Through a little bit of music and a little bit of history, entertainer Byron Motley educated his audience Wednesday night at the Holmes Student Center’s Carl Sandburg Auditorium.

During “The Men, the Music, the Myths and Me: One Hundred Years of African-American Male Vocalists,” Motley sang and told stories of several black male vocalists and their influences on black history and popular music.

In 1901, Bert Williams became the father of all black performers to come after, Motley said. Williams’ performance trademark was a completely painted black face and lips.

In the roaring ’20s, the Harlem renaissance marked the mecca of a new form of music – jazz. Jazz was the first true American musical art form, Motley said.

But the ’20s wasn’t easy for jazz artists, he said.

“[Black performers] couldn’t stay in the same hotels that the whites did, and no matter how much success you had as a performer, being black was always a slap back into reality,” he said.

As decades passed, new forms of music emerged. In the 1940s, an attitude-driven form of music evolved – the blues.

In the 1950s, Nat King Cole became the most famous ballad singer in the United States – black or white, Motley said. By 1952, Cole was the first black performer to have his own TV show. During his performance, Motley sang a medley of Cole’s songs, including “Mona Lisa” and “Unforgettable.”

The 1960s saw a lot of social changes, especially after the deaths of Martin Luther King Jr., Malcolm X and John F. Kennedy. But throughout the madness, Motley said, musicians such as Sam Cooke and Marvin Gaye took the spotlight.

Sam Cooke, who disguised his name as Dale Cooke for his first record, sang a form of gospel music which developed into soul music, Motley said.

Marvin Gaye, who grew up singing in his father’s church and helped popularize Motown, was an innovator of music, even though he had a volatile relationship with his father, Motley said.

Motley finished his explanation of Gaye with a rendition of “What’s Going On.”

“Art is art no matter how it is expressed,” Motley said. “I am here to salute their spirit, humanness and passion, and we should honor their legacies by being the best that we can be.”

Motley ended the educational performance with an original composition.

“It was very moving, and it really soothed you because he had a really good voice. I learned things about my history that I didn’t learn before,” freshman English major Joyce Banner said.