Throwback: Happy 67th Birthday, Mike Mills!

2025 is almost over. Let’s work towards making 2026 a much calmer and much better year for all of us. 

But in the meantime, December is a busy month for music birthdays, y’all. 

• The Doors‘ John Densmore celebrated his 81st birthday on December 1
• The legendary Lou Rawls was born 92 years ago on December 1
• The Doors‘ John Densmore celebrated his 81st birthday on December 1
• The legendary Lou Rawls was born 92 years ago on December 1
• Def Leppard bassist Rick Savage celebrates his 65th — yes, y’all, 65th! — birthday on December 2
• Nelly Furtado celebrated her 47th birthday on December 2
• Montell Jordan celebrated his 57th birthday on December 3
• Ozzy Osbourne, the “Prince of Darkness” and “Godfather of Metal,” was born 77 years ago on December 3
• One of the greatest and most successful emcees both commercially and critically to ever do it, Jay-Z celebrated his 56th birthday on December 4
• The pioneering and legendary Little Richard was born 93 years ago on December 5
• R.E.M. co-founder and lead guitarist Peter Buck celebrates his 69th birthday on December 6
• R&B, soul legend and Maze founder Frankie Beverly was born 79 years ago on December 6
• The Doors‘ Jim Morrison was born 82 years ago on December 8
• The fearlessly uncompromising Sinead O’Connor was born 59 years ago on December 8 
• Yeah Yeah Yeahs‘ co-founder and guitarist Nick Zinner celebrated his 51st birthday on December 8
• Dinosaur Jr. creative mastermind and grunge pioneer J. Mascis celebrated his 60th — yes, 60th! — birthday on December 9
• The legendary Willie Mae “Big Mama” Thornton was born 99 years ago on December 11
• One of the greatest, most influential jazz pianists of the 20th century, McCoy Tyner was born 87 years on December 11
• Motley Crüe‘s Nikki Sixx celebrated his 67th birthday on December 11
• The immensely talented Sheila E celebrated her 68th birthday on December 12
• The Fixx’s frontman Cy Curnin celebrated his 68th birthday on December 12
• Grammy Award-winning multi-instrumentalist, arranger, producer and smooth jazz pioneer  Grover Washington, Jr. was born 82 years ago on December 12
• Yasiin Bey, one of the greatest living emcees celebrated his 52nd birthday on December 12
• The incomparable, elegant and absolutely legendary Ms. Dionne Warwick celebrated her 85th — yes, y’all, 85th! — birthday on December 12 
• Morris Day and The Time’s Morris Day celebrated his 68th birthday on December 13
• Television‘s Tom Verlaine, one of the most influential and important guitarists of the past 50 years was born on this day 76 years ago on December 13
• The Clash‘s Paul Simonon celebrated his 70th birthday — yes, 70th y’all — on December 15
• Eddie Palmieri, the great salsa composer and pianist was born 89 years ago on December 15
• ZZ Top frontman, guitarist and co-founder Billy Gibbons celebrated his 76th birthday on December 16

R.E.M co-founder, multi-instrumentalist and songwriter Mike Mills celebrates his 67th birthday today. I’ve been a huge R.E.M. fan since the 80s and I couldn’t think of a better way to celebrate Mills’ work than some of my favorite R.E.M. songs. 

Happy birthday, Mike! May there be many, many more!