This Day in History: 2025-01-28

JANUARY 28^th

The charity single “We Are The World” is recorded in L.A. to benefit African famine relief. The song, written by Michael Jackson and Lionel Richie, features Bruce Springsteen, Tina Turner, Billy Joel, Steve Perry (Journey), Bob Dylan, Lindsey Buckingham (Fleetwood Mac) and Bob Geldof (Boomtown Rats), among others. 1985

May I have the envelop please? Foo Fighters pick up the Best Rock Song statue for “Run” during the pre-telecast ceremony at the 60th annual Grammy Awards in New York City. 2018

Notably, Avenged Sevenfold’s “The Stage” is nominated for Best Rock Song, the first nomination for the band. They skip the ceremony because they are not happy the Best Rock Song award isn’t televised during the broadcast.

For the record, U2 (who look miserable freezing on a platform in the Hudson River in front of the Statue of Liberty) perform “Get Out Of Your Own Way.” Also, Queen receives a Lifetime Achievement Award.

Bon Jovi’s “Livin’ On A Prayer” video surpasses the 1-billion views mark on YouTube. The triple-platinum selling single is the second single from “Slippery When Wet.”  2023

MORE TODAY IN ROCK…

Elvis Presley appears on Stage Show. It’s Presley’s first national T.V. appearance. Program producer, comedian Jackie Gleason, flatly predicts Elvis won’t last. 1956

Guitarist Dave Sharp is born in Lancashire, England. He co-founded The Alarm with Mike Peters. 1959

Anthrax guitarist/vocalist Dan Spitz is born in Rockland County, NY.  1963

Jim Morrison (The Doors) gets busted in Las Vegas on charges of vagrancy and public drunkenness. All because he taunted a security guard. 1968

The J. Geils Band release their most successful album, “Love Stinks,” featuring the humorous title track. 1980

Tommy Lee (Mötley Crüe) gets into a backstage fracas following a concert in Buffalo. A fan has the audacity to inform Lee that his then-girlfriend had posed for Penthouse magazine (without the drummer’s knowledge) and comments on the pics (as guys will). With a single punch, Lee knocks a fan unconscious. Crüe’s manager Doug Thaler convinces the fan not to press any charges.  Now there’s a smooth talker! 1984

Zwan’s “Mary, Star Of The Sea,” featuring Smashing Pumpkins Billy Corgan and Jimmy Chamberlin, is released.  The album debuts at #3 on the Billboard Album Chart. 2003

A civil lawsuit accusing Marilyn Manson of sexual assault is dismissed after the two sides reach a settlement. Security guard Joshua Keasler was working on the stage during a July ’01 performance in Detroit when Manson allegedly approached him, wrapped his legs around the guard’s neck and gyrated against him while wearing only a leather thong and panty hose. The term ‘scarred for life’ comes to mind. 2004

Jim Capaldi, drummer and co-founder of Traffic (with Steve Winwood) dies in London of stomach cancer at age 60.  2005

Duff McKagan announces that he’s a financial columnist for Playboy magazine. The former Guns N’ Roses bassist says the column is “just some no-nonsense plain talk about things that can usually get real confusing.” McKagan adds that he wants to “shed some light and maybe even bring down some of the criminals on Wall Street.” 2009

Lynyrd Skynyrd pianist Billy Powell dies at his residence in Orange Park, FL. He was 56. Powell, who joined Skynyrd in ’72, survived the band’s tragic ’77 plane crash. 2009

Sly Stone is awarded $5-million after a Los Angeles Supreme Court jury determines that he was cheated out of royalties by his former manager and an entertainment lawyer. The case had been under deliberations for five years. 2015

KISS’ Gene Simmons grants a dying teenager’s wish by visiting him at the Children’s Hospital of Nevada in Las Vegas. Dilan Kohn, who idolizes Simmons and sees the bassist as an inspiration, passes away just days after Simmons’ visit. 2016

Jefferson Airplane co-founder Paul Kantner dies at the age of 74 due to multiple organ failure following a heart attack. And in a strange coincidence, original Jefferson Airplane vocalist Signe Anderson (later replaced by Grace Slick) also dies at the age of 74. 2016

Billie Joe Armstrong (Green Day) criticizes President Donald Trump’s barrage of executive orders, including a travel ban on Muslims from seven countries. “(It) feels like a vendetta,” writes Armstrong in an Instagram post. “Trump is not only taking out his revenge on the people who protested him, but also the average American that just didn’t vote for him.”  2017

New Found Glory guitarist Chad Gilbert states that he’s now “cancer free.”  He underwent surgery for a rare form of blood cancer called pheochromocytoma.  2022

Prior to Soulfly’s concert in Albuquerque, Mayor Tim Keller presents the band with a key to the city. Apparently, the mayor, who also introduces the band to the audience, is a Metalhead.  2023

Guitarist/vocalist Tom Verlaine, co-founder of the post-Punk band Television, dies at age 73.  2023

The trailer for “Despicable Me 4,” featuring Guns N’ Roses “Sweet Child O’ Mine,” airs during the AFC Championship (football) game.  2024

San Francisco’s Journey performs “Separate Ways (Worlds Apart),” “Be Good to Yourself,” “Any Way You Want It” and “Don’t Stop Believin’” (changing a lyric to reference S.F.) during halftime at the NFC Championship game between the San Francisco 49ers and the Detroit Lions at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, CA.   2024