Throwback: Happy 56th Birthday, David Jolicouer, A.K.A. Dave, A.K.A. Trugoy The Dove, A.K.A. Plug Two

September is a busy month in music history. 

• The Bee Gees‘ Barry Gibb celebrated his 77th birthday on September 1 
• Gloria Estefan celebrated her 66th birthday on September 1
• Soundgarden‘s Kim Thayil celebrated his 64th birthday on September 4
• Freddie Mercury, one of the greatest vocalists and entertainers in rock history was born 78 years ago on September 5
• Pink Floyd‘s co-founder and creative force Roger Waters celebrated his 81st birthday on September 6
• The legendary, King of Soul, Otis Redding was born 83 years ago on September 9
• Dave Stewart celebrated his 72nd birthday on September 9
• Big Daddy Kane, one of the most entertaining and talented emcees in hip-hop history celebrated his 56th birthday on September 10
• The legendary Roy Ayers celebrated his 84th birthday on September 10 
• Aerosmith‘s Joe Perry celebrated his 74th birthday on September 10
• The Verve frontman Richard Ashcroft celebrated his 52nd birthday on September 10
• Ludacris celebrated his 47th birthday on September 10
• The legendary Barry White, the Original King of Quiet Storm Soul was born 80 years ago on September 12
• Rush‘s Neal Peart, one the greatest rock drummers ever was born 72 years ago on September 12
• The Church frontman Steve Kilbey celebrated his 70th birthday on September 13
• Keith Murray, one of the most entertaining emcees I’ve ever seen live, celebrated his 50th birthday on September 13
• The great and supremely talented Amy Winehouse was born 41 years ago on September 14
• Nas, one of the greatest living emcees to ever hold a mic celebrated his 51st birthday on September 14
• The legendary B.B. King was born 99 years ago on September 15
• The Prodigy‘s Keith Flint was born 54 years ago on September 17
• The legendary and iconic Nile Rodgers celebrated his 72nd birthday on September 19

As a child of the 80s and teen of the 90s, I absolutely adored De La Soul. They were and will always be three nerdy and weird brothers, who gave me hope for the fact that I could be cool and show my talents — and be respected for my weirdness and my nerdiness. 

De La Soul’s Dave Jolicouer, a.k.a. Trugoy the Dove, a.k.a. Plug Two was born 56 years ago today. We tragically lost Jolicoeur a few weeks short of the long-anticipated digital release of their beloved catalog — and a few months short of his 55th birthday.

As I’ve written here before, De La Soul’s music meant the world for me. Their work transformed how I saw myself and my place in the world. Dave is missed. But I hope that the work will continue to blow away minds as it did for me.

Happy birthday, Dave! Happy birthday, wherever you are!