Celebrities Turning The Big 4-0 - Michael Jackson, Angela Bassett, Babyface, Sade, Prince, Magic Johnson, Anita Baker, Keenen Ivory Wayans

Ebony, March, 1999 by Melissa Ewey

Earvin (Magic) Johnson

Magic's legendary career in basketball began in 1977, when he led his high school basketball team to win the state championship. Two years later, his Michigan State team won the NCAA title. In his professional career, Johnson went on to lead the Los Angeles Lakers to five NBA championship titles. He also played in 11 All-Star games and won a gold medal as part of the original U.S. Dream Team at the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona, Spain. After retiring from the NBA in 1996, Johnson focused on his growing business empire, Magic Johnson Enterprises. The company's subsidiaries include movie theaters, all-star basketball camps and entertainment production. A nonprofit foundation in his name works on behalf of the needs of inner-city youth, in 1998, Johnson enjoyed a as host of the late-night talk show The Magic Hour. He currently resides in California with his wife, Cookie, and their children.

Anita Baker

A Detroit native, Anita Baker started out singing in church choirs and became lead vocalist for a local R&B group in the late '70s. She went solo in 1980 with her debut album, The Songstress. Three years later she released her Grammy-winning breakthrough Rapture, featuring the title song and the hit single, "Sweet Love". The album sold 5 million copies and established Baker as one of R&B's premier vocalists. The subsequent albums. Giving You the Best That I've Got, Compositions and 1994's Rhythm of Love also enjoyed commercial success and showcased Baker's vocal and creative range. She continues to record and tour, but also focuses her attention on fundraisers for the scholarship she founded for Detroit youth. Baker lives in Michigan with her husband, Walter Bridgforth, and their two sons, Walter Jr. and Edward.

Keenen Ivory Wayans

The second of 10 children, Keenen Ivory Wayans was drawn to comedy at a young age. lie quit engineering school to do stand-up comedy in New York City, earning a loyal legion of fans. When he moved to Los Angeles, he grew frustrated with the lack of opportunities and collaborated with friend Robert Townsend on the independently produced film Hollywood Shuffle in 1986. After co-writing and producing the concert film Eddie Murphy Raw and writing/ directing/starring in I'm Gonna Git You Sucka, he caught the attention of television executives who signed him to create his own comedy/variety show. In Living Color broke ground with its hilarious depictions of ethnic humor and aired for four seasons. Wayans' other film credits include A Low Down Dirty Shame, The Glimmer Man and Most Wanted. He added talkshow host to his long list of credits with The Keenen Ivory Wayans Show in 1997.