Today is the 18th 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
- Fishbone
- Grace Jones
- TLC
- Maceo Parker, who celebrated his 81st birthday on February 14
- SWV
- Meshell Ndegeocello
- Ice T, who celebrated his 66th birthday on February 16
Dr. Dre celebrates his 59th birthday today. Just by typing that, I’m realizing that the years are flying by. How the fuck did that happen? Born, Andre Young, the Compton-born Dr. Dre has been a wildly successful emcee, producer, record label exec and entrepreneur.
Generations have been influenced by and loved his music as a member of NWA and as a solo artist — and he’s been instrumental in introducing the world to some of our most beloved artists, including Snoop Dogg, Kendrick Lamar, Eminem and countless others.
Happy birthday. Dr. Dre! May there be many, many more.
