish singer, has been recorded busking in Glasgow.
*[[Nik Turner]], former saxophonist with [[Hawkwind]] and [[Inner City Unit]], continues to busk regularly in the streets of his adopted hometown [[Cardigan, Ceredigion|Cardigan]].
*[[T. Rex (band)|T. Rex]] members [[Marc Bolan]] and [[Steve Peregrin Took]] first performed as an acoustic guitar/bongos duo when they went busking together in [[Hyde Park, London|Hyde Park]] in summer 1967 after their electric equipment had been confiscated by [[Track Records]] and their two bandmates had both left. In this acoustic format, the duo would go on to release three albums.
*[[Unipiper]], a performer in Portland, Oregon, is known for playing the bagpipes on a unicycle.
*[[Violent Femmes]] were discovered by [[James Honeyman-Scott]] (of [[The Pretenders]]) on 23 August 1981, when the band was busking on a street corner in front of the [[Oriental Theatre (Milwaukee)|Oriental Theatre]], the [[Milwaukee]] venue that [[The Pretenders]] would be playing later that night. [[Chrissie Hynde]] invited them to play a brief acoustic set after the opening act.
*[[Yamunabai Waikar]], decorated Indian folk–[[Lavani]]–[[Tamasha]] artist busked with her mother as a child.<ref>[http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/pune/A-tearjerker-from-Wai/articleshow/603512.cms "A tearjerker from Wai"] by Navami Naik, ''[[The Times of India]]'', 11 February 2002</ref>
*[[Billy Waters (busker)|Billy Waters]], a one-legged busker who rose to prominence in London during the nineteenth century.
*[[Hayley Westenra]] at one time busked on the streets of Christchurch, New Zealand.<ref>
[http://www.askmen.com/celebs/women/singer_300/375_hayley_westenra.html#famous Hayley Westenra Biography] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100127103000/http://www.askmen.com/celebs/women/singer_300/375_hayley_westenra.html#famous |date=27 January 2010 }}  ''askmen.com''; IGN Entertainment.
</ref>
*The NYC BuskerBall; BuskerBall.com, is an annual event showcasing the worlds best buskers, NYC Buskerball INC is a registered non for profit (501(c)(b) that strives to educate the public on the art of busking and stages an annual festival in Brooklyn.