Joseph Alton Byrd (born November 3, 1957 in San Francisco, California) is an American basketball player who also holds British citizenship. He grew up in the San Francisco area, where he was a high school basketball star. He continued to be a basketball star at Columbia University, where he was one of the best point guards in the country in spite of his small stature. His height was usually officially listed as 5 feet 9 inches (1.75 m).

He holds the school records for career assists (526) and assists in a single season (210).

After receiving his bachelor's degree from Columbia College in 1979, he attended the Boston Celtics rookie camp, along with a similarly named fellow draftee, Larry Bird. Larry Bird made the team. Alton Byrd, suffering with a foot injury, did not, so he accepted a job offer in London, England. It seemed that his basketball career was over.

Professional basketball was still in its infancy in Britain when he began playing ball with Crystal Palace of the British league just for the exercise and the fun of it. However, he soon blossomed into a major star: thanks to his exciting style of play and his compelling personality, he became the most famous basketball player in Britain. During his rookie season, he led Palace to a 50–5 record. He later started for teams in Glasgow, Manchester, Guildford and Kingston. In 1984 he became a British citizen and made his debut for England.

Tracy Lynn Byrd (born December 17, 1966) is an American country music artist. Signed to MCA Nashville Records in 1993, Byrd broke through on the country music scene that year with his single "Holdin' Heaven", which reached Number One on the Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks charts. Although he did not land a second Number One until 2002's "Ten Rounds with Jose Cuervo", Byrd has charted more than thirty hit singles in his career, including eleven additional Top Ten hits. He has also released nine studio albums and two greatest-hits albums, with four gold certifications and one double-platinum certification from the RIAA.

Tracy Lynn Byrd is the eldest child of Jerry Lynn and Brenda Vaughn Byrd. Tracy Byrd graduated from Vidor High School in May 1985. His first college experience was at Lamar University, Beaumont, Texas. He began studying business at Texas State University (then called Southwest Texas State). While studying he sang with a local band in Beaumont, TX called Rimfire led by Jeffrey Adams and Dave Adams a band that also featured acts such as Mark Chesnutt.

Alton Edwards is a Zimbabwean singer, who had a UK Top 20 hit with "I Just Wanna (Spend Some Time With You)" during January 1982. He wrote and recorded a song called "Thank You From Africa" which was a song to thank the Western artists for the help given to Africa, mostly to Ethiopia. The song is still played on Zimbabwean TV and some other African countries. All proceeds were collected by the International Red Cross.

Edwards is uncle to Warren Mills who had hits with "Mickey's Monkey" and "Sunshine" on the Zomba / Jive Records label. Mills is also a cousin to Rozalla, who had hits with "Everybody's Free and "Are You Ready To Fly". Edwards is still an active singer on the UK circuit. He works frequently with Angelo Starr (Edwin Starr's brother) and Alexander O'Neal.

Alton Nehemiah Ellis OD (September 1, 1938 – October 10, 2008) was a Jamaican musician best known as one of the innovators of rocksteady music and was often referred to as the "Godfather of Rocksteady". In 2006, he was inducted into the International Reggae And World Music Awards Hall Of Fame.

Donaldson Toussaint L'Ouverture Byrd II, (born December 9, 1932) is an American jazz and rhythm and blues trumpeter. A sideman for many other jazz musicians of his generation, Byrd is best known as one of the only bebop jazz musicians who successfully pioneered the funk and soul genres while simultaneously remaining a pop artist.

In 1973, he created The Blackbyrds, a fusion group consisting of his best students. They scored several major hits including "Happy Music" (#3 R&B, #19 pop), "Walking In Rhythm" (#4 R&B, #6 pop) and "Rock Creek Park".

Byrd attended Cass Technical High School. He performed with Lionel Hampton before finishing high school. After playing in a military band during a term in the United States Air Force, he obtained a bachelor's degree in music from Wayne State University and a master's degree from Manhattan School of Music.

While still at the Manhattan School, he joined Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers, as replacement for Clifford Brown. In 1955, he recorded with Jackie McLean and Mal Waldron. After leaving the Jazz Messengers in 1956, he performed with many leading jazz musicians of the day, including John Coltrane, Sonny Rollins, Thelonious Monk, and later Herbie Hancock.