This rag was composed by Scott Joplin, the first classically trained black composer to become a household name in America. The piece was copyrighted December 29, 1902; copies were received by the Copyright Office, January 8, 1903.
Joplin died in April 1917; although his place in the history of contemporary music was already secured, he predicted that he would not receive the recognition he deserved until twenty-five years after his death.

Ragtime was eventually succeeded by jazz, and although there was a revival in the 1940s, Joplin's prediction was not truly fulfilled until 1973 when "The Entertainer" was used as the theme music for the multiple Oscar winning film The Sting. The score took one of these Oscars; it included five other Joplin rags, all of which were adapted by Marvin Hamlisch. >>