June 11th

June 11th

1991 Skid Row’s second album, “Slave To The Grind,” drops.

Selling 134,000 copies in its opening week it becomes the first Heavy Metal album to top the Billboard 200. 

2002 KoЯn issue their fifth studio album, “Untouchables.”

Debuts at #2 on the Billboard 200 selling 434,000 copies in its first week.

2022 Five Finger Death Punch hold the #1 slot on Billboard’s Mainstream Rock chart with “AfterLife.” 

The title track from the band’s ninth studio album. 

Nirvana’s “Smells Like Teen Spirit” video surpasses two billion views on YouTube.

Directed by Samuel Bayer, the video debuted in 1991 and played a key role in launching the band.

MORE TODAY IN ROCK…

1947 Richard Palmer-James (King Crimson) starts his life. 

1949 ZZ Top drummer Frank Beard has a birthday. Despite the last name and his fellow bandmates, Beard’s facial hair is relatively tidy.

1952 Donnie Van Zandt, younger brother of Ronnie (Lynyrd Skynyrd), has a birthday. The .38 Special frontman is from Jacksonville, FL, just like his brother.

1966 “I see a red door and I want it painted black.” The Rolling Stones score a #1 U.S. hit with “Paint It Black.” Charlie Watts’ opening drum line is incredible and that’s Brian Jones on sitar.

1966 Janis Joplin makes her debut with Big Brother & The Holding Company at San Francisco’s Avalon Ballroom.

1977 The Sex Pistols’ “God Save The Queen” peaks at #2 on the U.K. chart. It’s shut out of the top spot by Rod Stewart’s ballad “I Don’t Want To Talk About It.”

1979 Chuck Berry is convicted of income tax evasion. He serves approximately about 3 months in prison. 

1988 The Nelson Mandela 70th Birthday Tribute is held in London. Mandela, a South African political prisoner, was jailed for 24 years. The concert, featuring Stevie Wonder, is broadcast worldwide and seen by over one billion people.

2007 Mötley Crüe’s Tommy Lee skips a London show after injuring his left arm. Evanescence drummer Will Hunt fills in. Though far from 100%, wearing an ice pack on his shoulder, Lee doesn’t appear in pain during several on-stage appearances. On one such excursion he blurts out, “Who wants a goddamn swig of Jagermeister?” Once a Rock star, always a Rock star.

2010 Ozzy Osbourne, the Prince of Darkness, sets a Guinness World Record: the world’s loudest and longest scream during an appearance at a Los Angeles Dodgers game. The record setting endeavor also helps the annual Think Cure weekend which raises money for cancer research. Ozzy’s wife Sharon is a cancer survivor.

2014 Remastered versions of Led Zeppelin’s first three albums land on Billboard’s Top 10: “Led Zeppelin I” (#7), “II” (#9) and “III” (#10). These are the first of a remastering project undertaken by Zep guitarist/producer Jimmy Page.

2016 Pearl Jam’s Eddie Vedder speaks out against a controversial transgender “bathroom bill” during the group’s appearance at the Bonnaroo Festival. The Tennessee proposal would have public school students only use the bathroom corresponding with their sex at birth.

2021 KISS takes the stage for a special performance at the Tribeca Festival in NYC. The band plays following the screening of part 1 of its 2-part A&E documentary “Biography: KISStory.” 

2021 Keyboardist Rick Wakeman (Yes) is awarded a Commander of the Order of the British Empire, or CBE, which is one rank below a knighthood, as part of the Queen’s birthday honors list.

2025 “Metallica Saved My Life” premieres at the Tribeca Festival. The documentary is an exploration of Metallica’s world through the lives of its fans.

2025 Beach Boys Brian Wilson dies at age 82. As the band’s co-founder and creative leader, he produced numerous classics like “God Only Knows,” “Caroline, No,” “California Girls,” “Wouldn’t It Be Nice” and “Good Vibrations.”