Throwback: Happy 56th Birthday, Heavy D!

May is a very busy month in music history:

• The 67th anniversary of Sharon Jones was on May 4
• U2′s Bono celebrated his 63rd birthday on May 10
• The Afghan Whigs‘, The Gutter Twins‘ and The Twilight Singers‘ Greg Dullicelebrated his 58th birthday on May 11
• The 95th anniversary of Burt Bacharach‘s birth was on May 12
• Stevie Wonder celebrated his 73rd birthday on May 13
• Talking Heads frontman David Byrne celebrated his 71st birthday on May14
• Nine Inch Nails creative mastermind Trent Reznor celebrates his 58th birthday on May 17
• The legendary bluesman Taj Mahal celebrated his 81st birthday on May 17
• The Who‘s Pete Townshend celebrated his 78th birthday on May 19
• The Ramones‘ Joey Ramone was born 72 years ago on May 19
• Grace Jones celebrated her 75th birthday on May 19
• Biggie was born 51 years ago on May 21
• The Isley Brothers‘ Ronald Isley celebrated his 82nd birthday on May 21
• The 109th anniversary of Sun Ra‘s birth was on May 22

Heavy D was born 56 years ago today. We lost him at the tragically too young age of 44. But when I was young, I was a huge fan of his. So many of these songs bring back memories of my childhood: I remember getting a copy of the Peaceful Journey album on cassette tape. I played that tape to death and then some.

Happy birthday, brother! Happy birthday, wherever you are.