September 19th
1978 Linda Ronstadt’s “Living In The USA” is released.
It ships “double platinum” (two-million units).
1981 The Rolling Stones “Tattoo You” is #1 on the Billboard 200.
With “Start Me Up,” the set begins a nine-week run at the top.
2009 Alice In Chains’ “Check My Brain” is #1 on the Billboard Rock Songs Chart.
The song, which is #1 for eight weeks, is on the band’s “Black Gives Way To Blue” album.
2015 The 30th anniversary Farm Aid show has Imagine Dragons, John Mellencamp, Neil Young, Willie Nelson and Dave Matthews.
Founded in ’85, this edition takes place at First Merit Bank Pavilion outside of Chicago.
MORE TODAY IN ROCK…
1958 Lita Ford (born Carmelita Rosanna Ford) has a birthday. Following a stint in the Runaways (with Joan Jett) she embarks on a solo career highlighted by the hit “Kiss Me Deadly” (#12) and a Top 10 duet with Ozzy Osbourne, “Close My Eyes Forever.”
1963 Pulp founder and frontman Jarvis Branson Cocker has a birthday.
1968 Heavy Metal Thunder. Steppenwolf’s “Born To Be Wild” sells over a million copies.
1972 Police find cannabis growing on Paul McCartney’s farm.
1973 Gram Parsons of the Byrds and the Flying Burritos Brothers passes away in his motel room in Joshua Tree, CA. First, it’s claimed he died of heart failure, then an accidental overdose of drugs and alcohol. His body is stolen and cremated in the desert. Just plain weird. He was twenty-six and extremely talented.
1974 Eric Clapton gets a gold record for his cover of Bob Marley’s “I Shot The Sheriff.”
1985 Dee Snider (Twisted Sister) and Frank Zappa (Mothers Of Invention) testify before the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee against the Parents Music Resource Center’s demand of warning labels on albums. “The PMRC proposal is an ill-conceived piece of nonsense which fails to deliver any real benefits to children, infringes the civil liberties of people who are not children, and promises to keep the courts busy for years,” states Zappa.
1986 “Peace Sells… But Who’s Buying?,” the second studio album by Megadeth, is released. Though recorded amidst internal strife, drummer Gar Samuelson and guitarist Chris Poland are soon fired, the album is often regarded as a Thrash Metal classic.
2006 Bob Seger’s “Face The Promise” album moves 150,000 copies in its first week to land at #4 on the Billboard 200. It’s the best debut of any Seger album.
2008 The Kings Of Leon roll out “Only By The Night.” The album runs from burning to frigid with the hit “Sex On Fire” and another song titled “Cold Desert.”
2008 Blink 182 drummer Travis Barker is seriously injured when his plane crashes during take-off following a free concert in West Columbia, SC (University of South Carolina). A blown tire is the suspected cause. Two members of Barker’s personal staff, the pilot and co-pilot, die in the accident. Barker and another passenger (DJ AM) survive by sliding down the craft’s wing.
2010 OK Go debut their “White Knuckles” video. In less than 24 hours, the ‘single-take clip’ passes the one-million views mark on YouTube. The video features the band and dogs in synchronized action. But it’s hard to tell who is better trained.
2010 It’s Frank Zappa Day in Baltimore, the musician’s hometown. A stretch of road is re-named Frank Zappa Way and a Zappa statue is dedicated. The ceremony is part of a week-long celebration of Zappa’s life.
2014 “The Clowns 3D with Music by Slash,” a maze attraction debuts during Universal Studios Hollywood’s Halloween Horror Nights. “(I) was inspired to partner with Universal Studios Hollywood because they are the founders of creating extreme horror,” says Slash.
2014 Alice’s Attic and Thrift Store, owned by Alice Cooper, opens in Phoenix. Cooper, a self-confessed thrift store ‘shopaholic’ dedicates a portion of the proceeds to his Rock Teen Center.
2015 Bring Me The Horizon’s “That’s The Spirit” sits at #2 on The Billboard 200, moving 62,000 units in its first week, a best for the group.
2017 AFI ‘s Davey Havok is PETA2 Hottest Vegetarian Celebrity. The annual voting competition selects the sexiest vegetarian celebrities.
2021 Billboard announces that the 30th anniversary remaster of Metallica’s “Black Album” is #1 on the Top Rock Albums chart. Selling 37,000 units the previous week the album also lands at #9 (up from #158) on the Billboard 200.
2022 Ozzy Osbourne’s “Patient Number 9,” lands at #2 on the U.K. Album chart. It’s the highest U.K. chart ranking of his career.
2022 Hollywood Undead is awarded 11 platinum or gold certifications from the Record Industry Association of America (RIAA). The songs “City,” “Young,” “Black Dahlia,” and “No. 5” from their ‘08 album “Swan Songs”; “Comin’ In Hot,” “Hear Me Now” and “Bullet” off ‘11’s “American Tragedy”; “We Are” from ‘12’s “Notes From The Underground” and “Day Of The Dead” from the ‘15 album of the same name receive gold awards (500,000 copies moved), while ‘08’s “Undead” and “Everywhere I Go” go platinum (one-million units).
