Birthday Boy!

ROBERT JOHNSON: 100th Birthday Celebration...A Year Later

May 11th, 2011 would have been blues legend Robert Johnson's 100th birthday, but it's never too late to celebrate. A March 6th concert at New York's Apollo Theatre will honor his legacy. Taking part will be Todd Rundgren, Sam Moore, Taj Mahal, Macy Gray, Chuck D, Living Colour, The Roots, Shemekia Copeland, Keb Mo and many others. Noticeably absent are some of the artists who cite Johnson as a main influence, including Eric Clapton, Billy Gibbons and Robert Plant. Proceeds will go to the Blues Foundation and the Robert Johnson Foundation to provide funding for the construction of the Blues Hall of Fame in Memphis.

A 13-mile stretch of Interstate 55 in Copiah County, Mississippi, where Johnson was born, will be re-named the Robert L. Johnson Memorial Highway. The Mississippi House passed the bill last Thursday. Johnson died in 1938.

Sources: RobertJohnson100.com, Associated Press