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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
- Cameo’s charismatic and imitable frontman Larry Blackmon celebrates his 68th birthday today
The legendary Gladys Knight, the empress of soul, celebrates her 80th 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!