December 24th

December 24th

1988 Poison’s epic ballad, “Every Rose Has Its Thorn,” is the #1 song in the U.S.

1994 Pearl Jam’s “Vitalogy” is #1 on the Billboard 200.

PJ’s third studio album has “Better Man” and “Spin The Black Circle.” 

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1945 Ian Fraser ‘Lemmy’ Kilmister, the lead vocalist, bassist, and principal songwriter for Mötörhead, comes crashing into the world.

1963 Singer Mary Ramsey (10,000 Maniacs) is born.

1972 Complaints about the volume lead Miami police to shut down a Manfred Mann & His Earth Band concert. A riot ensues with the band hiding in their dressing room.

1973 Doobie Brothers guitarist, Tom Johnston, is arrested in Visalia, CA for marijuana possession.

1983 .38 Special is #1 on the Billboard Mainstream Rock Airplay chart with “If I’d Been The One.” 

2012 Mothers Of Invention co-founder Ray Collins dies in Pomona, CA, after suffering a massive heart attack nearly a week earlier. The singer invited Frank Zappa to join the Soul Giants, the band that eventually became the Mothers Of Invention.

2014 Slipknot’s “The Negative One” nails the Best Riff Award in a readers’ poll conducted by Total Guitar magazine. The track is from the group’s album “.5: The Gray Chapter.”

2015 The Beatles catalog is available on streaming services (Spotify, Apple Music, Google Play, Tidal, Amazon Prime Music, and so on). “Come Together” is the most downloaded song.

2018 Reaching a younger audience.  “Rock The Rock” by Guns N’ Roses singer Axl Rose, premieres in the “New Looney Tunes” on the Boomerang streaming service.  In the episode, Rose performs with his band Steel Underpants as a giant asteroid is headed toward Earth.  Rose plays “Rock The Rock” through “new speakers” that are loud enough to destroy the asteroid and save the planet.  Whew!