Honorific nicknames in popular music are often
religious,
familial, or (most frequently)
royal and aristocratic in nature and are used as a form of expression in the media, or to identify the significance of an artist by fans. Honorific nicknames were used in classical music in Europe as early as the early nineteenth century, with figures like
Mozart being called "The father of modern music" and
Bach "The father of modern piano music". They were also particularly prominent in African American culture in the post-
Civil War era, perhaps as a means of conferring status that had been negated by
slavery, and as a result entered early jazz and blues music, including figures such as
Duke Ellington and
Count Basie.