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May is an exceptionally busy month in music history:
- 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 celebrated his 59th birthday on May 15
- The iconic and pioneering Janet Jackson celebrated her 58th birthday on May 16
- Nine Inch Nails creative mastermind and film composer Trent Reznor celebrated his 59th birthday on May 17
- Taj Mahal, one of the greatest living bluesman and multi-instrumentalist around, celebrated his 82nd birthday on May 17
- Rob Base & DJ EZ Rock‘s Rob Base celebrated his 57th birthday on May 18
- The Who‘s Pete Townshend celebrated his 79th birthday on May 19
- The Ramones‘ Joey Ramone was born 73 years ago on May 19
- The incomparable and legendary Grace Jones celebrated her 76th birthday on May 19
- One of the greatest emcees to have ever lived, the Notorious B.I.G. was born 52 years ago on May 21
- The legendary Ronald Isley celebrated his 83rd birthday on May 21
- Sun Ra, one of the most forward-thinking, innovative and oddest characters in jazz — hell of any genre, really — was born 110 years ago on May 22
- Radiohead’s Philip Selway celebrated his 57th birthday on May 23
- The iconic and incomparable Bob Dylan celebrated his 83rd birthday on May 24
- Heavy D was born 57 years ago on May 24
- Patti LaBelle, arguably one of the most unique, powerhouse vocalists to ever do it, celebrated her 80th birthday on May 24
- Sun Ra Arkestra‘s Marshall Allen celebrated his 100th — yes, 100th, y’all! — birthday on May 25
- Hal David was born 103 years ago on May 25
- Miles Davis was born 98 years ago on May 26
- Lenny Kravitz celebrated his 60th birthday on May 26
- The incomparable and iconic queen Stevie Nicks celebrated her 76th on May 26
- The incomparable queen of goth Siouxsie Sioux celebrated her 67th birthday on May 27
- OutKast‘s Andre 3000, one of the most unique and wildly talented artists in hip-hop celebrated his 49th birthday on May 27
- Jadakiss, one of the more underrated emcees out there also celebrates his 49th on May 27
- TLC’s Lisa “Left Eye” Lopes was born 53 years ago on May 27
- The legendary Gladys Knight, the empress of soul, celebrates her 80th birthday on May 28
- The legendary John Fogerty celebrated his 79th birthday on May 28
- Beach House‘s Victoria Legrand celebrated her 43rd birthday on May 28
- Cameo’s charismatic and imitable frontman Larry Blackmon celebrates his 68th birthday on May 29
Tom Morello, one of the greatest and most unique guitarists to ever do it celebrates his 60th — yes, 60th — birthday today. So let’s celebrate the man — and his work with Rage Against the Machine, Audioslave, Prophets of Rage and The Nightwatchman. Happy birthday, Tom! May there be many, many more!