Did you know these 25 famous people are actually from Arizona?

While Arizona may be known for its heat and desert landscape, what many people may not know is the sheer number of celebrities from the state.

The list goes on, from award-winning actors such as Emma Stone and Ted Danson to singers like Stevie Nicks and Alice Cooper, and to people with political affiliations, including César Chávez and Sandra Day O’Connor.

There may be a name or two on this list that you might be surprised about.

While some of these famous names have left the Grand Canyon state for places like Hollywood or the Big Apple, they have once called Arizona home. Here is a list of 25 famous people from Arizona.

Jimmy Adkins

Jimmy Adkins is a musician, best known as the lead singer, guitarist and songwriter of the rock band Jimmy Eat World.

Adkins grew up in Mesa, attended Mountain View High School and went on to Northern Arizona University. He has worked with other musicians in the Valley and has participated in the Phoenix Rock Lottery hosted by Psyko Steve Presents.

Chester Bennington

Chester Bennington was the lead vocalist of the rock band Linkin Park. He was also the lead vocalist of Grey Daze, Dead by Sunrise and Stone Temple Pilots.

Bennington was born in Phoenix. He struggled with depression and substance abuse for most of his life and was found dead in his California home in 2017.

Dierks Bentley

Dierks Bentley is a country singer and songwriter who was born in Phoenix.

He has strong ties to the city and frequently performs in Arizona. He made a stop at the Talking Stick Resort Amphitheatre during his “Broken Branches Tour” in June 2025 and will be back to perform at Extra Innings in Tempe late February.

Bentley has also worked with Riot Hospitality Group on the bars Dierks Bentley’s Whiskey Row in Old Town Scottsdale and Gilbert.

Hailey Bieber

Hailey Bieber was born in Tucson. She’s the daughter of Kennya Deodato, a Brazilian graphic designer, and actor Stephen Baldwin.

Baldwin married singer Justin Bieber in September 2018. In June 2022, she launched her skincare brand Rhode.

Aidy Bryant

Actress and comedian Aidy Bryant is best known for her role as a cast member on “Saturday Night Live” for ten seasons from 2012-2022. While on “SNL,” Bryant was nominated for three Primetime Emmy Awards.

She was born in Phoenix, she attended Xavier College Preparatory in 2005 and she took improv workshops at the now-defunct Arizona Jewish Theatre Company. Her mother owned the popular Frances boutique in Phoenix. She sold it in 2021.

César Chávez

César Chávez was born on March 31, 1927, in Yuma to a Mexican-American family. He was an American labor and civil rights activist and co-founded the National Farm Workers Association with Dolores Huerta and Gilbert Padilla. This group later merged with the Agricultural Workers Organizing Committee and then became the United Farm Workers, or the UFW labor union.

Chávez’s worldview combined left-wing politics with Catholic social teachings.

Alice Cooper

Alice Cooper moved to Phoenix when he was young, following a series of childhood illnesses. He attended Cortez High School and participated in the annual Letterman’s talent show with a group of cross country teammates. They called themselves the Earwigs, renamed themselves the Spiders, and then later formed a real band.

They had their third name change to Nazz, and then to Alice Cooper, after finding out that Todd Rundgren had a band called Nazz. They liked the name Alice Cooper because they thought it sounded innocuous and wholesome, in humorous contrast to the band’s image and music.

The band created a new subgenre called shock rock, following an incident on stage involving a live chicken and a feather pillow. They took a break in 1974, and Cooper returned as a solo artist in 1975.

Cooper and his wife, Sheryl, started the Solid Rock foundation in 1995 with teen centers in Phoenix, Mesa and Goodyear that offer vocational and arts training. He is a fan of Arizona and Michigan sports teams.

Ted Danson

Ted Danson is an actor beloved for his roles in “Cheers” and “The Good Place.

Danson grew up in Flagstaff where his father, Edward B. “Ned” Danson Jr., was the director of the Museum of Northern Arizona – a “very prestigious scientific community,” according to a 2011 article by Danson titled “My Favorite Mistake” in Newsweek.

Danson said his father helped shape his own activist spirit.

“Growing up, I was surrounded by a scientific community that wanted to conserve and protect Arizona’s heritage,” Danson said to Tucson.com. “There was always this instinct in me that wanted to protect something beautiful.”

Danielle Fishel

Danielle Fishel was born in Mesa and is known for her roles on shows such as “Full House,” “Boy Meets World” and “Girl Meets World.”

David Henrie

David Hernie is an actor, writer and director who grew up in Phoenix. He has starred in roles on “How I Met Your Mother,” “Wizards of Waverly Place” and its sequel “Wizards Beyond Waverly Place.”

Joe Jonas

Singer, songwriter and actor Joe Jonas was born in Casa Grande. He rose to fame as a member of the pop-rock band the Jonas Brothers alongside his brothers Kevin and Nick. Along with releasing music, the group starred in “Camp Rock,” “Camp Rock 2: The Final Jam,” “Jonas Brothers: Living the Dream” and “Jonas” on Disney Channel.

Maynard James Keenan

Maynard James Keenan is a musician and the lead singer of rock bands Tool, A Perfect Circle and Puscifer. Keenan also owns Merkin Vineyards and Caduceus Cellars in Cottonwood and Jerome.

Keenan also owns Verde Valley Brazilian Jiu Jitsu Martial Arts School, where former heavyweight champion Mike Tyson trained in March 2024 ahead of his fight against YouTuber Jake Paul. Keenan continues to live in the Grand Canyon state as well.

Stephenie Meyer

Novelist and producer Stephenie Meyer is best known for writing the vampire romance series “Twilight.”

She was raised in Phoenix, attended Chaparral High School in Scottsdale and took some classes at Arizona State University in 1996 and 1997. Meyer also met her husband, Christian “Pancho” Meyer, in Arizona when they were both kids.

When “Twilight” was published in 2005, Meyer held many book signings and events at Changing Hands Bookstore in Tempe.

John McCain

John McCain was a politician and naval officer. He represented Arizona in the United States Congress for more than 35 years, first as a U.S. representative from 1983-1987, then as a U.S. senator from 1987 until he died in 2018. He was a member of the Republican Party and their nominee for the 2008 presidential election.

He was known as a “maverick” for breaking from his party on certain issues, including LGBT rights, gun regulations and campaign finance reform. His stances were seen as more moderate at the time. McCain was also a very vocal critic of the Trump administration.

Phil Mickelson

Phil Mickelson is a professional golfer who plays in the LIV Golf League. He has won 45 events on the PGA Tour, including three Masters titles, two PGA Championships and one Open Championship. He was nicknamed “Lefty” because he plays left-handed.

Mickelson was raised in San Diego and Scottsdale. He attended Arizona State University on a golf scholarship and captured three NCAA individual championships and three Haskins Awards. He also led the Sun Devils to the NCAA team title in 1990. During his collegiate career, he won 16 tournaments.

Stevie Nicks

Stevie Nicks is a singer-songwriter known for her work with the band Fleetwood Mac and her solo career. Nicks has garnered eight Grammy Award nominations and two American Music Award nominations as a solo artist. She has won numerous awards with Fleetwood Mac, including the Grammy Award for Album of the Year in 1978 for “Rumours.” She is the first woman to have been inducted twice into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

Nicks was born in Phoenix and built a home in Paradise Valley in 1981. She lived there until July 2007, when she decided to put the home up for sale.

Sandra Day O’Connor

Sandra Day O’Connor was an attorney, politician and jurist who served as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1981 to 2006.

She was the first woman to serve as a U.S. Supreme Court Justice and was nominated by President Ronald Reagan. Before this, she was an Arizona state judge and, earlier, an elected legislator in Arizona. O’Connor was the first female majority leader of a state Senate as the Republican leader.

O’Connor grew up on a 198,000-acre family cattle ranch near Duncan. She spent her childhood in the state and in El Paso, Texas, and a lot of time during her professional career. She also retired in Phoenix.

Danica Patrick

Danica Patrick is a former professional racing driver who competed in the IndyCar Series from 2005-2011 and the NASCAR Cup Series from 2012-2018. She is the most successful woman in the history of American open-wheel car racing. Her win in the 2008 Indy Japan 300 is the only one by a woman in IndyCar.

Patrick purchased an 8,300-square-foot mansion in Scottsdale in 2007, which she nicknamed the “Jetsons House.”

Brock Purdy

Brock Purdy is a professional football quarterback for the San Francisco 49ers of the National Football League, or NFL. Purdy was born in Queen Creek and played high school football for Perry High School in Gilbert.

He was named Gatorade’s Football Player of the Year in 2018 and was The Arizona Republic’s high-school player of the year in 2017.

Haley Lu Richardson

Actress Haley Lu Richardson is best known for her roles in “Five Feet Apart,” “The White Lotus” and “Columbus.” Richardson was born in Phoenix and was a regular in theatrical productions and regional dance competitions throughout the Southwest. From 2001-2011, she was a leading dancer in Phoenix’s Cannedy Dance Centre.

David Spade

David Spade is a stand-up comedian, actor and podcaster. He has been nominated for four Primetime Emmy Awards and two Golden Globe Awards and received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2003.

He and his family moved to Scottsdale when he was four. Spade attended Saguaro High School and then Scottsdale Community College before transferring to Arizona State University. He was a member of the fraternity Sigma Alpha Epsilon, performed stand-up at the university’s long-running sketch comedy show, “Farce Side Comedy Hour.” In the mid-1980s, he did stand-up at the Monday night comedy show at Greasy Tony’s Pizza in Tempe. He dropped out after making a decent living doing stand-up.

Jordin Sparks

Singer and actress Jordin Sparks rose to fame in 2007 after winning the sixth season of “American Idol” at age 17. She is still the youngest winner in the series’ history.

Sparks was born in Phoenix. After living in New Jersey for a bit, she attended Northwest Community Christian School in Phoenix through eighth grade. She attended Sandra Day O’Connor High School until 2006, and then was homeschooled. Sparks attended Calvary Community Church in Phoenix.

Her younger brother, Phillippi “PJ” Sparks Jr., played football at Arizona Christian University. She has frequently performed the national anthem at various local sporting events, including for the Phoenix Suns, the Arizona Cardinals and the Arizona Diamondbacks.

Emma Stone

Actress and producer Emma Stone has had many popular roles, including in “La La Land,” “Easy A,” “Poor Things” and “The Amazing Spider-Man.”

Stone was born in Scottsdale and went to Sequoya Elementary School and Cocopah Middle School for sixth grade. She lived on the grounds of the Camelback Inn resort from ages 12 to 15. Stone participated in local theater productions and attended Xavier College Preparatory, but dropped out after one semester to pursue acting.

Her accolades include two Academy Awards, two British Academy Film Awards, two Golden Globe Awards and a Volpi Cup. In 2017, she was the world’s highest-paid actress and was named one of the 100 most influential people in the world by Time magazine.

Mason Thames

Actor Mason Thames is known for his roles in “The Black Phone,” “How to Train Your Dragon” and “Regretting You.” He was born in Phoenix.

Kate Walsh

Kate Walsh is an actress and businesswoman known for her role as  Dr. Addison Montgomery in ABC medical dramas “Grey’s Anatomy” and “Private Practice.”

Walsh grew up in a Catholic household in Tucson. She graduated from Catalina Magnet High School and studied acting at the University of Arizona before dropping out.

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