If you are contemplating moving to Albany but the city’s beautiful parks, modern infrastructure, and family-friendly neighborhoods have not done enough to convince you that you are making the right choice, we’ve got just the right kind of motivation for you; a list of famous people who at some point in their lives lived in Albany and loved it.
Branch is a native resident of Albany who played as a wide receiver for several top tier teams in the NFL including the New England Patriots, the Seattle Seahawks, and the Indianapolis Colts. During the 2005 Super Bowl, Branch was the most expensive player in the competition.
Charles, also known as “Brother Ray” or “The Genius”, was a famous musician and composer who hailed from the riverfront city of Albany. He is the father of soul music and is considered to be one of the world’s greatest blues singers of all time. Some of his best works include Georgia On My Mind, Drown in My Own Tears and Hallelujah I Love Her So. Having helped shape the music industry in the late 1900s, Charles was the recipient of a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award, one of the many accolades he received for his outstanding contributions to the music industry. Despite losing his sight at a young age, Charles still manages to achieve more than most people would achieve in two lifetimes.
Davis was a famous American athlete who is mostly remembered for being the first African-American female to win an Olympic gold medal. Her participation in the 1948 Olympic Games was her one and only chance on the world stage, and to her relief, she broke a 16-year-old record in the high jump competitions and went on to win the gold medal in the finals. She quit professional competitions at the age of 24 and resorted to coaching. At the time of her death in 2014, Davis was still a resident of Albany, her birth town, and an inductee of the Georgia Sports Hall of Fame.
Other famous residents and former residents of Albany include TV personality Paula Ann Hiers who owns two family restaurants in Albany and runs an online cooking show; Olympic gold medalist Angelo F. Taylor, retired golfer Nancy Marie Lopez; and former Brigadier General John C. “Doc” Bahnsen, Jr. of the U.S. Army.
