Rock History At It's Finest!

Fun Fact!!!

“I consider myself a poet first and a musician second. I live like a poet and I’ll die like a poet ”Bob Dylan.

Aerosmith’s Joe Perry’s first job was an Ice Cream Salesman

1993 - Pearl Jam singer Eddie Vedder was arrested after being involved in a fight in a New Orleans bar. He was charged with disturbing the peace.

Happy Birthday to....

1943 - Dick Taylor English musician, best known as the guitarist and founder member of the Pretty Things who had the 1964 UK No.10 single ‘Don’t Bring Me Down’. They took their name from Willie Dixon’s 1955 song ‘Pretty Thing’. Taylor was an early member of the Rolling Stones playing guitar and bass guitar, but left the band to resume his studies at Sidcup Art College.

Today in Rock History!!!

1968 - The Doors Jim Morrison was arrested and charged with public drunkenness after harassing a security guard at a Las Vegas adult movie theatre.

1977 - Pink Floyd’s tenth studio album Animals entered the UK charts at No.2. The sleeve concept was that of Roger Waters, who lived at the time near Clapham Common, and regularly drove past Battersea Power Station. A view of the imposing but disused former power station building was chosen for the cover image, complete with massive inflatable pig suspended between two of the towers.

1978 - Fleetwood Mac album Rumours went to No.1 on the UK album chart. The groups eleventh studio album went on to sell over 45 million copies world-wide and spent over 440 weeks on the UK chart. The songs ‘Go Your Own Way’, ‘Dreams’, ‘Don’t Stop’, and ‘You Make Loving Fun’ were released as singles.

1978 - Van Halen released their first single, a cover of The Kinks’ ‘You Really Got Me’. The Kinks’ Dave Davies has claimed to dislike Van Halen’s rendition of the song and stated of how a concert-goer once approached him after a live Kinks show and congratulated him on performing a “great cover of the Van Halen song.”

1980 - The J. Geils Band release their most successful album, “Love Stinks,” featuring the humorous title track.

1983 - Narara Music Festival The first Narara Music Festival was held near Somersby, NSW over the Australia Day weekend, the line-up included Men At Work, The Church, The Choirboys, Cold Chisel and INXS. The following year saw Simple Minds, Talking Heads, Def Leppard, Eurythmics and The Pretenders all appearing.

1984 - Motley Crue Backstage after a Motley Crue show in Buffalo, New York, Tommy Lee found out that his girlfriend has posed for the current issue of Penthouse magazine without his knowledge, after a fan passed comment on the pictures. Tommy punched the fan unconscious with one hit, Motleys manager Doug Thaler later convinced the fan not to press any charges.

1985 - Michael Jackson The recording took place for We Are The World the US equivalent of Band Aid at A&M Studios in Hollywood. Written by Michael Jackson and Lionel Richie the all star cast included Stevie Wonder, Tina Turner, Bruce Springsteen, Diana Ross, Bob Dylan, Ray Charles, Daryl Hall, John Oates, Cyndi Lauper, Steve Perry and Bob Geldof.

1994 - Paul McCartney and Linda McCartney attended the premiere of Wayne’s World II in London. The couple then went on to Hard Rock Cafe, where the film star Mike Myers presented them with a cheque for LIPA (the Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts) for £25,000 ($42,500) from the sale of Linda’s vegetarian burgers.

2005 - Jim Capaldi English drummer and singer songwriter Jim Capaldi died of stomach cancer aged 60. He co-founded Traffic with Steve Winwood who had the 1967 UK No.2 single ‘Hole In My Shoe’. Capaldi also had the solo 1975 UK No.4 single ‘Love Hurts’. Capaldi also worked with Jimi Hendrix, Eric Clapton and George Harrison.

2009 - Duff McKagan announces that he’s a financial columnist for Playboy magazine. The former Guns N’ Roses bassist says the column is “just some no-nonsense plain talk about things that can usually get real confusing.” McKagan adds that he wants to “shed some light and maybe even bring down some of the criminals on Wall Street.”

2009 - Lynyrd Skynyrd keyboard player Billy Powell died at the age of 56 of a suspected heart attack in Florida. Powell called police saying he was having trouble breathing and emergency services tried to resuscitate him, but he was pronounced dead an hour later. Powell had missed a doctor’s appointment on the day before his death; the appointment was for a checkup on his heart. He played piano on Kid Rock’s ‘All Summer Long’ (which sampled the Lynyrd Skynyrd song ‘Sweet Home Alabama’).

2018 - Foo Fighters pick up the Best Rock Song statue for “Run” at the 60th annual Grammy Awards in New York City.

Notably, Avenged Sevenfold’s “The Stage” is nominated for Best Rock Song, the first nomination for the band. They skip the ceremony because they are not happy the Best Rock Song award isn’t televised during the broadcast.

For the record, U2 (who look miserable freezing on a platform in the Hudson River in front of the Statue of Liberty) perform “Get Out Of Your Own Way.” Also, Queen receives a Lifetime Achievement Award.

2015 - Black Sabbath bassist Geezer Butler was arrested after officers were called to the Corkscrew Saloon on the Furnace Creek Ranch in Death Valley National Park, California. The 65 year-old bassist was arrested for misdemeanour assault, public intoxication and vandalism after a fight broke out in the bar.

2016 - KISS’s Gene Simmons grants a dying teenager’s wish by visiting him at the Children’s Hospital of Nevada in Las Vegas. Dilan Kohn, who idolizes Simmons and sees the bassist as an inspiration, passes away just days after Simmons’ visit.

2016 - Jefferson Airplane co-founder Paul Kantner dies at the age of 74 due to multiple organ failure following a heart attack. And in a strange coincidence, original Jefferson Airplane vocalist Signe Anderson (later replaced by Grace Slick) also died at the age of 74.

2017 - Geoff Nicholls British musician and keyboardist, and longtime member of the heavy metal band Black Sabbath, Geoff Nicholls died aged 68. Until his death, Nicholls played keyboards with former Black Sabbath singer Tony Martin, in his band Tony Martin’s Headless Cross.

2023 - Bon Jovi Bon Jovi’s “Livin’ On A Prayer” video surpasses the 1-billion views on YouTube.

The triple-platinum selling track is the second single from “Slippery When Wet.”