Throwback: Happy 58th Birthday, Janet Jackson!

• The 91st anniversary of the birth of the legendary godfather of soul James Brown was on May 3
• The legendary jazz bassist Ron Carter celebrated his 87th birthday on May 4
• The 68th anniversary of the birth of the great soul artist Sharon Jones was on May 4
• The 82nd anniversary of the birth of one of the most beloved singer/songwriters in country, Tammy Wynette was on May 5
• Echo & The Bunnymen‘s Ian McCullouch celebrated his 65th birthday on May 5
• Van Halen co-founder, drummer — and most important Eddie’s brother, Alex Van Halen celebrated his 71st birthday on May 8
• Depeche Mode frontman Dave Gahan celebrated his 62nd birthday on May 9
• U2‘s Bono celebrated his 64th birthday on May 10
• The Afghan Whigs, The Gutter Twins‘ and The Twilight Singers‘ Greg Dulli celebrated his 59th birthday on May 11
• The great Burt Bacharach was born 96 years ago on May 12
• The legendary Stevie Wonder celebrates his 74th birthday on May 13
• EPMD’s PMD celebrated his 55th birthday on May 13
• Cream‘s Jack Bruce was born 81 years ago on May 14
• The legendary Talking Heads frontman David Byrne celebrated his 72nd birthday on May 14
• Hip hop pioneer Melle Mel celebrated his 63rd birthday on May 15
• Nirvana‘s Krist Novoselic celebrates his 59th birthday today.

The iconic and pioneering Janet Jackson celebrates her 58th birthday today. Jackson is one of the most commercially and critical successful artists ever. And she’s written and recorded some of my favorite songs ever written or recorded.

Every pop artist since owes Jackson a debt of gratitude, too. Seriously. Her work has proven to be that momentous.

Happy birthday, Ms. Jackson! May there be many, many more!