He is known as "The March King" or the "American March King", to distinguish him from his British counterpart Kenneth J. Alford.

Biography of John Philip Sousa, American bandmaster and composer of many remarkable military marches, including ‘Semper Fidelis’ (1888), which became the official march of the U.S. Marine …

Sousa first received acclaim in military band circles with the writing of his march "The Gladiator" in 1886. From that time on he received ever-increasing attention and respect as a composer.

Nov 16, 2025 · U.S. Marine Corps Veteran John Philip Sousa was crossing the Atlantic on an ocean liner on Christmas Day 1896 when the tune for “Stars and Stripes Forever” popped into his head.

John Philip Sousa was born in 1854 in Washington, D.C. and died in 1932. He worked as a theater musician and conducted the U.S. Marine Band before starting his own civilian band in 1892.

Although Sousa is stereotyped as a march composer, he composed music of many forms, including 15 operettas. Among his many original works for band are suites, humoresques, fantasies, descriptive …

From 1900 to 1910, the Sousa Band toured the U.S., Europe, Great Britain, the Canary Islands, in the South Pacific, strengthening its growing reputation as the most admired American band of its...

John Philip Sousa (November 6, 1854 – March 6, 1932) was an American composer, conductor, band leader, and author of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries particularly remembered for …

We Are Almost There (1886)

A comprehensive collection of marches by John Philip Sousa, including audio recordings, scores & historical information