Throwback: Happy Black History Month!/Happy 74th Birthday, James Ingram!

Today is the sixteenth day of Black History Month. Because the current administration is racist, fascist and wants to deny the existence and histories of anyone that isn’t cis-het and white, there are some important things everyone should remember during this month — and every single month: 

• You can’t love Black artists and their work, and not see them as people 
• Black lives — and Black art matters 
• Black culture is American culture 

As we go through the month, I’m going to talk about a collection of Black artists. It’ll be fairly comprehensive and eclectic list — although it won’t be a complete list. So far I’ve talked about the following: 

• Big Boi, who celebrated his 51st birthday on February 1
•  Rick James, who was born 78 years ago on February 1
• Sudan Archives, one of the most talented and dynamic artists performing out there today
• The Temptations‘ second and longest tenured lead vocalist Dennis Edwards who was born 83 years ago on February 3 
• Grammy Award-winning singer/songwriter, bassist and JOVM mainstay Stephen “Thundercat” Bruner
• Bobby Brown, who celebrated his 57th birthday on February 5 
• The legendary Bob Marley, who was born 81 years ago on February 6 
• Natalie Cole, the daughter of the legendary jazz singer and pianist Nat King Cole, who was born 76 years ago on February 6
• J. Dilla, who was born 52 years ago on February 7
• The pioneering Sister Rosetta Tharpe
• The uncompromising and trailblazing Tracy Chapman
• The legendary Roberta Flack, who was born 89 years ago on February 10
• D’Angelo, who was born 52 years ago on February 
• Bad Brains‘ founder and frontman H.R., who celebrated his 70th birthday on February 11
• Brandy, who celebrated her 47th birthday on February 11 
• Grammy Award and Brit Award-nominated artist Billy Ocean 
•  Freedom Williams, whose sonorous baritone flow was part of C+C Music Factory‘s biggest hits of the early 1990s celebrated his 60th birthday on February 13
• Holland-Dozier-Holland‘s Brian Holland celebrated his 85th birthday on February 15
• Ice T, the controversial pioneer of West Coast gangsta rap and of rap metal with his equally controversial metal band Body Count celebrates his 68th birthday today

James Ingram was born on this day, 74 years ago. Between roughly 1980 and the early 1990s, Ingram had eight Top 40 his on the Billboard Hot 100 charts, as well as 13 Top 40 hits on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart — and 20 hits on the Adult Contemporary chart, including two #1s: 1982’s “Baby, Come to Me,” with the equally legendary Patti Austin and 1990’s “I Don’t Have the Heart,” which was his first and only as a solo artist.

Ingram co-wrote Patty Smyth‘s “Look What Love Has Done,” for 1994’s Junior. That song earned him nominations for Best Original song during that year’s Oscars, Golden Globes and Grammy Awards.

Simply put, Ingram as a singer/songwriter and musician has been a part of some of the great love songs and duets of the 1980s and 1990s. And goddamn, that voice, y’all.

Happy birthday legend. Happy birthday, wherever you are!

___

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