Throwback: Happy 79th Birthday, Gladys Knight!

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
• The 56th anniversary of Heavy D‘s birth was on May 24
• Cameo’s frontman Larry Blackmon celebrated his 67th birthday on May 24
• Sun Ra Arkestra‘s Marshall Allen celebrated his 99th birthday on May 25
• Stevie Nicks celebrated her 75th birthday on May 26
• The 97th anniversary of Miles Davis‘ birth was also on May 26
• Siouxsie Sioux celebrated her 66th birthday on May 27.  
• OutKast‘s Andre 3000, celebrated his 48th birthday on May 27
• Jadakiss, also celebrated his 48th birthday on May 27

Today continues a rather auspicious week of music birthdays: First, the legendary John Fogerty celebrates his 78th birthday today. Second, the legendary Gladys Knight, the empress of soul, celebrates her 79th birthday today. Knight is one of the most criminally underrated voices in soul, R&B and pop — and the material is just so damn good.

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