Throwback: Happy 82nd Birthday, Michael Nesmith/Happy 79th Birthday, Davy Jones!

December is here. 2024 has flown by and is almost over. 

Much like the previous 11 months, this month is a busy month in music birthdays. Let’s get to it y’all. 

• The legendary Lou Rawls was born 85 years ago on December 1
• The Doors‘ John Densmore celebrated his 80^th birthday on December 1
• Jaco Pastorius, one of the greatest bassists ever was born 73 years ago on December 1
• Def Leppard bassist Rick Savage celebrated his 64^th birthday on December 2
• Montell Jordan celebrates his 56th birthday today
• Ozzy Osbourne, the “Prince of Darkness” and “Godfather of Metal,” celebrated his 76th birthday on December 3
• One of the greatest and most successful emcees both commercially and critically to ever do it, Jay-Z celebrated his 55th — yes, 55th ya’ll! — birthday on December 4ow
• The pioneering rock legend Little Richard was born 92 years ago on December 5
• R.E.M co-founder and lead guitarist Peter Buck celebrated his 68th birthday on December 5
• The Doors‘ Jim Morrison was born 81 years ago on December 8
• The fearlessly uncompromising Sinead O’Connor was born 58 years ago on December 8
• Yeah Yeah Yeahs‘ Nick Zinner celebrated his 50th — that’s right y’all 50th! — birthday on December 8
• McCoy Tyner was born 86 years ago on December 11. 
• The legendary Willie Mae “Big Mama” Thornton was born 98 years ago on December 12
• Motley Crüe‘s Nikki Sixx celebrated his 66th birthday on December 12
• Yasiin Bey, one of the greatest living emcees celebrated his 51st birthday on December 12
• The incomparable, elegant and absolutely legendary Ms. Dionne Warwick celebratesd her 84th birthday on December 12
• The Fixx’s frontman Cy Curnin celebrated his 67th birthday on December 12
• Sheila E celebrated her 67th birthday on December 12
• Grammy Award-winning multi-instrumentalist, arranger and producer Grover Washington, Jr. was born 81 years ago on December 12
• Telvision‘s Tom Verlaine, one of the most influential and important guitarists of the past 50 years was born on this day 75 years ago
• The Time’s Morris Day celebrated his 66th birthday on December 13. 
• ZZ Top‘s frontman, guitarist and co-founder Billy Gibbons celebrated his 75th birthday on December 16
• R.E.M co-founder, multi-instrumentalist and songwriter Mike Mills celebrates his 66th birthday on December 17
• The Rolling Stones‘ legendary guitarist Keith Richards celebrated his 81 birthday on December 18
• DMX, one of the most electric, captivating emcees to ever spit bars on a record was born 54 years ago on December 18
• Earth, Wind & Fire’s Maurice White was born 83 years ago on December 19
• The legendary Édith Piaf was born on 109 years ago on December 19
• The Black Crowes‘ and Chris Robinson Brotherhood (CRB)‘s Chris Robinsoncelebrated his 58th birthday on December 20
• The legendary Frank Zappa was born 84 years ago on December 21
• The Bee Gee‘s Maurice Gibb and Robin Gibb were born 75 years ago on December 22
• Luther Campbell, a.k.a. Luke Skyywalker, a.k.a Uncle Luke, a.k.a. Luke, the mastermind behind the legendary and controversial The 2 Live Crew was born 64 years ago on December 22
• Pearl Jam‘s Eddie Vedder celebrated his 60th — yes, y’all., 60th! — birthday on December 23 
• Motörhead founder, frontman — and overall badass — Lemmy Kilmister was born 79 years ago on December 24
• The legendary Cab Calloway was born 117 years ago today
• Annie Lennox, arguably one of the greatest vocalists ever — and I mean across soul, pop, electro pop, New Wave or anything else, celebrates her 70th — yes, y’all 70th — birthday on December 25
• The legendary bluesman Bo Diddley was born 96 years ago today

The Monkees‘ Micheal Nesmith was born 82 years ago today. And his bandmate Davy Jones was born 79 years ago today. As a child of the ’80s, I grew up watching The Monkees repeats on Nickelodeon, if I remember it correctly. They also had a comeback album in the mid ’80s that was quite a big deal; I remember seeing a video or two on MTV. 

The Monkees was a bit of goofy, clearly Beatles-esque fun with some really great songs. I somehow didn’t know that Neil Diamond wrote “I’m A Believer,” but now that I think of it, I hear Neil Diamond in the song. He also wrote a handful of other Monkees songs. Go figure! 

Happy birthday, Mike! Happy birthday, Davy! Happy birthday to the both of you, wherever you are!