This Day in History: 2025-01-09

 JANUARY 9^th

“1984,” one of Van Halen’s most popular albums in terms of sales (12-million copies sold in the U.S. alone), arrives. The album contains “Jump,” “Panama” and “Hot For Teacher” and is second only to Michael Jackson’s mega-selling “Thriller,” on the Billboard 200. It’s the last, full-length Van Halen album to feature singer David Lee Roth until ’12’s “A Different Kind Of Truth.” 1984

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Guitar great, Jimmy Page enters the world. The one-time session guitarist joined the Yardbirds but it was with his next group, Led Zeppelin, that he made his mark. His post-Zeppelin efforts included The Firm, Page & Plant and film soundtracks. 1944

The ever-charming New York Dolls’ vocalist, David Johansen (aka Buster Poindexter), is born on Staten Island. 1950

Hole co-founder (with Courtney Love) and guitarist, Eric Erlandson, is born in L.A. He works in Capitol Records accounting department prior to starting the group. 1963

Smash Mouth’s Steve Harwell is born in beautiful Santa Carla, CA. 1967

Dave Matthews (Dave Matthews Band or DMB) starts life in South Africa. 1967

Fuel guitarist, Carl Bell, from Kenton, TN, has a birthday. 1967

Deep Purple get a gold record for “Stormbringer,” their 11th album, but first with vocalist David Coverdale (taking over from Ian Gillan). 1975

“Is This Love” (Whitesnake) gets to #4 on the singles chart. 1988

A dubious slam. Melissa Etheridge and Courtney Love make Mr. Blackwell’s annual Worst Dressed List. 1996

Jon Bon Jovi and football legend John Elway appear in an Arena Football promo that runs in movie theatres. Bon Jovi owns the Philadelphia Soul while Elway has the Colorado Crush. 2004

Ozzy Osbourne cancels a 20-date British tour because he is still recovering from a near-fatal ATV accident a month earlier. “I am deeply disappointed, but it’s out of my control,” says Ozzy. 2004

Having already won more awards than any other group, U2 nabs the Favorite Group honor at the 31st annual People’s Choice Awards in Pasadena, CA. The guys are going to have to build a bigger mantel. 2005

Bon Jovi and Nickelback are winners at the 33rd annual People’s Choice Awards in Los Angeles. The Favorite Rock Song is Bon Jovi’s “Who Says You Can’t Go Home,” while Nickelback takes home the Favorite Group trophy. 2007

Black Sabbath guitarist Tony Iommi says he has been diagnosed with the “early stages of lymphoma.” “His bandmates would like everyone to send positive vibes to the guitarist at this time,” reads Sabbath’s statement. 2012

Three Days Grace announce that singer Adam Gontier has left the group due to an undisclosed health issue and that Matt Walst (My Darkest Days) has replaced him for the group’s North American tour. 2013

Puddle Of Mudd’s Wes Scantlin is arrested on vandalism and trespassing charges after he trashes the Hollywood Hills house he lost in foreclosure the previous year. He is released on bail. 2016

A memorial service for Mötörhead’s Ian “Lemmy” Kilmister is held at the Rainbow Bar & Grill (a favored haunt) in West Hollywood. Dave Grohl (Foo Fighters) and Slash are among those who pay tribute. 2016

A Band Best. “High Hopes” is Panic! At The Disco’s most streamed song on Spotify with 289,231,271 streams.  2019

Billboard posts Nielsen Music’s tally of Led Zeppelin’s catalog “based on revenue generated by digital activity on download stores like iTunes and on-demand services like Spotify.” #1 is “Stairway To Heaven” is #1 ($2.9 million), followed by “Kashmir” ($1.4 million), with “Immigrant Song” ($1.3 million) coming in at #3. “Black Dog” ($1.16 million) and “Whole Lotta Love” ($1.03 million) round out the Top 5. 2019

Kingdom Come/Scorpions drummer James Kottak dies at the age of 61.   2024