Fun Facts!!
In 1996, Smashing Pumpkins drummer Jimmy Chamberlain was charged with drug possession after the death of keyboard player Jonathan Melvoin in his New York Hotel room.
Funny Quote!
“Girls would come into our hotel room and leave bored.” Carlos Santana
Happy Birthday to....
1956 - Steve Harris bassist with English heavy metal band Iron Maiden, who had the 1982 UK No.1 album The Number Of The Beast, and the 1991 UK No.1 single ‘Bring Your Daughter ...To The Slaughter’. Iron Maiden have sold over 100 million copies of their albums worldwide.
1963 - The Beatles
The Beatles played at the Granada Cinema in Bedford. Also on the bill, Chris Montez and Tommy Roe. John Lennon, suffering from a heavy cold, was unable to perform, so The Beatles set was rearranged so that George and Paul could sing the parts that John usually sang.
1968 - The Rolling Stones
The Rolling Stones started recording their next single ‘Jumpin’ Jack Flash' with new producer Jimmy Miller at Olympic studios in London. Keith Richards has stated that he and Jagger wrote the lyrics while staying at Richards' country house, where they were awakened one morning by the sound of gardener Jack Dyer walking past the window. When Jagger asked what the noise was, Richards responded, “Oh, that’s Jack - that’s jumpin' Jack.”
1969 - Paul McCartney
Paul McCartney married Linda Eastman at Marylebone Register Office. They then held a reception lunch at The Ritz Hotel, Paul then went to Abbey Road studios in the evening to work. George Harrison and his wife Patti were arrested on the same day and charged with possession of 120 joints of marijuana.
1974 - John Lennon made the headlines after an incident at the Troubadour Club, LA. Out on a drinking binge with Harry Nilsson, Lennon hurled insults at the performing Smothers Brothers and punched their manager before being forcibly removed.
1977 - Bob Seger’s “Night Moves” peaks at #4 on the Billboard Hot 100. It’s Seger’s first song to chart in the Top 10.
1983 - Bonnie Tyler Welsh singer, had her only UK No.1 single with a song written by Meat Loaf’s producer, Jim Steinman, ‘Total Eclipse Of The Heart’. Also No.1 in the US, (the only Welsh artist to score a US No.1), Canada and Australia, the single sold over 5 million copies world wide.
1983 - U2 scored their first UK No.1 album with ‘War’, which went on to spend a total of 147 weeks on the chart. The album featured the singles ‘New Years Day’ and ‘Two Hearts Beat As One’.
2003 - The Chinese Ministry of Culture ban four Rolling Stones songs prior to the group’s first tour of the mainland. The songs, shelved due to sexual references and/or inter-racial coupling, are “Brown Sugar,” “Honky Tonk Women,” “Beast Of Burden” and “Let’s Spend The Night Together.” So “Bitch” is OK?
2006 - David Gilmour Former Pink Floyd guitarist went to No.1 on the UK album chart with his third solo album On An Island. In 2009 UK radio station Planet Rock held a poll asking listeners to name the ‘Greatest Solo Album Written By A Former Band Member’. David Gilmour was voted into first place with On An Island.
2007 - Van Halen is inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. But Van Halen has more issues, anger, and angst than a divorce support group. Singer David Lee Roth won’t share the stage with his replacement, Sammy Hagar, who also left on a sour note. And bassist Michael Anthony was booted after a quarter century with the band. In the end, guitarist Eddie Van Halen (who’s in rehab – again), his drummer brother Alex nor Roth attend the ceremony.
2007 - R.E.M. and Patti Smith are inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Pearl Jam’s Vedder joins R.E.M. for a rendition of the group’s “Man On The Moon.” “There are things I feel deeply about inside that (R.E.M.’s) Michael Stipe put in there himself,” says Vedder.
2010 - Metallica Over 130 people were arrested and eight people were hospitalized as fans tried to gatecrash a Metallica show in Colombia. 1,500 police and four tanks were brought in to manage the crowds as property was vandalized and destroyed, as thousands of ticketless fans rioted during Metallica’s first Colombian concert in eleven years.
2012 - Doobie Brothers drummer Michael Hossack died at his home in Dubois, Wyoming at the age of 65. He had been battling cancer for some time and succumbed to complications of the disease with his family at his side. Hossack was a member of the Doobie Brothers between 1971 and 1973, playing on several of the band’s best-known hits, including ‘Listen to the Music’ and ‘China Grove’.
2012 - Smashing Pumpkins Billy Corgan has harsh words for ‘posers’ in the music industry. During a SXSW interview, Corgan claims up-and-coming musicians “have grown up thinking that being famous is the goal, not to be respected – not to be dangerous. I was part of a generation that changed the world, and it was taken over by posers.”
2013 - Guitarist Joe Bonamassa says he’s “pretty much done” with Black Country Communion because there’s “too much tension” when the group tours.
2013 - Bob Dylan was voted into the American Academy of Arts and Letters, marking the first time a rock musician had been chosen for the elite honor society. Officials in the Academy – which recognises music, literature and visual art – were unable to decide if Dylan belonged for his words or his music and instead inducted him as an honorary member like previous honorees Meryl Streep, Woody Allen and Martin Scorsese.
2013 - Clive Burr drummer with Iron Maiden died in his sleep in London, four days after his 56th birthday, due to complications related to MS. Iron Maiden had the 1982 UK No.1 album The Number Of The Beast, and the 1991 UK No.1 single ‘Bring Your Daughter To The Slaughter’. Burr was a member of up-and-coming British metal band, Samson, before joining Maiden in 1979.
2016 - Iron Maiden‘s personal Boeing 747 was badly damaged after colliding with a tow truck while grounded at Santiago, Chile. The band’s crew and their twenty tons of equipment were not onboard at the time of the crash, but two ground crew workers were injured.
2018 - Iron Maiden announces the settlement of a lawsuit over the ’82 track “Hallowed Be Thy Name.” The suit claimed the song reproduced major parts of “Life’s Shadow” (recorded by Beckett, an English Hard Rock band, in ’74). “Due to escalating legal fees and the potential huge costs of a court case it was pragmatic to reluctantly settle this action,” reads Iron Maiden’s statement. Iron Maiden had removed “Hallowed Be Thy Name” from their set list due to the lawsuit.
2023 - Slash (Guns N’ Roses) launches BerserkerGang, a horror production company in partnership with genre professionals.
2023 - Def Leppard drummer Rick Allen suffers a head injury after an unprovoked violent assault by a teenager at a South Florida hotel. Allen is there for a co-headline concert with Mötley Crüe. The suspect is arrested, charged, and released after posting bail.
2024 - Lenny Kravitz, known for the hits “American Woman,” “Are You Gonna Go My Way” and “Fly Away” receives the 2,774th star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame – it’s in front of the historic Capitol Records Tower.
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