January 20th

January 20th

MORE TODAY IN ROCK…

1950 Paul Stanley Eisen is born in Queens. The guitarist drops “Eisen” by the time he joins KISS.

1952 Bassist Ian Hill is born in West Bromwich, England. He’s a founding member of Judas Priest.

1958 Radio station KWK in St. Louis declares Rock n’ Roll dead. After giving their Rock n’ Roll records a final play the station staff smashes them all in a useless effort to weed out “undesirable music.”

1965 The man credited with coining the term “Rock n’ Roll,” the legendary DJ and promoter Alan Freed dies just as the whole thing shifts into high gear.

1965 The Byrds cover Bob Dylan’s “Mr. Tambourine Man.” However, only group leader Jim McGuinn is allowed to play on the track. CBS Records decides to use Hollywood session musicians rather than the group. The song becomes a major hit. 

1968 Bob Dylan makes his first public appearance since his serious motorcycle accident in ’66. He appears with The Band at the Woody Guthrie Memorial Concert at Carnegie Hall in New York City.

1973 Jerry Lee Lewis makes his debut at the Grand Ole Opry. Having gone Country to maintain his career, Lewis is told not to play Rock n’ Roll but does. Told not to swear, he does.

1974 Stevie Wonder makes his first public appearance since a near-fatal car accident a few months earlier. It’s at the MIDEM Music Festival in Cannes, France.

1979 Robert (Rob) Gregory Bourdon, Linkin Park’s drummer, is born in Calabasas, CA. He takes up the drums at age ten after attending an Aerosmith concert (with his mom).

1980 Matthew “Matt” Tuck, lead vocalist/rhythm guitarist for Bullet For My Valentine, has a birthday.

1980 The Police kick off their first world tour in Buffalo, NY, of all places.

1982 Batman. Ozzy Osbourne bites the head off a live bat during a concert at Veterans Memorial Auditorium in Des Moines, IA. He thinks it is a toy thrown at him by an audience member.  A tetanus shot and a rabies shot are required before Ozzy can continue the tour.

1988 The Beatles, Beach Boys, and Bob Dylan are inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame during a ceremony at New York’s Waldorf-Astoria. Due to continuing legal issues among the ex-Beatles, Paul McCartney does not attend but George Harrison does. “I don’t have much to say ’cause I’m the quiet Beatle’,” deadpans Harrison in his speech.

2004 Following the departure of guitarist Terry Balsamo, who left to join Evanescence, Cold singer Scooter Ward insists his group will continue. “We are looking for a new guitarist,” says Ward. Evanescence’s Amy Lee adds she’s sorry for implying earlier that Balsamo’s absence meant the end of Cold.

2006 U2’s Bono introduces Product Red to help raise funds to combat HIV and AIDS in Africa. He teams up with several companies to sell a range of items – including T-shirts, shoes, and sunglasses – with proceeds going toward anti-AIDS programs. “I think we’ve come up with a sexy, smart, savvy idea that will save people’s lives,” claims Bono.

2009 Five Finger Death Punch announces that guitarist Darrell Roberts has exited the group and has been replaced by Jason Hook. According to a statement the split “was a mutual agreement between the band and Darrell. It was a swift and smooth transition and we all remain good friends.”

2010 Franz Nicolay announces his departure from The Hold Steady after five years. According to Nicolay, he told the band he was moving on the previous September. (He returns six years later.) 

2014 “No No: A Dockumentary,” with the score by Beastie Boys’ Ad-Rock, is screened at the Sundance Film Festival. The film is about Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher Dock Ellis who threw a no-hitter in June, ’70 while tripping on LSD.

2014 Ex-Machine Head bassist Adam Duce files a lawsuit against his former bandmates alleging trademark infringement, breach of partnership agreement, and defamation. Duce was fired by the band nearly a year earlier.

2017 Following President Donald Trump’s inauguration, Audioslave performs at the Prophets of Rage and Friends Anti-Inaugural Ball at the Teragram Ballroom in LA. It’s Audioslave’s first concert since they disbanded in ‘07. 

2017 The Women’s International Music Network (WiMN) presents Lita Ford (The Runaways and solo) with the She Rocks Award, which recognizes women who stand out as role models in the music industry. Also, Ford and Nita Strauss (Alice Cooper) are among those heard on the “She Rocks, Volume 1” compilation. 

2019 To mark the thirty-seventh anniversary of biting the head off of a bat during a concert in Des Moines (see above), Ozzy Osbourne unveils a plush bat toy with, yes, a detachable head. 

2022 Meat Loaf dies at the age of 74. With a career spanning six decades, he sold over 100 million albums worldwide and appeared in movies (including “Rocky Horror Picture Show” and “Wayne’s World”). His “Bat Out Of Hell” is one of the 10 top-selling albums of all time. 

2024 Sabaton part ways with their longtime guitarist Tommy Johansson. “After 7 amazing years, our guitarist, Tommy, has decided to leave Sabaton to pursue his own path,” reads a band post. 

2025 Guitarist John Sykes (Thin Lizzy/Whitesnake) dies after a hard-fought battle with cancer. He was 65.