Throwback: Happy 78th Birthday, Lemmy!

December is a rather auspicious month in music history:

• The Doors‘ John Densmore celebrated his 79th birthday on December 1
• Ozzy Osbourne celebrated his 75th birthday on December 3
• Montell Jordan celebrated his 55th birthday on December 3
• Jay-Z celebrated his 54th birthday on December 4
• The 90th anniversary of Little Richard‘s birth was on December 5
• R.E.M co-founder and lead guitarist Peter Buck celebrated his 67th birthday on December 6
• The 80th anniversary of The Doors‘ Jim Morrison was on December 8
• Yeah Yeah Yeahs guitarist Nick Zinner celebrated his 49th birthday on December 8
• The 57th anniversary of the fearlessly uncompromising Sinead O’Connor‘s birth was also on December 8 
• Yasiin Bey, one of the greatest living emcees celebrated his 50th — yes, 50th y’all! on December 11. 
• The incomparable, elegant and legendary Ms. Dionne Warwick celebrated her 83rd on December 12
• The Time’s Morris Day celebrated his 66th birthday on December 16
• ZZ Top frontman, guitarist and co-founder Billy Gibbons celebrated his 74th birthday on December 16
• R.E.M co-founder, multi-instrumentalist and songwriter Mike Mills celebrated his 65th — yes, 65th! — birthday on December 17
• The Rolling Stones‘ legendary guitarist Keith Richards celebrated his 80th — yes, 80th! — birthday on December 18
• DMX was born 53 years ago on December 18
• The 82nd anniversary of Earth, Wind & Fire’s Maurice White birth was on December 19
• The Black Crowes‘ and Chris Robinson Brotherhood (CRB)‘s Chris Robinson celebrated his 57th birthday on December 20 
• The 83rd anniversary of the legendary Frank Zappa‘s brith was on December 21 
• The 74th anniversary of the birth of Bee Gee‘s Maurice Gibb was on December 22
• Pearl Jam‘s Eddie Vedder celebrated his 59th birthday on December 23

Motörhead founder, frontman — and overall badass — Lemmy Kilmister was born 78 years ago on December 24. We may have lost him eight years ago, but his influence on metal, punk and rock has remained as towering as ever.

Happy birthday, Lemmy! Happy birthday wherever you are!