May 28th
1971 Rod Stewart’s “Every Picture Tells A Story” is released.
The album contains Stewart’s breakthrough single “Maggie May.”
2012 Iron Maiden’s “The Number Of The Beast” is “The Greatest.”
According to retailer HMV’s online survey of 30,000 music fans, it’s the greatest album in British music made during Queen Elizabeth II’s 60-year reign.
2013 Alice In Chains unfurl “The Devil Put Dinosaurs Here.”
It’s the group’s fifth album is their second full-length effort with singer William DuVall.
The album peaks at #2 and goes to #1 on the Top Rock Albums survey.
2025 Metallica receives multi-platinum certifications.
Metallica’s self-titled fifth album (aka “The Black Album”) has been certified 20 times platinum (sales of 20 million copies) while the band’s third full-length effort, “Master Of Puppets” has been certified eight times platinum (sales of eight million copies).
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1945 Not exactly born on the bayou, Creedence Clearwater Revival’s singer, songwriter and lead guitarist, John Fogerty sees his first light in Berkeley, CA.
1949 Wendy O. Williams, the dynamic and often confrontational voice of The Plasmatics, is born in Webster, NY. She releases three albums with the Punk band before embarking on a solo career.
1965 Chris Ballew of the Presidents Of The United States Of America (“The Presidents” for short) is born in Seattle, WA.
1977 Bruce Springsteen and former manager Mike Appel settle. Their legal wrangling kept Springsteen out of the studio for nearly a year. Never sign a management contract on the hood of a car or without your lawyer present. “Darkness On The Edge Of Town” is Springsteen’s next effort.
1983 The second, and last, US Festival of the ‘80s begins in San Bernadino, CA. It’s The Clash’s last show with guitarist Mick Jones. Also, performing during the multi-day event, financed by Apple co-founder Steven Wozniak, are Van Halen, who get $1 million for their time and effort. The festival doesn’t come close to breaking even. Wonder why?
1986 Bob Seger’s “Like A Rock” album, featuring the title track and “American Storm,” is certified platinum.
1991 Smashing Pumpkins present their debut disc, “Gish.”
2002 Mastodon release their first full-length album, “Remission.”
2004 The Vines bassist Patrick Matthews walks out during a gig in Sydney, Australia. Angry with singer Craig Nicholls, Matthews never returns to the group.
2005 System Of A Down perform at Madrid’s Festimad. Sixty-mile an hour winds blow the roof off the outdoor stage. Promoters want to cancel but S.O.A.D. waits out the storm and hits the stage at 3:45 am playing a full set for the 30,000 in attendance.
2013 The Velvet Underground settle a legal dispute with the Andy Warhol Foundation over the rights to use the famous banana cover Warhol designed for the band’s ’67 album, “The Velvet Underground and Nico.” The “confidential settlement” ends a dispute that began four years earlier.
2014 Filming begins for the final season of FX’s “Sons Of Anarchy” with Marilyn Manson in a recurring role as a white supremacist named Ron Tully (why not Brian Warner – Manson’s birth name?).
2014 The Rolling Stones top Billboard magazine’s list of the top 25-selling live acts of the past 25 years grossing more than $1.5 billion on the road since ’90, playing more than 500 shows to almost 20 million fans. U2 is in second place with Bruce Springsteen third, earning $1.2 billion gross over 700-plus shows in front of 15 million fans.
2014 Metallica’s ’91 self-titled album (“The Black Album”) surpasses 16 million in U.S. sales. It’s the biggest seller of the SoundScan era (which began in ’91).
2015 Pink Floyd’s two living co-founders, Roger Waters and Nick Mason, help unveil an honorary plaque at London’s University of Westminster (formerly Regent Street Polytechnic), the site of the band’s formation, to mark the group’s 50th anniversary. “If we’d gone up for Britain’s Got Talent, I don’t think we would have made it past the audition stage; we weren’t terribly good,” says Mason. “We were effing awful,” adds Waters.
2017 Tool ‘s James Maynard Keenan blasts “entitled snowflakes,” during the Boston Calling festival. “Those of you who are law enforcement and military, your job is to defend our right to act like whiny, entitled snowflake assholes. Myself being one,” says Keenan. “Snowflakes, your job is to respect them f**king doing that for you.”
2019 Iron Maiden file a $2 million trademark infringement lawsuit against the creators of “Ion Maiden.” The lawsuit accuses 3D Realms of creating “confusion among consumers.” “Defendant began using the Ion Maiden name, without authorization, in an effort to confuse consumers into believing defendant’s products and services are somehow affiliated with or approved by Iron Maiden.
2021 Nightwish perform the first of two interactive concerts setting a record for the largest paid virtual concert in Finland’s history. 150,000 fans in 108 countries purchase tickets for the shows with the box office gross exceeding one million euro. Also, Jukka Koskinen makes his debut as Nightwish’s bassist as the tour replacement for Marco Hietala, who left the band earlier in the year.
2023 A protester storms the stage with an Israeli flag at a Roger Waters’ (Pink Floyd) concert in Frankfurt, Germany in response to his ongoing tour that some have deemed anti-Semitic.
2023 Royal Blood have a difficult time during their performance at BBC Radio One’s Big Weekend in Dundee, Scotland. The duo apparently becomes perturbed after receiving a less than enthusiastic reaction from the crowd, leading frontman Mike Kerr to ask, “Who likes Rock music?” After receiving some cheers, he responds, “Nine people. Brilliant.” Later, Kerr leaves the stage flipping off the audience.
2023 Metalcore’s Architects confirm that lead guitarist Josh Middleton is no longer in the band but “remain close friends.” “It has gradually become apparent that we need to go our separate ways,” writes the band.
2025 Josh Klinghoffer, the former Red Hot Chili Peppers guitarist, accepts a no-jail deal to resolve allegations he failed to yield while driving and accidentally struck and killed a pedestrian in ’24. He pleads no contest to misdemeanor vehicular manslaughter.
