Jazz musician. Born Charles Christopher Parker Jr., on August 29, 1920, in Kansas City, Kansas. An only child, he was raised by his mother in Kansas City, Missouri, the hub of jazz and blues activity in the 1930s. He received his first music lessons on the baritone horn, while attending Lincoln High School in 1931. Three years later he dropped out of school to concentrate on mastering the alto saxophone and admiring Lester Young, Count Basie, Hot Lips Page, and other locally based musicians. Parker left high school with an ear for music and an addiction to barbiturates.

In 1936, he spent the summer playing at a resort in the Ozarks with George E. Lee's band. That same year, he wed 19-year-old Rebecca Ruffing (the first of his four tumultuous marriages), with whom he had one son, Leon. While 15-year-old Parker struggled to support his family, he developed a heroine addiction.

Between 1937 and 1939, he played in Kansas City with Lawrence Keyes, Tommy Douglas, Harland Leonard, and his mentor Buster Smith. He was an inveterate participant in the city's competitive jam sessions. He spent most of 1939 in New York, where he frequently heard the virtuoso pianist Art Tatum, and began working out the rhythmic and harmonic ideas that would form the basis of modern jazz.

Between 1940 and 1942 he received notoriety as a featured sideman on recordings and broadcasts with Jay McShann. Shortly after, he played briefly with the big bands of Earl Hines and Billy Eckstine, where he was a galvanizing figure among his rebellious colleagues, including Dizzy Gillespie.

The year 1945 marked a turning point in his career: he led his own group in New York, made numerous combo recordings in the new and controversial bebop style, and played extensively with Gillespie. In December 1945, the pair played an unsuccessful engagement in Hollywood. Despite the disappointment, Parker remained in Los Angeles. In June 1946, he suffered a nervous breakdown related to his drug addiction and alcoholism. As a result, he was confined for six months at Camarillo State Hospital. The following year, he made a triumphant return to New York and formed his celebrated quintet featuring Miles Davis and Max Roach.

For the next four years, he worked almost exclusively in New York and recorded the majority of his most renowned performances. During the late 1940s Parker toured in Europe, and was showcased in a variety of settings, including a string ensemble, a big band, various concert halls, and on records. By 1951, he rose to the status of the most influential jazz musician in the world. His notoriety as a heroin addict had also become legendary, and the New York police eventually withdrew his cabaret card (a requisite to working in New York nightclubs).

Thereafter, he adopted a more itinerant lifestyle, playing with pick-up groups in Boston, Newark, Philadelphia, Chicago, and in California. He appeared as guest soloist with bands led by Woody Herman and Stan Kenton. His cabaret card was reinstated in late 1953, but by then he was beset by sporadic employment, debt, and failing physical and mental health. He twice attempted suicide in 1954 and voluntarily committed himself to New York's Bellevue Hospital.

His last public appearance was on March 5, 1955, at Birdland, the club that had been named in his honor in 1949. A chronic abuser of drugs and alcohol, Parker died in 1955 at the age of 34. His chaotic life formed the basis for Clint Eastwood's 1988 film Bird.