Scott Joplin was a famous African-American composer and pianist known as the "King of Ragtime." He wrote over 40 ragtime songs, including the well-known "Maple Leaf Rag." Joplin saw ragtime as a type of classical music meant to be played in concert halls, different from the honky-tonk style often heard in bars. He grew up in Texarkana, Arkansas, in a musical family and learned from local teachers, such as Julius Weiss, who introduced him to folk and classical music. In the late 1880s, Joplin traveled around the American South as a musician and eventually reached Chicago. There, he saw how ragtime became popular during the 1893 World's Fair. He later settled in Sedalia, Missouri, in 1894, where he taught piano and composed music. His "Maple Leaf Rag" became famous, and he moved to St. Louis in 1901, creating well-known pieces like "The Entertainer" and "The Ragtime Dance." Joplin had difficulties both in his personal life and career, including a failed opera and health problems caused by syphilis. He moved to New York City in 1907 and kept composing music. Unfortunately, his health grew worse, and he died in a mental hospital in 1917 when he was 48 years old. His music became popular again in the 1970s, with a million-selling album and the film "The Sting" using his songs. He was given a Pulitzer Prize after his death in 1976.