April 7th
1987 Whitesnake release their self-titled album.
The set sells over 8 million copies in the U.S.
Despite the sales success, the effort is kept out of the #1 slot on the Billboard 200 by a trio of albums: U2’s “The Joshua Tree”, Whitney Houston’s “Whitney,” and Michael Jackson’s “Bad.”
1990 Bonnie Raitt’s “Nick Of Time” reaches #1 on the Billboard 200.
After a year on the album chart, the set makes it to the top with the title track and “Thing Called Love.” It ops the Billboard chart for three weeks.
2017 Pearl Jam, Journey, Electric Light Orchestra (ELO), and Yes are inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame.
The ceremony at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn also has a tribute to the late, great Chuck Berry who’d passed away weeks earlier.
MORE TODAY IN ROCK…
1962 Mick Jagger and Keith Richards meet Brian Jones at London’s Ealing Club. Jones performs “Dust My Blues” which impresses Jagger and Richards. They ask him to join their group, which eventually becomes the Rolling Stones.
1975 John Cooper (Skillet) is born.
1978 “You don’t have to turn on your red light.” The Police release “Roxanne.”
1979 The Doobie Brothers “Minute By Minute” is the #1 album in the U.S. It sells three million copies with “What A Fool Believes” becoming the band’s biggest hit.
1986 Elton John is recognized for his Outstanding Contribution to British Music at the 31st Ivor Novello Awards.
2003 “Bring Me To Life,” from Evanescence’s debut album “Fallen,” is released. The track was written by group members Amy Lee, Ben Moody, and David Hodges.
2008 Bob Dylan receives an honorary Pulitzer Prize for his “profound impact on popular music and American culture.”
2013 3 Doors Down bass player Robert Todd Harrell is involved in a fatal crash in Nashville. Harrell is arrested on vehicular homicide and drug charges. As a result, 3 Doors Down cancel tour plans.
2015 Elton John and Michael Stipe (R.E.M.) release a joint statement in support of transgender prisoners in the state of Georgia, where the issue has come to the forefront. “Transgender women in male prisons have an equal right to protection from violence and abuse in prison, yet they continue to face horrific injustices.”
2018 Jack White’s “Boarding House Reach” is #1 on the Billboard 200 on first-week sales of 124,000 copies. It’s his third consecutive chart-topping record as a solo artist.
2020 A lawsuit involving Fall Out Boy and Furry Puppet Studio Inc. is dismissed with prejudice in a Manhattan federal court. The stuffed animal company accused Fall Out Boy of exploiting the wearable, life-sized llama puppets it made for one of the band’s music videos, by featuring them in other videos, on a tour, and on an album.
2021 Matt Sorum’s autobiography, “Double Talkin’ Jive: True Rock ‘N’ Roll Stories From The Drummer Of Guns N’ Roses, The Cult And Velvet Revolver,” arrives. After being delayed several times due to the coronavirus pandemic, the book chronicles Sorum’s dodgy early years (selling pot and smuggling large quantities of cocaine) to his long-term success as a musician.
2022 Ben Winston, the executive producer of the 64th Annual Grammy Awards apologies for omissions during the “In Memoriam” portion of the show – most notably the late Slipknot drummer Joey Jordison. Winston says the Recording Academy picks the names for the tribute — not the show’s producers but adds that in addition to Jordison, the show should have recognized the Moody Blues’ Graeme Greene and the victims in the fatal crowd crush at ‘21’s Astroworld Festival.
2024 Jelly Roll is the big winner at the CMT Music Awards from Austin’s Moody Center taking home Video of the Year and Male Video of the Year for “Need a Favor,” a song that previously topped the Billboard’s Mainstream Rock chart.
2025 Author Jillian Lauren – wife of Weezer bassist Scott Shiner – is shot in the shoulder by police and later booked for attempted murder after pointing a gun at police who were chasing a fleeing hit and run suspect. Shiner was in a neighbor’s backyard with a gun when she encountered the police.
