Tuesday 27 February 2018

Today in rock history 27th February

1951 – Born on this day, Steve Harley, singer, Cockney Rebel.
1954 – Journey founder and Santana guitarist Neal Schon is born in San Mateo, Calif.
1955 – Billboard announces that, for the first time, seven-inch 45 rpm singles are outselling 78s in US.
1957 – John Roy “Johnny” Van Zant (born February 27, 1959, in Jacksonville, Florida) is an American musician and the current lead vocalist of Southern rock band Lynyrd Skynyrd.
1957 – Born on this day, Adrian Smith, Iron Maiden.
1967 – Pink Floyd record Arnold Layne, their first single.
1970 – Jefferson Airplane is fined for using profanity during a show in Oklahoma City. The fine is $1,000.
1971 – Five months after her death, Janis Joplin started a nine-week run at No.1 on the US album chart with ‘Pearl".
1974 – Cher filed for divorce from Sonny Bono. Cher married Gregg Allman from The Allman Brothers band on 27th June 1975.
1977 – Led Zeppelin cancel the kick-off of their world tour in Dallas after Robert Plant comes down with tonsillitis.
1980 – The Doobie Brothers’ “What a Fool Believes,” wins Grammys for both Record of the Year and Song of the Year.
1998 – Motley Crue member Vince Neil, not to outdone by Tommy Lee, announces an agreement with Internet Entertainment Group and Vivid Video to distribute a 60-minute home video of him having sex with two adult film models while on vacation in Hawaii.
1998 – One day after being charged, rocker Tommy Lee is freed on bail after pleading innocent to charges of abusing his wife, actress Pamela Anderson Lee, and their baby son. A judge reluctantly cuts Lee’s $1 million bail in half despite a plea relayed through an attorney who says that Mrs. Lee is fearful.
2001 – Returning home after a 46-year absence, guitarist Carlos Santana unveils a plaque in Autlan De Navarro declaring him the “favourite son” of the west-central Mexican town.
2003 – A lawyer for Great White’s tour manager says the band had permission from a Rhode Island nightclub to use pyrotechnics at their fatal Feb. 20 show.
2003 – Lynyrd Skynyrd guitarist Gary Rossington undergoes emergency heart surgery, leaving the Southern rockers to delay a forthcoming tour and the release of their Vicious Cycle album.
2008 – Eric Clapton is been invited to play a landmark concert in communist North Korea, according to an official at the country’s embassy in London.
2008 – Waters Announces Final Dark Side Tour… Roger Waters will perform his last two performances of Pink Floyd’s ‘Dark Side Of The moon’ in the UK later this Spring.
2010 - Fall Out Boy bassist Pete Wentz has been appointed as a spokesperson for UNICEF to raise awareness about the importance of providing clean drinking water for children around the world.
2012 - The Sex Pistols signed with Universal Music Catalogue UK.
2016 - Elton John gave a free, surprise concert outside of the old Tower Records building in Los Angeles. John performed an hour-long set of his hits to thank the city of West Hollywood for its support of his AIDS Foundation and his Academy Awards Viewing Party.

Monday 26 February 2018

Today in rock history 26th February

1932 – Country star Johnny Cash is born in Kingsland, Ark.
1943 – Paul Cotton (Poco) is born.
1943 – The very hirsute Canned Heat singer Bob “Bear” Hite is born in Torrance, Calif.
1950 – Born on this day, Jonathan Cain, keyboards, Journey
1965 – Guitarist Jimmy Page releases his first solo single, “She Just Satisfies.” The noted session musician and future Led Zeppelin genius goes on to join the Yardbirds after it fails to chart.
1966 – The Rolling Stones release “19th Nervous Breakdown.” It becomes their ninth hit single, reaching No. 2 on the American charts.
1966 – The Beatles ‘Rubber Soul’ was at No.1 on the US album chart, the group’s seventh US album chart topper.
1973 – During a 9-date tour of Australia and New Zealand The Rolling Stones played the first of two nights at the Royal Randwick Racecourse in Sydney.
1977 – Fleetwood Mac: Rumours hits UK LP chart.
1979 – During a court case between The Sex Pistols and their manager Malcolm McLaren it was revealed that only £30,000 ($51,000) was left of the £800,000 ($1,360,000) the band had earned.
1980 – After seeing U2 play at Dublin’s National Boxing Stadium in front of 2,400 people; Rob Partridge and Bill Stewart from Island Records in the UK offered the band a recording contract.
1995 – Former Led Zeppelin duo Jimmy Page and Robert Plant kick off a year-long world tour in Pensacola, Fla., supporting their live “No Quarter” reunion album.
1997 – Ellen DeGeneres hosts this year’s Grammys. Eric Clapton wins Record of the Year, Song of the Year, and Best Male Pop Vocal Performance for “Change the World.”
1997 - Geddy Lee, Alex Lifeson, & Neil Peart of Rush received the Order of Canada, the highest civilian award from the Canadian government, for significant achievement in important fields of human endeavor.
1998 – Rocker Tommy Lee of Motley Crue fame is formally charged with abusing his wife, actress Pamela Anderson Lee, and one of their sons, Dylan.
2001 – A woman repeatedly accused of stalking Guns N’ Roses’ Axl Rose is charged with violating her probation after visiting Rose’s home in Malibu, Calif.
2002 – The Eagles, John Fogerty, Billy Joel and Stevie Nicks are among those taking part in Four Concerts for Artists’ Rights, held in the Los Angeles area to raise funds for the Recording Artists Coalition. The organization is working toward changes in the California Labor Code that affect recording artists.
2002 – Alanis Morissette releases her third chart-topping album Under Rug Swept, featuring the single “Hands Clean.”
2005 – The wife of Status Quo guitarist Rick Parfitt was rushed to hospital after slashing her wrists in a suicide attempt after a Sunday newspaper ran a story claiming that Rick had been cheating on his wife.
2010 – Faith No More’s Frontman, Mike Patton, exposes himself during a concert in Brisbane.
2015- The modest Liverpool house where Paul McCartney lived from the age of four until the age of ten, sold for $231,000 at an auction held at the new Cavern Club.
 

Today in rock history 25th February

1943 – George Harrison of the Beatles is born in Liverpool.
1957 – Buddy Holly & the Crickets record “That’ll Be the Day” in Clovis, N.M. The single sells more than 1 million copies and tops Chart Toppers’s pop chart.
1959 – Mike Peters, lead singer of the Alarm, is born.
1965 – The Rolling Stones perform their just-released single “The Last Time” on the British rock show Ready! Steady! Go!.
1965 – Filming begins on the Beatles’ film “Help!” in the Bahamas.
1970 – Led Zeppelin perform at Sweden’s Goteborg Courthouse. While Jimmy Page plays the instrumental “White Summer,” a fan in the audience decides to accompany him by tootling on a harmonica. When the song is over, the offended Page spits on him.
1981 - Rush received their first Platinum album in the U.S. for 2112 which was certified by the RIAA for sales of one million copies. The album has since gone on to sell three million copies in the U.S.
1993 - Toy Caldwell, the guitarist for The Marshall Tucker Band died of heart disease. He was 45 years old.
1998 – Bob Dylan wins three Grammys at this year’s ceremony, including Best Album for his career renaissance Time out of Mind. While performing a song from the album, he is interrupted by a rogue performance artist with the words “soy bomb” painted on his chest. The freewheelin’ one doesn’t flinch.
2002 – Riverhead Books buy the rights to publish Kurt Cobain’s journals for a six-figure sum after a fierce bidding war.
2003 – Paul McCartney and his band perform at the 50th birthday of fan Wendy Whitworth in San Diego. Whitworth’s husband paid $1 million to McCartney, who donated his fee to the Adopt-a-Minefield charity.
2004 – The Rolling Stones topped a US Rich List of music’s biggest money makers.
2010 – A Manhattan federal judge ruled Thursday (February 25) that Ozzy Osbourne can proceed with his lawsuit against guitarist Tony Iommi over use of the Black Sabbath name.
Ozzy filed a lawsuit against Iommi in May 2009, claiming that Iommi illegally took sole ownership of the band’s name in a filing with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.
2011 – Suze Rotolo, Bob Dylan’s former girlfriend dies.! After meeting backstage at one of his gigs, Dylan was overcome by Suzi’s raw beauty.
2015 - On what would have been his 72nd birthday, a memorial tree honoring George Harrison was planted in a Los Angeles park to replace one that was earlier killed by a beetle infestation.

Saturday 24 February 2018

Today in rock history 24th February

1942 – Vocalist Paul Jones of Manfred Mann is born in Portsmouth.
1944 – Session pianist Nicky Hopkins is born in London. He played with just about everybody, making valuable contributions to the Beatles’ White Album, Jefferson Airplane’s Volunteers, and more than a dozen Rolling Stones albums, including Beggars Banquet and Let It Bleed.
1947 – Lonnie Turner, bassist for the Steve Miller Band is born in California.
1969 – The Jimi Hendrix Experience perform at London’s Royal Albert Hall. Hendrix breaks up the trio shortly afterward, making this their last British gig together.
1975 – After nearly a two-year wait since Houses of the Holy, Led Zeppelin release Physical Graffiti. It goes to No. 1 on the Billboard album chart in a record-breaking two weeks.
1976 – The Recording Industry Association of America certifies The Eagles: Their Greatest Hits platinum. It’s the first time a platinum disc has been awarded for sales of a million copies.
1979 – The Police release their single “Roxanne.” It becomes their first American hit, peaking at No. 32.
1982 – Pat Benatar wins a Grammy for “Fire and Ice,” Best Female Rock Performance.
1988 – Alice Cooper must have a new album to promote. The shock rocker announces he’s going to run for governor of Arizona.
1990 – Bob Dylan unexpectedly joins Roger McGuinn, Chris Hillman and David Crosby to sing “Mr. Tambourine Man” at a Los Angeles tribute to the late Roy Orbison.
1992 – Kurt Cobain of Nirvana and Courtney Love of Hole are married in Hawaii.
1993 – Eric Clapton wins six Grammys, including Best Record for “Tears in Heaven,” at this year’s award ceremony.
1998 – John Fogerty, whose well-crafted guitar lines are a trademark of his solo work and classic output as ex-leader of Credence Clearwater Revival, receives the 1998 Orville E. Gibson Lifetime Achievement Award.
1999 – Johnny Rotten emcees VH1’s live Grammy coverage – a two-hour pre-show and 30-minute post-show wrap at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles.
2002 – Paul McCartney performs “Yesterday” at a special concert tribute to George Harrison held in Liverpool.
2002 - Kiss performed with original guitarist Ace Frehley for the last time to date at the closing ceremonies of the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City.
2003 – Veteran rock band Fleetwood Mac previews a new song, “Peacekeeper,” on the NBC series “Third Watch.”
2006 – Sex Pistols singer John Lydon posts a missive on his Web site claiming the band will not attend their Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction. “We’re not coming,” he writes, “You’re not paying attention.”
2010 – Roger Daltrey wants to start a super-group with Jimmy Page.
The Who singer is keen to form a new band with the Led Zeppelin guitarist and go back to the blues roots he established before he started writing songs with bandmate Pete Townshend.

Friday 23 February 2018

Today in rock history 23rd February

1944 – Johnny Winter is born
1952 – Brad Whitford from Aerosmith is born.
1970 -  Ringo Starr made a guest appearance on Rowan & Martin’s Laugh-In. This was Starr’s first solo television appearance.
1978 -  David Coverdale’s Whitesnake made their live debut at the Sky Bird Club in Nottingham, U.K.
1978 – The Eagles win Grammys for the “Hotel California” album and “New Kid in Town” single.
1979 – The first tour of the U.S. and Canada by Dire Straits opens at the Paradise Club in Boston. The group logs 51 sold-out shows in 38 days.
1980 – Queen had Billboard’s top tune with “Crazy Little Thing Called Love”, a song that Freddie Mercury later admitted, came to him while he was taking a bath.
1980 - Iron Maiden released their debut single “Running Free” on EMI Records in the U.K. where it peaked at number 34.
1983 – A collection of former studio musicians who call themselves Toto win Album Of The Year for “Toto IV” and Record Of The Year for “Rosanna”, at the 25th Grammy Awards.
1999 – At the 1999 Orville H. Gibson Awards, held at the Hard Rock Cafe in Los Angeles, Courtney Love, lead singer of Hole, walks away with the best rock guitarist (female) honour, while bandmate Melissa auf der Maur picks up the plaudit for best bassist (female).
2000 – A cover of the Led Zeppelin classic “What Is And What Should Never Be” by Jimmy Page and the Black Crowes becomes available for free download exclusively from e-tailer Musicmaker.com.
2000 – At the Staples Center in Los Angeles, Carlos Santana performs a record-tying sweep at the Grammy’s, winning eight of the ten awards for which he is nominated.
2003 – Howie Epstein, 47, former bassist for Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers, dies at a hospital in Santa Fe, New Mexico. A female companion who transports Epstein to the hospital claims that he had been doing heroin and taking prescription antibiotics for an illness.
2004 – Courtney Love fires her lawyer after he advises her to plead guilty to drugs possession charges.
2006 – The surviving members of Alice in Chains announce they are reforming for a series of concerts. Singer Layne Staley died in 2002.
2010 – The Rock Hall induction “gala” this year will take place in NYC on March 15th. This year’s inductees: Green Day’s Billie Joe Armstrong will induct The Stooges, Phish’s Trey Anastasio will induct Genesis, Wyclef Jean will induct Jimmy Cliff, Barry and Robin Gibb will induct ABBA and Jackson Browne will induct David Geffen.
2010 - A week after EMI Records announced that the iconic Abbey Road Studios was for sale, the British culture ministry stepped in to declare the recording facility a historic site.
2011 – Foo Fighters release “Rope,” the first single off their upcoming Wasting Light album.

Thursday 22 February 2018

Today in rock history 22nd February

1963 – The Beatles form their Northern Music Publishing Company. Their single “Please Please Me” spends its first week at No. 1 on the U.K. charts.
1967 – The Beatles record the piano chord used on “A Day in the Life.” David Crosby pops by Abbey Road studios for a visit.
1968 – Genesis release their debut single, “The Silent Sun.”
1969 – Oz magazine reviews Led Zeppelin’s first album. Writer Felix Dennis says the debut “defies immediate classification or description, simply it’s so obviously a turning point in rock music that only time proves capable of shifting it into eventual perspective.”
1969 – The Beatles begin their sessions for Abbey Road with a take of “I Want You (She’s So Heavy).”
1977 – No. 1 Chart Toppers Pop Hit: “New Kid in Town,” Eagles. The single is the first release from the album “Hotel California,”
1978 – The Police appear as blondes in an advertisement for Wrigley’s chewing gum and decide to keep the look.
1979 – Rolling Stone reports that Journey have entered into a sponsorship deal with Budweiser in one of the first instances of what will soon become standard music industry practice.
1993 – Iron Maiden’s air-raid siren, Bruce Dickinson, announces that he’s leaving the group in order to pursue a solo career. He returns to the fold in 1999.
1999 – Jimmy Chamberlin announces that he has rejoined the Smashing Pumpkins, 3 and a 1/2 years after being ousted from the group for his involvement in the fatal drug overdose of keyboardist Jonathan Melvoin.
2001 - U.K. newspaper Sunday Mirror reported that The Beatles were the highest grossing musicians in the year of 2000 earning $50 million.
2005 – Blink-182 announce they’re going on “indefinite hiatus” (i.e., they’re not speaking to each other until someone offers them enough money to do so).
2005 – Korn announce that guitarist and founding member Brian “Head” Welch has rededicated his life to Christianity and left the band.
2011 – Gregg Rolie of Santana/Journey fame releases solo EP.
 

Wednesday 21 February 2018

Today in rock history 21st February

1943 – Producer and executive David Geffen is born in Brooklyn, N.Y.
1945 – Paul Newton, original bassist for Uriah Heep is born in Hampshire
1952 - Jean-Jacques "JJ" Burnell", best known as bassist with the Stranglers is born
1958 – The very first Gibson model Flying V guitar is shipped from a factory in Kalamazoo, Mich.
1964 – A New York band called The Echoes recruited a young piano player named Billy Joel.
1970 – Having been in release for only 15 weeks, Led Zeppelin II approaches sales of 2 million.
1977 – Fleetwood Mac released ‘Rumours’. The album went on to sell more than 15 million copies world-wide and spent 31 weeks at No.1 on the US chart.
1981 – REO Speedwagon started a 15 week run at the top of the Billboard album chart with “Hi Infidelity”.
1982 – Murray “the K” Kaufman, who used to be called the fifth Beatle because of his role in promoting their first tour, dies at age 60.
1995 – For the first time in seven years, Bruce Springsteen performs live with the E Street Band in a New York City nightclub for a video for Jonathan Demme’s film “Murder Incorporated.”
2001 – Tom Morello denies rumors that Chris Cornell has become the lead singer of Rage Against the Machine. It’s later announced that the new lead singer of Rage Against the Machine is … Chris Cornell.
2001 – Steely Dan, U2, Eminem and Faith Hill each win three Grammys at the Staples Center in Los Angeles.
2003 – Ringo Starr announces he’s starting a new label called Pumkinhead to give a hand to musical “newcomers.”
2006 – Kid Rock files a lawsuit to prevent the distribution of a videotape featuring himself and Creed’s Scott Stapp being “serviced” by four women.
2008 – A computer expert was jailed for two years for electronically stalking Linkin Park singer Chester Bennington. Devon Townsend worked at a US national security laboratory in New Mexico, where she used a computer to track Bennington, she admitted to obtaining family photos, accessing e-mail and voicemail, and threatening his wife Talinda.
2011 - The Cars announced that May 10th would be the release date for their first new album in 24 years.
 

Tuesday 20 February 2018

Today in rock history 20th February

1946 – Jerome Geils is born in New York City.
1950 – Born on this day, Walter Becker, bass, guitar, vocals, Steely Dan.
1951 – Randy California (Randy Wolfe) of Spirit is born in Los Angeles.
1954 – Born on This Day In Rock, Jon Brant, Cheap Trick.
1960 - Jimi Hendrix made his first stage appearance with his band The Rocking Kings at the National Guard Armory in Seattle.
1967 – Kurt Cobain of Nirvana is born.
1969 - Goodbye Cream, the documentary film of Cream’s farewell concert at London’s Royal Albert Hall premiered in Baltimore.
1976 – Four sets of Kiss footprints are placed in the sidewalk outside of Grauman’s Chinese Theater in Hollywood.
1982 – Pat Benatar married her guitarist and producer Neil Giraldo on the Hawaiian island of Maui.
1991 - Bob Dylan & John Lennon received the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award at the 33rd Grammy Awards at Radio City Music Hall in New York City. Aerosmith won their first Grammy for Best Rock Performance for “Janie’s Got A Gun” & performed “Come Together” as part of the tribute to Lennon.
2003 – Tragedy strikes at a Great White show at West Warwick, Rhode Island nightclub The Station when a pyrotechnic ignites soundproofing foam around the stage. The fire quickly spreads, killing 97 and injuring 187. One of those killed is identified as Great White guitarist Ty Longley.
2004 – Queens of the Stone Age’s Josh Homme says he will carry on with the group after the departures of bassist Nick Oliveri and singer Mark Lanegan.
2008 – A 1976 Rolling Stones album bought for £2 at a car boot sale sold for £4,000 at an auction. The ‘Black and Blue’ LP was signed by John Lennon, Yoko Ono, Paul and Linda McCartney and George Harrison as well as members of the Rolling Stones. The seller obtained the album after haggling the cost down from £3.
2008 – At this year’s Brit Awards, Foo Fighters won best international group and album.
2015 - With ticket prices ranging between $125 and $195 each, Fleetwood Mac led the Hot Tours list by taking in $3.8 million for three shows during the previous week.
2016 - A lock of John Lennon's hair, cut from his head in 1966 for his role in the film How I Won the War, sold at an auction to a U.K. based memorabilia dealer for $35,000.

Monday 19 February 2018

Today in rock history 19th February

1946 - Paul Dean-guitarist for Loverboy is born
1948 – Tony Iommi, the tin-fingered guitarist with Black Sabbath, is born in Birmingham.
1950 – Born on this day, Andy Powell, guitar, Wishbone Ash.
1954 - Francis Buchholz-bassist for the Scorpions born in Germany
1963 – The Beatles, Freddie Starr & The Midnighters, The Pathfinders and Curtis & The All Stars all appeared at The Cavern Club, Liverpool.
1965 – Working at Abbey Road studios in London, The Beatles recorded a new John Lennon song ‘You’re Gonna Lose That Girl’ in two takes.
1972 – Paul McCartney releases the controversial single “Give Ireland Back to the Irish” in the U.K. Predictably, the BBC bans it.
1972 – Harry Nilsson started a four week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with his version of the Badfinger song ‘Without You.’
1972 – Led Zeppelin appeared at the Memorial Drive, Adelaide in Australia.
1974 - Kiss made their television debut on Don Kirshner’s Rock Concert.
1980 - Bon Scott from ACDC dies from acute alcohol poisoning
1982 – Ozzy Osbourne was arrested in San Antonio, Texas for urinating on the Alamo. Osbourne was wearing a dress at the time of his arrest.
1984 – No. 1 Chart Toppers Pop Hit: “Jump,” Van Halen.
1995 – “Baywatch’s” Pamela Anderson marries Motley Crue drummer Tommy Lee on a Cancun beach. The bride wears a white bikini.
1997 – Motley Crue are cleared of responsibility for a concertgoer’s hearing loss. The fan sued the band for $7 million, but a judge ruled that he knew the concert would be loud when he bought the ticket.
1998 – Los Angeles’ House of Blues plays host to a one-off reunion of the Stray Cats. Proceeds from the sold-out show go to the Carl Perkins Foundation.
2009 - Kelly Groucutt, bassist and co-lead vocalist for the Electric Light Orchestra (ELO) between 1974 and 1983, died following a heart attack that he suffered the previous day. He was 63.
2010 – Aerosmith announced yesterday that they will be adding more European dates to its summer itinerary to follow up the booking at this year’s Download Festival in England.
2010 – A rare Jimi Hendrix cover recorded over 40 years ago is set to be released as a digital release on March 1.
2017 - Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr met up at Ringo's home studio in Los Angeles to lay down some songs for a forthcoming Ringo album.

Today in rock history 18th February

1933 – Born on this day, Yoko Ono, artist, singer, poet and wife of John Lennon.
1947 – Dennis DeYoung of Styx is born in Chicago.
1953 – Born on this day, Robbie Bachman, Bachman Turner Overdrive,
1955 – Born on this day, Brian James, The Damned.
1964 – While in Miami for a concert, the Beatles meet up with Cassius Clay, who is training in the city for an upcoming bout with Sonny Liston.
1965 – The Kinks were at No.1 on the UK singles chart with ‘Tired Of Waiting For You’, the groups second UK No.1.
1966 – The Rolling Stones kicked off an 11-date tour of Australia and New Zealand at the Commemorative Auditorium, Sydney, supported by The Searchers.
1968 – Guitarist Dave Gilmour joins Pink Floyd, as the rest of the band prepare to oust their permanently addled leader, Syd Barrett.
1969 – The Jimi Hendrix Experience appeared at the Royal Albert Hall, London.
1970 – John Lennon holds a birthday party for Yoko Ono at the Apple Records offices in London. Yoko is 37.
1977 – No. 1 Chart Toppers Pop Hit: “Blinded by the Light,” Manfred Mann’s Earth Band. The song is written by Bruce Springsteen and first appears on the New Jersey rocker’s album Greetings from Asbury Park.
1978 – Winners at this years Grammy Awards included Fleetwood Mac, Album of the year for ‘Rumours’, The Eagles, Record of the year for ‘Hotel California’ and Best pop vocal performance, The Bee Gees for ‘How Deep Is Your Love.’
1980 – Bill Wyman announces that he’s leaving the Rolling Stones. After an intervention by the rest of the band, the bassist is convinced to stay. He quits in 1992.
1987 – No. 1 Chart Toppers Pop Hit: “Livin’ on a Prayer,” Bon Jovi.
2000 – An American court ordered the release of FBI files relating to John Lennon’s interests and activities including his support for the Irish Republican cause and the Workers Revolutionary Party. The British Government told the US that it wanted the files to remain secret. MI5 also had files on Lennon, which they had passed on the FBI during the 70’s.
2003 – Styx release Cyclorama. Among the guest stars are Beach Boy Brian Wilson, actor Billy Bob Thornton and mock rockers Tenacious D.
2004 – On his official Web site, Billy Corgan blames the 2000 split of the Smashing Pumpkins on guitarist James Iha.
2010 – According to Glaad.org, Judas Priest frontman Rob Halford will make a “special appearance” at the Los Angeles presentation of the 21st annual Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) Media Awards on April 17 at the Hyatt Regency Century Plaza.
2014 - 72-year-old David Crosby postponed the final dates of his solo tour in order to undergo heart surgery.
 

Saturday 17 February 2018

Today in rock history 17th February

1960 – Elvis Presley won his first Gold record for the album ‘Elvis’
1967 – The Beatles started recording a new John Lennon song ‘Being For the Benefit of Mr. Kite’ at Abbey Road studios, London. John’s lyrics for the song came almost entirely from an antique poster advertising a circus performance scheduled to take place in Rochdale, Lancashire, in February 1843.
1969 – Johnny Cash records a session in Nashville, Tenn., with Bob Dylan.
1970 – Joni Mitchell announced she was retiring from live performances during a concert at London’s Royal Albert Hall. Joni was on stage again by the end of the year.
1972 – At the end of a 14 date UK tour, Pink Floyd started a three night run at London’s Rainbow Theatre. Tickets cost £1 ($1.7).
1972 – Los Angeles radio station KDAY played two new Rolling Stones tracks non-stop for a day after obtaining stolen tapes from a producer’s home.
1972 – Born on this day, Billie Joe Armstrong, guitarist and vocalist with Green Day.
1975 – John Lennon’s ‘Rock ‘n’ Roll’ album was released in the US.
1979 – Blondie scored their first UK No.1 album when ‘Parallel Lines’ started a four-week run at the top of the charts.
1979 – The Clash opens its first U.S. tour at the Palladium in New York City.
1989 - Whitesnake singer David Coverdale married actress Tawny Kitaen in Bel Air, CA. Kitaen appeared in five music videos for Whitesnake. The couple would divorce in 1991.
2000 – John Lennon’s Steinway piano, on which he composed ‘Imagine’, went on display at the Beatles Story Museum in Liverpool.
2004 - Former Nirvana bassist Krist Novoselic pulled out of the race for lieutenant governor of Washington, his reason given was “I found out first hand that it’s really considered bad form to run against an incumbent of your own party”.
2004 - Don Henley attacked the current state of the music industry in the Washington Post in an editorial saying when he started in the business “music was vital and important to our culture”. He also added “Labels signed cutting edge artists & FM radio offered an incredible variety of music, music touched fans in a unique and personal way & our culture was enriched & the music business was healthy. That’s all changed.”
2004 – The Darkness confirms its status as the UK's new favorite rock band at the Brit Awards at London’s Earls Court, taking three major trophies. The band _ which led the nominations going into the awards, with four _ won for best British group, British rock act and British album for “Permission to Land".
2005 – A 1965 Fender Stratocaster guitar belonging to Jimi Hendrix sold for £100,000 at an auction in London.
2011 – Rod Stewart just became a father for the eighth time. Stewart’s wife Penny Lancaster gave birth to a son, Aiden.
2012 - Michael Davis, part of the MC5 line-up who rose to prominence with their 1969 track "Kick Out the Jams", died following treatment for liver disease. He was 68.
 

Friday 16 February 2018

Today in rock history 16th February

1935 – Sonny Bono (Salvatore Bono) is born in Detroit.
1961 – Andy Taylor, lead guitarist of Duran Duran and the Power Station, is born in Dover-Hampton, England.
1963 – “Please Please Me” becomes the Beatles’ first U.K. No. 1.
1964 – The Beatles made their second live appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show, exactly one week after the first.
1965 – Born on this day, Dave Lombardo, drums, Slayer.
1968 – The Beatles fly to India to study with Maharishi Mahesh Yogi.
1971 – The Rolling Stones are sued by the Hell’s Angel accused of stabbing Meredith Hunter at Altamont in 1969. Alan David Pasaro alleges that the Stones have invaded his privacy by including footage of the fatal attack in their documentary Gimme Shelter.
1972 – John Lennon performs with Chuck Berry on The Mike Douglas Show. Lennon and Yoko Ono are hosts of the afternoon talk show all this week.
1972 – Rolling Stones drummer Charlie Watt’s wife Shirley was arrested after an incident at Nice Airport for swearing and hitting custom’s officials.
1972 – Led Zeppelin made their Australian live debut when they kicked off a six date tour at the Subiaco Oval, Perth.
1974 – During a tour of America the members of Emerson, Lake & Palmer were arrested in Salt Lake City after swimming naked in the hotel pool. They were each fined $75 (£44).
1974 – Winners in the UK music weekly Disc Readers Awards Poll; Top UK group went to Slade, Top musician, Roy Wood, David Bowie won UK and World male singer, Top single with ‘Jean Genie’ and album with ‘Aladdin Sane’, Top female singer was Lynsey De Paul and Brightest hope was won by David Essex.
1985 – Congratulations to Pat Benatar and Neil Geraldo, who become the proud parents of a daughter, Haley, today.
1985 – Bruce Springsteen went to No.1 on the UK album chart with ‘Born In The USA’, his first UK No.1 album.
1991 – Queen scored their seventh UK No.1 album with ‘Innuendo’ on this day in rock history!
1992 – Mick Jagger lands in Japan but doesn’t have the proper papers to let him into the country. He spends the night in a Tokyo airport hotel before the mix-up is resolved.
1993 – Rod Stewart, Ronnie Wood, Ian McLagen, and Kenny Jones reunite as the Faces to perform “Stay With Me” and “Sweet Little Rock ‘n’ Roller” at the Brit Awards. Bill Wyman fills in for Ronnie Lane, who is suffering from multiple sclerosis.
2004 – Sir Paul McCartney telephones British tabloid The Sun to deny reports of a rift between his second wife Heather Mills and his daughter Stella McCartney. “I’m sick of people saying Heather and Stella don’t get on,” he says. “The truth is they do.”
2005 – Kid Rock is arrested in Nashville on charges that he punched a DJ at a nightclub.
2005 – 3 Doors Down top the charts with their third album, Seventeen Days.
2006 – Sir Elton John accepted undisclosed libel damages from the Britain’s Sunday Times after the newspaper erroneously repeated an entirely false rumour that he acted in a rude, self-important and arrogant manner at a charity ball.
2013 - Tony Sheridan, who used the early Beatles as his backing band during their days of playing clubs in Hamburg, Germany, died following a long illness at the age of 72.