In November 2017, Malcolm John Rebennack Jr., the six-time Grammy-winning Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee from New Orleans known as Dr. John, celebrated his 77th birthday during an intimate gathering at Napoleon House.

The recently-on-hiatus Rebennack can celebrate the same birthday this year. He’ll turn 77 again on Nov. 20. Contrary to the many sources that cite his birthdate as Nov. 21, 1940 (try Googling "how old is Dr. John'' and see what you get), Rebennack’s real birthday is Nov. 20, 1941.

Although birth records in Louisiana are held confidential until 100 years after the year of birth, The Times-Picayune’s Records of the Day column, published Nov. 27, 1941, lists the birth of M.J. Rebennack, a boy, at Baptist Hospital.

The 1941 date in The Times-Picayune contradicts biographies of Rebennack at Grammy.com, Allmusic.com, Biography.com, imdb.com The Associated Press, Google and Wikipedia (and NOLA.com and The Times-Picayune). Of course, Rebennack’s age is also incorrect in countless published stories and interviews.

Just what the (voodoo) doctor ordered: Or, how Mac Rebennack became Dr. John

Adding to the “confusement,” as Rebennack might say, his autobiography, “Under a Hoodoo Moon,” says 1940, too.

“I was born in New Orleans just before Thanksgiving 1940,” he writes. “I was a big baby, checked in nearly a month late. Because of my size and my birthday, my mother took to calling me her Thanksgiving turkey. A term of endearment I was glad she dropped before I began going to school.”

During last year’s birthday event in the Napoleon House Emperor Room, everyone was on board for the incorrect birthdate. Rebennack received a proclamation from the New Orleans City Council naming Nov. 21 as Dr. John Day. Gov. John Bel Edwards sent his “acknowledgement of countless musical contributions embodying the culture of the state from New Orleans to the Bayou and for celebrating 77 years in the music industry.”

“Eh,” Rebennack told the small group of friends and invited media people, “76 was great. Seventy-seven is greater.”

Despite the preponderance of the incorrect date, two sources fell in the correct column all along — the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as well as the much-respected music history book by Jason Berry, Jonathan Foose and Tad Jones, “Up From the Cradle of Jazz: New Orleans Music Since World War II.”

This week, the New Orleans Musicians Union also confirmed Rebennack’s birthdate as Nov. 20 but, citing privacy, would not confirm the year.

Rebennack’s concert calendar has been uncharacteristically quiet. In January, his publicist, Karen Dalton-Beninato, announced that he’d be “taking a break and resting at home. I wouldn’t count out more shows down the road, so stay tuned. The last statement he gave me is: ‘Everything is good.’ ”

“I’m just as excited about this birthday as I was the last time he turned 77,” Dalton-Beninato said recently.

The hiatus announcement in January followed the cancelations of two December 2017 shows at Tipitina’s and an appearance at the “Cyndi Lauper & Friends: Home for the Holidays” benefit concert in New York. Prior to those cancellations, Rebennack — the normally prolific singer-pianist whose stellar career dates to the golden age of New Orleans rhythm-and-blues and rock ’n’ roll — performed through most of 2017.

Eating raccoon with Dr. John