Throwback: Happy 95th Birthday, Bo Diddley!

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
• The 78th anniversary of the birth of Motörhead founder, frontman — and overall badass — Lemmy Kilmister was on December 24
• Eurythmics frontperson Annie Lennox celebrated her 69th birthday on December 25 
• Metallica‘s co-founder and drummer Lars Ulrich celebrated his 60th — yes, 60th — birthday on December 26
• Roebuck “Pops” Staples, the legendary patriarch and founder of The Staple Singers, which featured his son Pervis and his daughters Mavis, Yvonne and Cleotha, was born 109 years ago on December 28

December 30th is an especially auspicious day for music births:

• The legendary and incomparable Patti Smith celebrates her 77h birthday today.

The legendary bluesman Bo Diddley was born 95 years ago today. Born Ellas Otha Bates, the legendary singer/songwriter, guitarist and producer played a major role in the development and solidification of what was to become rock ‘n’ roll.

Unsurprisingly Bo Diddley’s work was cited as influence on some of rock’s pioneers and beloved artists including Buddy Holly, Elvis Presley, The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, The Animals, George Thorogood, The Clash and a remarkably long list of others.

As always, I have to remind you: Black history is American history. Black culture is American culture. And without these black artists, much of the slang, culture and music you love wouldn’t be possible. So go and listen to Bo Diddley on his birthday. Without him, some of your favorite artists wouldn’t have sounded as they did.

Happy birthday, Bo! Happy birthday, wherever you are!