In the June 7, 1903, St. Louis Globe-Democrat, contemporary composer Monroe H. Rosenfeld described "The Entertainer" as "the best and most euphonious" of Joplin's compositions to that point.

[4] Suggested by the rag's dedication to "James Brown and his Mandolin Club", author Rudi Blesh wrote that "some of the melodies recall the pluckings and the fast tremolos of the little steel-stringed plectrum instruments".

The most popular version appeared on the Muppet Show in Episode 203, sung by Milton Berle, who explains to the viewers that few are aware that there were lyrics for the song, which according to him are about "the performers, the entertainers during the heyday of Vaudeville".

[6] More recently in 2020, Oscar Brown Jr. wrote a new set of lyrics to "The Entertainer" as a tribute to Joplin.

[7] The copyright on "The Entertainer" was registered December 29, 1902, along with two other Joplin rags, "A Breeze from Alabama" and "Elite Syncopations", all three of which were published by Stark.

[2] The centerpiece of the original cover art featured a minstrel show caricature of a black man in formal attire on a theater stage.

[citation needed] In November 1970, Joshua Rifkin released a recording called Scott Joplin: Piano Rags[8] on the classical label Nonesuch, which featured as its second track "The Entertainer".