This is a list of notable people who have claimed to have the neurological condition synesthesia. Following that, there is a list of people who are often wrongly believed to have had synesthesia because they used it as a device in their art, poetry or music (referred to as pseudo-synesthetes).

Estimates of prevalence of synesthesia have ranged widely, from 1 in 4 to 1 in 25,000 – 100,000. However, most studies have relied on synesthetes reporting themselves, introducing self-referral bias.

Media outlets including Pitchfork have critically noted the considerable numbers of musical artists from the 2010s onwards claiming to be synesthetes, observing that "without literally testing every person who comes out in the press as a synesthete, it's exceedingly difficult to tell who has it and who is lying through their teeth for cultural cachet" and that claims of experiencing synesthesia can be employed "as an express route to creative genius".

Synesthetes

+NameTypeLifespanCountryProfessionNotesSourceRichard Feynmangrapheme-colour1918-1988United StatesPhysicist"When I see equations, I see the letters in colors. I don't know why. I see vague pictures of Bessel functions with light-tan j's, slightly violet-bluish n's, and dark brown x's flying around."Georg Tobias Ludwig SachsGrapheme-colourPhysicianPossibly first documented caseFrank IeroChromesthesiab. 1981United StatesSinger-songwriter, guitaristTilden DakenMultiple1876-1935United StatesArtistPainted to orchestral music. Syd BarrettMultiple1946-2006United KingdomSinger-songwriter, guitarist, artistSuzuka NakamotoSound to colorb. 1997JapanSingerVladimir NabokovGrapheme-Color 1899-1977Russia/United States/SwitzerlandNovelist, poetAlessia CaraMultipleb. 1996CanadaSinger-songwriterBeyoncé Chromesthesiab. 1981United States Singer-songwriter, record producer, dancer, actressCharli XCXChromesthesia b. 1992United KingdomSinger-songwriterJennifer CookMultipleb. 1975United StatesAuthorMarilyn MonroeTaste to colour1926-1962United StatesActressJack CoulterChromesthesia b. 1994United KingdomArtistMarina DiamandisMultipleb. 1985United KingdomSinger-songwriterPatricia Lynne DuffyUnspecifiedb. 1952United StatesAuthorWrote Blue Cats and Chartreuse Kittens, the first book by a synesthete about synesthesia.Co-founded the American Synesthesia Association.Mary J. BligeSound to colourb. 1971United StatesSinger-songwriter, actressBillie EilishMultipleb. 2001United StatesSinger-songwriterKanye WestMultipleb. 1977United StatesRapper, singer-songwriter, record producer, fashion designerNikola TeslaChromesthesia 1856–1943Austria/United StatesInventorEves KarydasChromesthesia b. 1994AustraliaSinger-songwriterDuke EllingtonChromesthesia 1899–1974United StatesComposer, pianist, bandleaderDavid GarnerChromesthesia1954-United States ComposerDavid HockneyChromesthesia b. 1937United KingdomArtist, stage designer, photographersee Cytowic, Richard E. 2002. Synaesthesia: a Union of the Senses. Second edition. Cambridge, Massachusetts: MIT Press.Greg JarvisSound to shapeb. 1944CanadaMusicianFounded the Canadian Synesthesia Association."Life with synesthesia: Toronto man who can see sounds shares his story". January 28th 2015, Metro – Toronto Edition.Ramin DjawadiChromesthesia b. 1974GermanyFilm score composerBilly JoelMultipleb. 1949United StatesSinger-songwriter, composer, pianistBloem de LignyMultipleb. 1978NetherlandsSingerFranz LisztSound to color1811–1886HungaryComposer, pianistLordeSound to colorb. 1996New ZealandSinger-songwriterAdi MeyersonUnspecifiedb. 1991United StatesComposer, Double BassistOlivia RodrigoSound to colourb. 2003United StatesSinger-songwriterTori Amos Sound to colorb. 1963United StatesSinger-songwriter Ida MariaSound to colorb. 1984NorwaySinger-songwriterMarian McPartlandSound to color1918–2013United Kingdom/United StatesJazz pianistHasson, Claire. in Marian McPartland: Jazz Pianist: An Overview of a CareerBea MillerSound to colorb. 1999United StatesSinger-songwriter, actressStephanie MorgensternMultipleb. 1965CanadaActress, filmmakersee Raskin, Richard. 2003. An interview with Stephanie Morgenstern and Mark Ellis on Remembrance. P.O.V., A Danish Journal of Film Studies; number 15 (March): 170-184.Finneas O'ConnellMultipleb. 1997United StatesMusician, record producer, actorFrank OceanSound to colorb. 1987United StatesSinger-songwriter, producer, artistReleased Channel Orange in 2012, an album themed around his own synesthesia Adil OmarMultipleb. 1991PakistanSinger-songwriter, record producerAndy PartridgeMultipleb. 1953United KingdomSinger-songwriter, musicianItzhak PerlmanSound to shapeb. 1945Israel/United StatesViolinist, conductor, music teacherJon PooleSound to colorb. 1969United KingdomMusicianOsmo Tapio RäihäläShape to soundb. 1964FinlandComposerMaggie RogersSound to colorb. 1994United StatesSinger-songwriter, record producerJean SibeliusUnspecified1865–1957FinlandComposer, violinistHolly SmaleEmotions to colorb. 1981United KingdomWriterCarol SteenMultipleb. 1943United StatesArtistCo-founded the American Synesthesia Association.Daniel TammetUnspecifiedb. 1979United KingdomAuthorTammet, Daniel. 2006. "Born on a Blue Day." London: Hodder & Stoughton Ltd.Brendon UrieMultipleb. 1987United StatesSingerSabrina VlaškalićMultiple1989–2019SerbiaClassical guitaristSolomon ShereshevskyFivefold1886-1958Russian Empire/Soviet UnionJournalist, mnemonistRichard WagnerSound to color1813–1883GermanyComposer, theatre director, conductorPharrell WilliamsSound to colorb. 1973United StatesSinger, rapper, songwriter, record producer, fashion designerRichard D. JamesUnspecifiedb. 1971IrelandMusician, record player, composer, remixer, DJHans ZimmerChromesthesiab. 1957GermanyComposer, music producerOlivier MessiaenChromesthesia 1896-1979FranceComposer, pianist, organist.Awsten KnightSound to color b. 1992United StatesSinger-songwriter, producerSarah KraningSound to color texture, and movementb. 1992-93United StatesVisual ArtistJ57Sound to colorb. 1983United StatesMusicianPeter SteeleChromesthesia1962-2010United StatesSinger-songwriterRyan Met (AJR)Chromesthesia and sound to shapes/texturesb. 1994United StatesMusician, Songwriter, Singer, ProducerJack Met (AJR)Chromesthesiab. 1997United StatesMusician, Songwriter, SingerAngelina CurtisChromesthesia and sound to colorb. 2007AustraliaMusician, Songwriter, Singer, Actress, Australian Idol season 8 finalisthttps://angelinacurtis.com/press-kit/https://www.popfiltr.com/press-releases/angelina-curtis-releases-single-stereoChuquimamani-Condori (Los Thuthanaka)Unspecifiedb. 1985United StatesElectronic music artist, poet, composer.https://www.thelisteners.it/articoli/conversations-chuiquimamani-condoriJoshua Chuquimia Crampton (Los Thuthanaka)Unspecifiedb. 1983United StatesMusician, illustrator.https://www.thelisteners.it/articoli/conversations-chuiquimamani-condori

Pseudo-synesthetes Alexander Scriabin (6 January 1872 – 27 April 1915) probably was not a synesthete, but, rather, was highly influenced by the French and Russian salon fashions. Most noticeably, Scriabin seems to have been strongly influenced by the writings and talks of the Russian mystic Helena P. Blavatsky, founder of the Theosophical Society and author of such works as Isis Unveiled and The Secret Doctrine.Dann, Kevin T. 1998. Bright Colors Falsely Seen: Synaesthesia and the Search for Transcendental Knowledge. New Haven and London: Yale University Press. The synesthetic motifs found in Scriabin's compositions – most noticeably in Prometheus, composed in 1911 – are developed from ideas from Isaac Newton, and follow a circle of fifths.B. M. Galeyev and I. L. Vanechkina (August 2001). "Was Scriabin a Synesthete?". Leonardo; Vol. 34, Issue 4, pp. 357 - 362.Scriabin, Alexander. 1995 (1911). "Poem of Ecstasy" and "Prometheus: Poem of Fire". New York: Dover. Arthur Rimbaud may or may not have been a synesthete. He wrote a poem about vowels all having colours, but he might not have actually perceived graphemes in colour.

See also

Synesthesia in classical composers

References