Ramsey Emmanuel Lewis Jr. (May 27, 1935 – September 12, 2022) was an American jazz pianist, composer, and radio personality. Lewis recorded over 80 albums and received five gold records and three Grammy Awards in his career. His album The In Crowd earned Lewis critical praise and the 1965 Grammy Award for Best Jazz Performance. His best known singles include “The ‘In’ Crowd“, “Wade in the Water“, and “Sun Goddess“. Until 2009, he was the host of the Ramsey Lewis Morning Show on the Chicago radio station WNUA.

Lewis was also active in musical education in Chicago. He founded the Ramsey Lewis Foundation, established the Ravinia’s Jazz Mentor Program, and served on the board of trustees for the Merit School of Music and The Chicago High School for the Arts.

Ramsey Lewis was born on May 27, 1935, in Chicago to Ramsey Lewis Sr. and Pauline Lewis. His father was a church choir director and Lewis felt that his father influenced him to study music. When it was decided that his older sister, Lucille, would take piano lessons and not Ramsey also (because their father felt he could only afford lessons for one child), Ramsey threw a fit. His father relented and somehow found the money. Thus Lewis began taking piano lessons at the age of four with Ernestine Bruce, the church pianist and organist. When Lewis was 11, Bruce suggested he study with Dorothy Mendelssohn at the Chicago Musical College. Mendelssohn taught him classical technique with the philosophy that “it freed the performer from the thinking about the notes so he could concentrate on the music.” Lewis realized what she meant when he saw Wynton Kelly with the Miles Davis group, Kelly asked him to play something, and Kelly complimented him by saying “Boy, I wish I had technique.”