Artist Biography
Lin-Manuel Miranda’s hip-hop musical about Alexander Hamilton was a massive hit when it opened Off Broadway at the Public Theater in February 2015, before moving its sold-out run to Broadway six months later. The show has won 11 Tony Awards.
• By casting non-white actors to portray the Founding Fathers, Miranda created a musical about “America then, as told by America now.”
• Miranda wrote all the music in the show (and on the cast album), drawing on influences from the Notorious B.I.G. to Gilbert & Sullivan. The songs reflect a range of rap styles from the ’80s and ’90s mixed with elements of pop, soul, and showtunes.
• The original cast recording hit No. 1 on Billboard’s Cast Albums and Rap Albums charts and peaked at No. 2 on the Billboard 200 on its way to becoming the best-selling cast recording of all time, with sales of more than 7 million copies.
• Nine of the 10 principle Hamilton cast members who started at the Public Theater went on to Broadway, including Miranda in the title role and Leslie Odom Jr. as Aaron Burr.
• Christopher Jackson, who portrayed George Washington, had previously worked with Miranda in the latter’s 2005 musical In the Heights, which opened Off Broadway in 2007 and moved to Broadway in 2008.
• The Hamilton Original Broadway Cast Recording won a Grammy in 2016 for Best Musical Theater Album.
• Released in 2016, The Hamilton Mixtape offers covers, remixes, and a few songs that didn’t make the original musical. Performers range from hip-hop artists like The Roots and Nas to singers like Kelly Clarkson, Alicia Keys, and John Legend.
• Launched in 2017, the companion project Hamildrops brought a new Hamilton-related song every month for a year. Participants included The Decemberists, who added music to a set of lyrics Miranda wrote about Ben Franklin, and “Weird Al” Yankovic, who did a polka medley of songs from the show.
Hometown
Genre
Musicals
