March 29, 2024

This Day in History: 2024-05-05

MAY 5th

David Bowie’s “Aladdin Sane” tops the U.K. album chart. 1973

Cleveland is selected as the sight of the Rock And Roll Hall of Fame. They build it right on the Lake Erie shoreline. 1986

Red Hot Chili Peppers’ ninth album, “Stadium Arcadium,” drops. It becomes the band’s first #1 on the Billboard 200 chart.  2006

According to a poll conducted by Co-Op Funeral Care, the U.K.’s largest funeral provider, Led Zeppelin’s “Stairway To Heaven” is the most popular Rock song played at memorial services. The song was also #1 in 2016.  Overall, Frank Sinatra’s “My Way” is the top selection. 2019

MORE TODAY IN ROCK…

Bill Ward (Black Sabbath) is born. The drummer is from Aston, England. 1948

Vocalist Ian McCulloch (Echo & The Bunnymen) is born. 1959

Billy Idol’s guitarist Steve Stevens has a birthday.  1959

Dream Theater vocalist James LaBrie (born Kevin James LaBrie) has a birthday. 1963

Devin Garrett Townsend, of Strapping Young Lad and the Devin Townsend Project fame, is born.  1972

Elvis Presley’s live concert “Aloha From Hawaii Via Satellite” tops the Billboard 200. 1973

Singer/guitarist Wade MacNeil (Alexisisonfire) enters the world.  1984

Palaye Royal singer, Remington Leith. has a birthday.  1994

Bruce Springsteen is awarded the Polar Music Prize in Stockholm, Sweden. 1997

During a Denver radio interview Ted Nugent spouts racist remarks (against Blacks and Asians). The DJs stop the interview. As a result, Nugent is dropped from the upcoming Summer Celebration Festival in Michigan. 2003

Sting is presented an honorary Doctor of Music degree by England’s Newcastle University. The institution hands out special degrees annually to individuals who “have achieved successes that are an inspiration.” 2006

Rush receives the Governor General’s Performing Arts Award, a recognition of lifetime artistic achievement. The award, presented in Ottawa, includes $25,000 from the Canada Council for the Arts and a commemorative medallion struck by the Royal Canadian Mint. 2012

Former KoЯn guitarist Brian ‘Head’ Welch performs with the group for the first time in seven years at the Carolina Rebellion Festival. “I want to bring out one of my dearest, oldest and most beloved friends to have some fun with us,” says vocalist Jonathan Davis. Welch left KoЯn in ’05 to focus on his sobriety and his faith. 2012

Slash’s guitar solo on Guns N’ Roses’ “Sweet Child O’ Mine” is #1 on the NME editors’ list of the 50 Greatest Guitar Solos. Jimmy Page’s fretwork on Led Zeppelin’s “Stairway To Heaven” and the Jimi Hendrix solo “All Along The Watchtower” are second and third, respectively. 2015

Grateful Dead drummer Bill Kreutzmann’s memoir, “Deal: My Three Decades of Drumming, Dreams and Drugs With The Grateful Dead,” is out. 2015

The Rolling Stones demand that presidential candidate Donald Trump stop playing their music (“Start Me Up,” “You Can’t Always Get What You Want,” “Sympathy For The Devil” and “Brown Sugar”) at his rallies. A Stones spokeswoman says Trump did not ask for permission to use the songs. 2016

Metallica guitarist Kirk Hammett and bassist Robert Trujillo, both avid surfers, take part in a cleanup at San Francisco’s popular Ocean Beach as part of an event sponsored by the San Francisco Giants. The fourth annual Metallica Night at AT&T Park is the following evening. 2016

Slipknot surpass one billion views on their YouTube channel. 2017

Bad Wolves cover of The Cranberries’ “Zombie’ is #1 on Billboard’s Mainstream Rock Songs Chart. 2018

Mother Love Bone reunites during a benefit show for SMASH (Seattle Musicians Access to Sustainable Healthcare) at the Neptune Theatre in Seattle.  Featuring Pearl Jam guitarist Stone Gossard and bassist Jeff Amet, it is the first time the band performs together in eight years.  2018

Twisted Sister frontman Dee Snider, after getting dropped as Grand Marshall for the upcoming San Francisco Gay Pride Parade for voicing support for a statement on children and gender transition (and the parents who are “normalizing and even encouraging participation”), made by KISS vocalist/guitarist Paul Stanley, says he still endorses Stanley’s position but adds he shouldn’t be labeled “transphobic.” Snider insists he remains an ally of the LGBTQ community and argues those with moderate views should not be labeled as transphobes.  2023

Fear Factory plays its first headlining concert with singer Milo Silvestro and touring drummer Pete Webber at the Whisky A Go Go in West Hollywood.  Silvestro replaces the band’s original singer Burton C. Bell.  2023