July 15th

July 15th

1972 Get back honky cat. Elton John’s “Honky Château” tops the Billboard 200.

It’s the first of Elton’s seven consecutive U.S. #1 albums. 

1978 Rolling Stones “Some Girls” is #1 on the Billboard 200. 

It has the songs “Miss You,” “Just My Imagination (Running Away With Me),” “Beast Of Burden” and “Shattered.”
 

2021 Journey’s seventh studio set, “Escape,” is certified diamond (10-million units moved).

Released in ’81 “Escape” holds the hits “Open Arms,” “Who’s Crying Now” and “Don’t Stop Believin’.”

2024 Metallica’s self-titled set (“The Black Album”) has spent 750 non-consecutive weeks on the Billboard 200 chart.

Sitting at #178, only Pink Floyd’s “Dark Side Of The Moon” (990 weeks). Bob Marley’s “Legend” (843 weeks) and Journey’s “Greatest Hits” (813 weeks) have been on the chart longer. 

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1946 Linda Marie Ronstadt, the daughter of Mexican-German parents, is born in Tucson, AZ.

1947 Yes founding guitarist, Peter Banks, enters the world.

1952 Drummer Marky Ramone (Marc Steven Bell), of the Ramones, is born in New York City. Well, of course. 

1952 Birthday wishes to .38 Special guitarist Jeff Carlisi.

1956 Guitarist Joe Satriani is born.

1966 Jason Bonham, the son of late Led Zeppelin legend John, is born in Dudley, England. The drummer is known for performing with the surviving members of Led Zeppelin on special occasions as well as being a former member of California Breed and Black Country Communion.

1973 System Of A Down drummer John Dolmayan is born in Beirut Lebanon, to Armenian parents. 

1973 A drunk driver kills former Byrds guitarist Clarence White. The 29-year-old White is loading equipment following a show in Palmdale, CA.

1977 Raymond “Ray” Toro, lead guitarist and backing vocalist for My Chemical Romance, is born.  

2004 Former Megadeth bassist David Ellefson sues David Mustaine for $18.5 million in missing profits after the singer/guitarist allegedly backs out of a deal to hand over control of the band’s marketing company, Megadeth Inc. Ellefson claims that Mustaine cheated him out of merchandise and publishing royalties after the group’s ‘02 split. Megadeth later re-forms with a different lineup.

2004 The U2 vocalist Bono and Representative John Lewis (D-GA) receive the Freedom Award from the National Civil Rights Museum in Memphis. The award goes to people who have advanced civil rights.

2006 Deryck Whibley, Sum 41’s frontman/guitarist, marries singer Avril Lavigne in Santa Barbara, CA. The couple met in ’04.

2015 The Rolling Stones complete their 15-date North American Zip Code tour at Le Festival d’ete de Quebec. The Stones, who play before a record-breaking crowd of 102,000 fans, open their set with “Start Me Up” and close with an encore consisting of “You Can’t Always Get What You Want” and “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction.”

2021 Lzzy Hale (Halestorm) is the first Gibson guitar female Brand Ambassador. Hale is also named to the Gibson Gives artist advisory council.

2021 Two members of the Sex Pistols (Paul Cook and Steve Jones) sue band frontman John Lydon over the right to use the band’s songs in “Pistol,” a six-episode miniseries based on Jones’s ‘18 memoir “Lonely Boy: Tales From A Sex Pistol.” A prior agreement says any song usage is determined by a majority vote. Jones and Cook’s lawyer states in court that his clients have a “brittle and fractious” relationship with Lydon,” while Lydon’s lawyer claims Jones’s book portrays his client “in a hostile and unflattering light.”  A judge subsequently rules against Lydon. 

2022 Metallica’s “Master Of Puppets” makes its U.K. Top 40 debut, at #22, thirty-six years after the song’s original release. The resurgence is due to the Netflix series “Stranger Things” which features the song in its season four finale. 

2023 Five Finger Death Punch singer Ivan Moody celebrates the opening of his Cheyenne, WY businesses at his Moody’s Rock Stop, a Rock and Roll-based convenience store and fueling station for everyday “recharging.”  He also offers discounts to military personnel.