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 celebrates his 83rd birthday, today
- Heavy D was born 57 years ago today
Today is an especially auspicious day. Patti LaBelle, arguably one of the most unique, powerhouse vocalists to ever do it, celebrates her 80th — 80th! — birthday today.
LaBelle started her career in the early 60s as the frontwoman of Patti LaBelle and the Bluebelles. Following the group’s name chance to Labelle in the 70s, they released their #1 hit “Lady Marmalade,” a song that has since been covered a number of times, including famously a version featuring Christina Aguilera, Mya, Pink and Lil’ Kim, which was recorded for the Moulin Rouge soundtrack — and also was a #1 hit on the Billboard Hot 100 for five weeks.
After Labelle split up in 1976, LaBelle started a wildly successful and influential solo career with her critically applauded debut album. Since then she’s received 13 Grammy nominations with two Grammy Award wins — in 1994 for Best R&B Vocal Performance for Burnin’ and in 1999 for Best Traditional R&B Performance for Live! One Night Only. (Only two Grammys? What the fuck is wrong with these people? Jesus Christ, y’all! How is that possible? Seriously, how?)
Over a more than seven decade career, LaBelle has sold over 50 million records globally. She’s been inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame, the Hollywood Walk of Fame, the Black Music & Entertainment Walk of Fame, and the Apollo Theater Hall of Fame. Her influence on pop and R&B is towering — and it shouldn’t be surprising.
Happy birthday, Ms. LaBelle! May there be many, many, many more!