Lionel Hampton is an American jazz vibraphonist, pianist, percussionist, and bandleader.

Hampton was born in Louisville, Kentucky and was raised by his grandmother. In the 1920s, he took xylophone lessons and began playing drums and later flute and percussion at Holy Rosary Academy near Chicago. Lionel Hampton mastered percussion instruments at school, then switched to timpani and marimba in a youth military orchestra.

Hampton worked with jazz musicians from Teddy Wilson, Benny Goodman, and Buddy Rich to Charlie Parker, Charles Mingus, and Quincy Jones. In 1992, he was inducted into the Alabama Jazz Hall of Fame, and was awarded the National Medal of Arts in 1996.