Today is the twenty-sixth 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
- Maceo Parker, who celebrated his 83rd birthday on February 14.
- Holland-Dozier-Holland‘s Brian Holland, who 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, who celebrated his 68th birthday on February 16
- Kamasi Washington, who celebrated his 45th birthday on February 18
- Dr. Dre, who celebrated his 61st birthday on February 18
- Seal, who celebrated his 63rd birthday on February 19
- The great Smokey Robinson celebrated his 86th birthday on February 19
- Nina Simone, who was born 93 years ago on February 21
- Whitney Houston arguably one of the best and most memorable voices ever recorded
- Billie Holiday whose influence on jazz and pop has been towering
- Salt-N-Pepa, one of the best-selling rap acts ever
- Al Green, the king of soul and of love songs
- Erykah Badu, who celebrates her 55th birthday today
New Orleans-born and-based singer/songwriter, pianist and rock ‘n roll pioneer Fats Domino was born 98 years ago today. His first single, 1949’s Dave Bartholomew co-written “The Fat Man” has been cited by some historians as the first rock single to sell more than one million copies. Continuing his collaboration with Bartholomew, Domino scored a string of mainstream hits between 1955-1960 that would quickly become rock staples, beginning with 1955’s “Ain’t That a Shame,” and resulted in 11 Top 10 US pop hits.
In fact by 1955, Domino had five records that sold more than a million copies, earning gold certification. Four of his records were named to the Grammy Hall of Fame for their significance to music — “Blueberry Hill,” “Ain’t That a Shame,” “Walking to New Orleans,” and of course, “The Fat Man.”
Fats Domino was also one of the more influential and beloved artists of his day: Elvis Presley and The Beatles are among the biggest names to cite the pioneering legend’s work as influential to them. And unsurprisingly, he was a member of the first class of inductees to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1986.
Happy birthday, legend! Happy birthday, wherever you are!
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