January 18th

January 18th


1978


Sex Pistols

Sex Pistols’ Johnny Rotten, in New York to visit an ailing Sid Vicious, announces the band’s break-up.

Frontman Johnny Rotten (born John Lydon) was in New York City to visit bassist Sid Vicious, whose escalating heroin addiction and erratic behavior had taken a heavy toll on the band.

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1989


Stevie Wonder

Stevie Wonder is inducted into the Rock N’ Roll Hall of Fame.

At age 38, he is the Hall’s youngest inductee.

His repertoire includes “Signed, Sealed, Delivered I’m Yours,” “Master Blaster (Jammin’),” “Higher Ground,” Living For The City,” “Sire Duke” and “Superstition.”

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“The world’s greatest Rock n’ Roll band” gets its due.

The Rolling Stones are inducted into the Rock n’ Roll Hall of Fame. The Who’s Pete Townshend does the honors but claims the Stones “ripped off” Blues musicians. “So much of what I am I got from you, the Stones, and I had no idea most of it was already secondhand.”

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1971 KoЯn’s vocalist, Jonathan Davis, is born in Bakersfield, CA.

1982 Guitarist Quinn Allman (The Used) has a birthday.

1986 The Replacements play “Bastards Of Young” and “Kiss Me On The Bus” on Saturday Night Live. The drunken, chaotic performances gets the group banned from the show “for life.” It’s 28 years (’14) before The Replacements appear on the NBC network again (The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon).

1997 Stone Temple Pilots’ “Lady Picture Show” is #1 on Billboard’s Mainstream Rock Songs chart. It’s from STP’s third album, “Tiny Music… Songs From The Vatican Gift Shop.” 

2007 Social Distortion bassist Brent Liles is killed when he’s hit by a truck while riding a dirt bike in Placentia, CA.

2009 U2, Bruce Springsteen and John Mellencamp perform during the “We Are One: The Obama Inaugural Celebration” at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C. The event kicks off the celebration of President-elect Barack Obama’s inauguration (two days later).

2013 Dave Grohl’s directorial debut, “Sound City,” premieres at the Sundance Film Festival. The documentary examines the Van Nuys recording studio’s relatively obscure yet important history. Grohl, the former Nirvana drummer and current Foo Fighters frontman first came to Sound City in ’91 when Nirvana laid down the tracks for “Nevermind.”

2015 Seattle’s Alice In Chains performs during halftime of the Green Bay Packers/Seattle Seahawks NFC Championship. Seahawks go to Super Bowl XLIX.

2016 The Eagles’ Glenn Frey passes away at age 67 due to “complications from rheumatoid arthritis, acute ulcerative colitis and pneumonia,” “Glenn was the one who started it all,” says bandmate Don Henley. “He was the spark plug; the man with the plan.”

2022 Metallica replaces an L.A. street performer’s stolen drums. Sheriff Drumman is known for playing the drums out of the back of a pickup truck outfitted with a sound system and lighting. Metallica steps in after they hear what has happened. 

2022 The U.S. government is granted permission to share sealed materials from the case involving Iced Earth guitarist Jon Schaffer’s role in the 1/6/21 U.S. Capitol riot aimed at keeping Donald Trump in the White House despite losing the election.  The materials are used in three riot-related Oath Keepers’ cases. 

2023 Staind frontman Aaron Lewis’s controversial, liberal bashing solo single, “Am I The Only One, is certified gold by the RIAA (Recording Industry Association Of America) for accumulating 500,000 certified units. 

2023 Fall Out Boy guitarist Joe Trohman announces, via Twitter, that he’s stepping away from the band for an undetermined period due to mental health conditions that have “rapidly deteriorated over the past several years.” He expects to return to the band at some point. 

2025 Bob Dylan’s typewritten early draft of the lyrics to “Mr. Tambourine Man” sells for $508,000 at an auction in Nashville featuring 60 Dylan items. The auction nets at total of $1.5 million.