Rock History

1980 – Singer Brian Johnson plays his first show with AC/DC. It takes place at the Palais Des Expositions in Namur, Belgium.

He replaces the late Bon Scott.

2013 – Kid Rock launches a North American summer tour only charging fans $20 per ticket. “Everyone knows the economy is still hurting people across the country, but I didn’t want that to be a reason why everyone couldn’t get out and enjoy themselves on a summer night,” says Rock of his ‘Best Night Ever Tour’.

2012 – Lamb Of God’s Randy Blythe is arrested in Prague and charged with manslaughter following the death of a fan.  Blythe pushed the man off the stage during a concert. The fan sustains head injuries leading to a coma and his subsequent death. Blythe is acquitted the following year. 

2023 – It’s announced that Survivor’s “Eye Of The Tiger” has surpassed one billion streams on Spotify. Written by the band’s Jim Peterik and Frankie Sullivan, the song, released in ’82, was commissioned by Sylvester Stallone to be the theme for “Rocky III.”

2015 – Disturbed singer David Draiman says that he is “done with social media” after dealing with Twitter (now X) trolls who bait him about his views. Draiman, the son of Israelis and the grandson of Holocaust survivors, often speaks out against anti-Semitism.

2017 -The Toronto High Park Zoo names three baby capybaras, large South American rodents, after Rush’s Geddy Lee, Alex Lifeson and Neil Peart. This follows a poll conducted by the Friends of High Park Zoo where 32,500 votes were cast to give the capybaras the first names of the Rush members.

2010 – The Library of Congress adds R.E.M.’s debut single “Radio Free Europe,” to their National Recording Registry, saying it’s “one of the cornerstones of ’80s College Rock.” Also added are Patti Smith’s “Horses,” Little Richard’s “Tutti Frutti” and Howlin’ Wolf’s “Smokestack Lightning.”

2006 – Pink Floyd’s Roger Waters performs in Nevah Shalom, Israel, a community with a mixed population of Arabs and Jews. The show had been scheduled to take place in Tel Aviv but Waters, an outspoken critic of the dividing wall Israel’s government built to separate Palestinian villages, wants to promote a nonviolent solution to the country’s civil strife.

2008 – Disturbed’s “Indestructible” debuts at #1 on the Billboard 200 chart. Selling 252,000 copies in its first week the album marks the third straight time the group has topped the survey.

1980 – “The Blues Brothers” is in theaters. The film, directed by John Landis, brings to the screen characters developed from the recurring musical sketch “The Blues Brothers” on NBC’s Saturday Night Live.