In honor of Black Music Month, grab your headphones and listen back to the history and legacy of Black artists in musical theatre.

We looked back through the musical theatre canon for touchstones and significant performances to celebrate Black theatre artists. The playlist is organized chronologically by the show's Broadway premiere. It should be noted that some musicals don't have digital cast albums on Spotify. In those cases, existing covers were included to represent them (for example, the Pat Lundy cover of "Thank Heaven For You" from Micki Grant's groundbreaking Don't Bother Me, I Can't Cope and The Wiz's "Home" on Stephanie Mills' 1999 Ultimate Collection album). Still, Ain't Supposed to Die a Natural Death nor The Scottsboro Boys are available on Spotify.

Of course, the contributions of Black artists' to musical theatre and entertainment in general cannot be overstated. This playlist is merely a starting point to dive into the work that has helped sustain this industry for a century.