Disclosure: As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases.
On this day…The Live 8 concerts took place to raise awareness of the extreme poverty across Africa. U2 (pictured), Velvet Revolver and R.E.M. appeared at London’s Wembley Stadium. Pink Floyd’s London performance was the original lineup’s first show since “The Wall” tour in ’81. Green Day and Audioslave played Berlin. On the other side of…
On this day… it was announced that Survivor’s “Eye Of The Tiger” has surpassed one billion streams on Spotify. The lyrics, including the title, were derived from dialogue in the film. “Eye Of The Tiger” reached #1 on the Billboard 100 spending 15 consecutive weeks in the Top 10. Written by the band’s Jim Peterik and Frankie Sullivan the song, released in…
1999: Eric Clapton auctioned 100 guitars including ‘Brownie’, used to record “Layla,” raising $5 million for the Crossroads Center, a drug rehab clinic Clapton founded. 2004: One of Clapton’s prize guitars, “Blackie,” a black-and-white Fender Stratocaster, was sold for $959,500 at an auction that raised more than $7.4 million also for the Crossroads Centre. “Lenny,”…
Led Zeppelin’s “Stairway To Heaven” is one of the most iconic songs in Rock. Flush with classic riffs, it was not too surprising a dispute over the origins of a portion of the song would occur – especially since guitarist Jimmy Page had a notorious reputation for lifting riffs from other musicians. On this day…
Featuring Glenn Frey’s “The Heat Is On,” the “Beverly Hills Cop” soundtrack topped the Billboard 200 for two weeks. Frey was the only Rock-oriented performer on the soundtrack which included Patti LaBelle (“New Attitude:), Pointer Sisters (“Neutron Dance”) and Harold Faltermeyer (“Axel F”). It won a Grammy Award in ’86 for Best Score Soundtrack for…
On this day… Dolly Parton’s single, “Bygones,” featuring Judas Priest‘s Rob Halford (pictured) with Mötley Crüe‘s Nikki Sixx and John 5, debuted at #1 on the Mediabase Classic Rock Songs chart. After being inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame the previous year, the Country-legend vowed to record a Rock album. “Rockstar,” a collaborative project with a…
On this day… Foo Fighters headlined the first concert at Madison Square Garden in over a year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Comedian Dave Chappelle joined the band for a version of Radiohead’s “Creep.” Many audience members were masked as they entered what would become New York’s largest indoor concert since March ’20. A small group…
On this day,,, “Gimme Danger,” an Iggy Pop & The Stooges documentary, made its official premiere at the Cannes Film Festival in France. Director Jim Jarmusch called the film a “love letter to possibly the greatest band in Rock n’ Roll history.” Jarmusch worked on the documentary, which mixed archival photos, footage and band member interviews. for…
On this day… R.E.M.’s seventh album, “Out Of Time” was #1 on the Billboard 200. The album had the songs “Losing My Religion” and “Shiny Happy People.” The melodic idea for “Losing My Religion” originated when guitarist Peter Buck experimented with a mandolin while watching a baseball game. Singer Michael Stipe wrote the lyrics about what…
On this day… Red Hot Chili Peppers’ ninth album, “Stadium Arcadium,” dropped. It became the band’s first #1 on the Billboard 200 chart. The set was first released in Germany (May 9th in the U.S.). It produced five singles Including “Dani California,” which spent fourteen weeks at #1 on the Billboard Alternative Songs chart, and “Snow…