Throwback: Happy Belated 54th Birthday, MC Lyte!

October is a busy month in music history. 

• The Police’s legendary frontman Sting celebrated his 73rd birthday on October 2 
• Stevie Ray Vaughan was born 70 years ago on October 3
• The Roots‘ Black Thought, arguably one of the greatest living emcees celebrates his 51st birthday on October 3
• Chubby Checker, one of the pioneers of rock ‘n’ roll and R&B celebrated his 83rd birthday today on October 3
• AC/DC‘s Brian Johnson celebrates his 77th birthday on October 5
• Steve Miller Band‘s Steve Miller celebrated his 81st on October 5
• John Mellencamp celebrated his 73rd on October 7
• Thom Yorke celebrated his 56th birthday on October 7
• Pete Rock and CL Smooth‘s CL Smooth celebrated his 56th birthday on October 8 
• The legendary John Lennon was born 84 years ago on October 9
• PJ Harvey celebrated her 55th birthday on October 9
• Thelonious Monk was born 107 years ago today
• David Lee Roth, one of the greatest rock/metal frontman to ever live, and a member of the most beloved Van Halen lineup, ever, celebrated his 70th — yes, 70th! — birthday on October 10
• The legendary Art Blakey, was born on this day 105 years ago
• Daryl Hall, best known for his work with the blue-eyed soul duo Hall & Oates one of the most commercially successful duos ever, celebrated his 78th birthday on October 11

MC Lyte is one of the pioneers of hip-hop — and of course, just as important, one of the greatest emcees to ever do it, male, female or non-binary. She celebrated her 54th birthday yesterday.

So let’s give the legend her flowers, and celebrate her life and music. Happy belated birthday, MC Lyte. May there be many, many, many more!