Rock History

1967 – The three-day Monterey Pop Festival begins. Jimi Hendrix (pictured with Brian Jones), The Who, Jimi Hendrix and Janis Joplin (with Big Brother & the Holding Company) make their first major appearances. Also on the bill are, the Byrds, Grateful Dead, Jefferson Airplane, Eric Burdon & the Animals and Buffalo Springfield. Brian Jones of the Rolling Stones attends and introduces Jimi Hendrix. Later, Burdon & the Animals record a hit song about the event, aptly titled “Monterey.”

2022 – In conjunction with National Pride Month, Halestorm’s Lzzy Hale says she is “unapologetically bi-sexual.”  Hale is also in a two-decade long relationship with Halestorm guitarist Joe Hottinger. 

1970 – In a notable case of self-aggrandizement, Grand Funk Railroad spends $100,000 on a block long Times Square billboard to promote their “Closer To Home” album. Of course, the billboard features a huge picture of the band.

2022 -Metallica’s Lars Ulrich receives the Ærespris (Honorary Award) from the Danish Music Publishers’ Association.  He is recognized in part for his role in Metallica’s copyright infringement lawsuit against the streaming platform Napster and for his compositional work on classic Metallica tracks (“Enter Sandman”, “Nothing Else Matters” and “Master Of Puppets”).

1965 – The Beatles receive MBEs (Members of the British Empire). Some conservative MBE holders grumble that the honor shouldn’t go to a Rock band and turn in their awards. The Beatles get their MBEs just the same. After all, they about single-handedly saved the British economy. Later, John Lennon returns his MBE to protest the British government’s support of the war in Vietnam.

2016 – Pearl Jam’s Eddie Vedder speaks out against a controversial transgender “bathroom bill” during the group’s appearance at the Bonnaroo Festival. The Tennessee proposal would have public school students only use the bathroom corresponding with their sex at birth.

2007 – It goes on and on and on. Journey’s ’81 hit “Don’t Stop Believin’” is heard during the finale of HBO’s The Sopranos. Former Journey singer Steve Perry, who co-wrote the tune with keyboardist Jonathan Cain and guitarist Neal Schon, says the way the song was utilized in the last scene “blew my mind.”

2010 – KoЯn calls for a boycott of oil giant BP, which is responsible for the massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. “We need to do our part to let BP know there are consequences for causing something like this,” writes frontman Jonathan Davis via a press release. “The more costly their punishment, the more money they will spend to make sure disasters like this don’t happen again.” Disturbed, Rise Against and Godsmack join the boycott.

1999 – Pearl Jam’s cover of “Last Kiss” (originally recorded by Wayne Cochran in ’61) for the charity album “No Boundaries: A Benefit For The Kosovar Refugees,” is released as a single. The song peaks at #2 on the Billboard Hot 100 becoming the group’s highest charting single.

2008 – During the encore at the Foo Fighters concert at London’s Wembley Stadium Led Zeppelin’s Jimmy Page and John Paul Jones come onstage for renditions of Zep’s “Rock And Roll” and “Ramble On.” “This is the greatest f-in’ night in our band’s life,” Grohl (pictured) tells the audience.