This Day in History: 2025-03-02

MARCH 2^nd

U2 win their first Grammy Awards (Album of the Year and Best Performance by a Rock Duo or Group with Vocal) for the “The Joshua Tree” album.  1988

Red Hot Chili Peppers release “Under The Bridge.” The second single from the group’s fifth studio album, “Blood Sugar Sex Magik,” goes to #2 on the Billboard chart and sells over 6-million copies. 1992

MORE TODAY IN ROCK…

Lou Reed begins life in Freeport, Long Island. He was an original member of the Velvet Underground (a true “walk on the wild side”) before going solo. 1943

Missing Persons vocalist, Dale Bozzio (born Dale Frances Consalvi) has a birthday. She’s a Playboy Bunny before pursuing a music career. 1955

Bo Diddley records “Bo Diddley” and “I’m A Man” during his first session at Chess Records in Chicago. 1955

New Jersey’s Jon Bon Jovi is born John Francis Bongiovi Jr. 1962

The Beatles begin filming their first movie, “A Hard Day’s Night” in London. 1964

Coldplay’s frontman (and occasional lead guitarist and pianist), Chris Martin, enters the world. 1967

Stevie Wonder’s “Innervisions” scores five Grammys including Album of the Year. 1974

“This Is Spinal Tap” arrives in movie theaters. On a scale of 1 to 10, the comedic Rock parody goes to 11.  1984

“Don’t Look Back In Anger” is the #1 song in the U.K. The Oasis track debuts in the top spot. 1996

If you film it, they will watch. Fred Durst files an $80 million lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles against several online media companies that hosted an illicit homemade sex video starring the Limp Bizkit vocalist. The invasion-of-privacy suit includes a motion for a temporary restraining order to prevent further distribution of the flick. 2005

Didn’t she sign a waiver? A woman who says she appeared in a sex tape featuring Scott Stapp and Kid Rock files an invasion-of-privacy lawsuit against Stapp and the company trying to distribute the video. She thought the former Creed frontman would keep the ’99 tape in his private possession, while Stapp maintains the video was stolen from him. The woman wants the tape taken out of circulation and a few dollars to cover emotional distress. 2006

Guitarist Jeff Healey succumbs to retinoblastoma (a form of cancer that had left him blind since the age of 1) in his hometown of Toronto. Healey, best known for the hit “Angel Eyes” from his eponymous ’88 platinum debut, “See The Light,” also performed with George Harrison, Mark Knopfler (Dire Straits) and Stevie Ray Vaughan. 2008

“Better Than Something,” a documentary about the late Jay Reatard (born Jimmy Lee Lindsey Jr.), begins its theatrical run. Directors Alex Hammond and Ian Markiewicz originally intended to create a short film about Reatard but following his ’10 death due to a drug overdose, the filmmakers fleshed out their work with interviews of his friends and family. 2012

30 Seconds To Mars’ Jared Leto gets a Best Supporting Oscar for his performance as a transvestite dying from AIDs in the film “Dallas Buyers Club.” Leto even makes a heartfelt acceptance speech. 2014

News arrives that the George Kaiser Family Foundation and the University of Tulsa have purchased a Bob Dylan archive containing 6,000 pieces for academic study. “It’s a great honor,” says Dylan in a statement. 2016

Presidential candidate Bernie Sanders says Phish “have been one of the great bands in this country” at a rally in Portland, ME. The band’s drummer, Jon Fishman, is in attendance. 2016

Quiet Riot split with singer Seann Nicols (Sheldon Tarsha) after only five shows, due to artistic and creative differences, and replace him with “American Idol” finalist James Durbin. 2017

Stone Temple Pilots embark on their first tour with singer Jeff Gutt. The trek kicks off in Santa Clarita, CA.  Actor Johnny Depp and MC5 frontman Wayne Kramer are on hand for a cover of MC5’s “Kick Out The Jams.”  2018

Steve Mackey, Pulp bassist and a music producer, dies of an undisclosed illness at age 56. 2023

Bring Me The Horizon takes home the Alternative/Rock Act honor at the BRIT Awards in London. “It’s bloody insane this,” says frontman Oli Sykes during an expletive-filled speech.  2024

Pearl Jam is #1 on Billboard’s Rock & Alternative Airplay chart for the first time with “Dark Matter.” The song, which earns 5.6 million airplay audience impressions in its second week on the survey, is the title track of the band’s 12^th studio album.  2024

U2 close out their Las Vegas Sphere residency.  It is the band’s 40th show at the Sphere since they opened the $2 billion venue the previous September.   2024