Today is the 12th day of Black History Month. As we go through the month, I’m going to talk about a collection of Black artists. It’ll be fairly comprehensive and eclectic list — although it won’t be a complete list.
So far I’ve talked about:
- Rick James, who was born 76 years ago on February 1
- OutKast‘s Big Boi, who celebrated his 49th birthday on February 1
- Sister Rosetta Tharpe
- John Lee Hooker
- Patti LaBelle
- The Temptations‘ second and longest tenured lead vocalist Dennis Edwards, who was born 81 years ago on February 4
- Tina Turner
- Aretha Franklin
- Bobby Brown, who celebrated his 55th birthday on February 5
- Bob Marley, who was born 79 years ago on February 6
- The Supremes
- J. Dilla, who was born 50 years ago on February 7
- Queen Latifah
- Black Moon, DJ Evil Dee and Buckshot
- Dionne Warwick
- Big Mama Thornton
- Evelyn “Champagne” King
Bad Brains are largely considered the pioneers of hardcore punk, along with CBGB regulars Minor Threat, Cro-Mags and others — and they’ve been cited as a seminal influence to numerous subgenres in addition to hardcore punk, including thrash/speed metal, alternative metal, funk metal, grunge and more. Bands like Beastie Boys, Nirvana, Foo Fighters, Guns N’ Roses, Soundgarden, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Jane’s Addiction, Faith No More, Rage Against the Machine, Deftones, Clutch, Green Day, The Offspring, The Roots, Lamb of God, No Doubt, Anthrax, Living Colour, Fishbone and a lengthy list of others have cited H.R. and Bad Brains as influences on their work.
And certainly, the Afropunk movement and the Afropunk Festival wouldn’t be possible without them.
Bad Brains’ frontman H.R. celebrates his 68th birthday today. I understand that he’s been battling a variety of mental health and health challenges lately, but let’s wish the legend a happy birthday, huh?
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