This Day in History: 2024-03-25

MARCH 25^th

Bob Seger’s 7th album “Night Moves” goes platinum. It contains the breakthrough title track single, the haunting “Mainstreet” and the uplifting classic “Rock & Roll Never Forgets.” 1977

“Meteora,” the second studio album from Linkin Park, drops. The album sells over 16-million copies worldwide and is certified seven times platinum in the U.S. by the RIAA.   The album’s title is taken from the Greek Orthodox monasteries sharing the same name.  2003

Counting Crows “Saturday Nights And Sunday Mornings” is released. The album comes more than five years after ’02’s “Hard Candy.” “Saturday night is when you sin and Sunday is when you regret,” observes the band’s Adam Duritz. “Sinning is often done very loudly, angrily, bitterly, violently.” The album debuts at #3 on the Billboard 200 selling 106,000 copies in first week. 2008

U2 is the fourth band to have a Top 10 album on Billboard’s in five straight decades. Released earlier in the month U2’s “Songs Of Surrender,” re-recorded versions of some of U2’s biggest songs, debuted at #5 on the chart. The band’s first Top 10 album came in ‘87 with “The Joshua Tree.” 2023

AC/DC, Def Leppard and Metallica are the other three.

MORE TODAY IN ROCK…

Reginald Kenneth Dwight a.k.a. Elton John is born. He takes is stage name from Bluesology saxophonist Elton Dean and vocalist Long John Baldry.  Good move, Elton sells over 300-million records during his lengthy career.   1947

Dr. Francis Braceland, a Hartford Institute of Living psychiatrist states that “Rock n’ Roll is a communicable disease driving teenagers to do outlandish things.” 1956

Just two days after Eric Clapton’s departure from the Yardbirds, Jeff Beck plays his first show with the group. 1965

Blues-Rock guitarist Jeff Healey (Norman Jeffrey Healey) is born. 1966

The Who make their U.S. concert debut in New York. 1967

John Lennon and Yoko Ono hold their first ‘bed-in’ for peace at the Amsterdam Hilton. Their experiences are documented in “The Ballad Of John And Yoko.” 1969

Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young’s “Deja Vu” album goes gold. 1970

David Bowie and Iggy Pop are busted for marijuana possession in Rochester, NY. Bowie pleads not guilty. The charges are eventually dropped. 1976

Working their way up, the Talking Heads begin a series of shows as the headliner at CBGBs in New York. They had regularly played the venue as an opener. 1976

One of the greatest covers in Rock history, Van Halen’s take on the Kinks’ “You Really Got Me” doesn’t do much damage on the Top 40, only reaching #36. 1978

At the 57th Academy Awards, Stevie Wonder’s “I Just Called To Say I Love” from “The Woman In Red” soundtrack wins the Original Song trophy. Wonder dedicates his victory to the imprisoned (in South Africa) Nelson Mandela. As a result, South African radio stations ban Wonder’s music. 1985

Mike + The Mechanics’ sentimental “The Living Years” is the #1 pop song. The ‘Mike’ in the group is guitarist Mike Rutherford of Genesis fame. 1989

Mötley Crüe‘s Tommy Lee is arrested for mooning the audience during a concert in Augusta, GA.  Lee is fined $1,647.  1990

The Black Crowes get bounced from their opening slot on the ZZ Top trek for criticizing tour sponsor Miller Beer once too often. 1991

Bob Dylan earns an Oscar for his song “Things Have Changed” from the film “Wonder Boys.” 2001

U2’s Bono testifies at R.E.M. guitarist Peter Buck’s ‘air-rage’ trial. Buck is accused of going bonkers on a Trans-Atlantic flight (who hasn’t felt like doing that?). Bono portrays Buck as one of the most boring people alive. It works. Buck is acquitted. 2002

If it weren’t for bad luck, wouldn’t have no luck at all. A fire breaks out at Ozzy and Sharon Osbourne’s mansion in Buckinghamshire, England. The two escape but are treated for minor smoke inhalation. This is the same estate where Ozzy nearly killed himself in a quad bike accident two years earlier. The mansion was also robbed in ’04. 2005

Modest Mouse’s “We Were Dead Before The Ship Even Sank” floats to the top of the album chart selling nearly 129,000 copies in its first week. The set features the guitar work of former Smiths’ guitarist Jonny Marr. 2007

Elton John spends his 60th birthday (see above) performing his 60th show at New York’s Madison Square Garden. The concert opens with an introduction by former President Bill Clinton. Whoopi Goldberg, Robin Williams and longtime lyricist Bernie Taupin join John onstage. 2007

With little prior notice, The Raconteurs roll out “Consolers Of The Lonely.”  The video for the lead single, “Salute Your Solution,” is also released. “We wanted to explore the idea of releasing an album everywhere at once and then marketing and promoting it thereafter,” reads a band statement. The album goes to #7 on the Billboard 200. 2008

Bon Jovi’s Richie Sambora is arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence in Laguna Beach, CA. According to reports, the guitarist is pulled over after being observed maneuvering his black Hummer erratically. Sambora is released from custody early the following day with a court appearance scheduled seven weeks ‘down the road’. 2008

The Green Day documentary, “Heart Like A Hand Grenade” premieres in Hollywood. The film “offers an intimate look (at) the band recording their album ‘American Idiot’.”  The long-delayed project is directed by indie filmmaker John Roecker (Live Freaky! Die Freaky!). 2009

Guns N’ Roses guitarist Slash makes a surprise visit to an East Los Angeles middle school. He’s there on behalf of the Little Kids Rock organization, which promotes music education for children. Slash sits for a Q&A session before playing GN’R’s classic “Sweet Child o’ Mine” with a group of students. Four Slash autographed acoustic guitars are donated to the school. 2009

Axl Rose’s former managers file a $1.9 million lawsuit that claims the Guns N’ Roses leader reneged on an ’08 verbal agreement. The dollar amount represents 15% of an estimated $12 million GN’R earned from Southeast Asia, Canada and South America tours. 2010

“Songs For Japan” is released. Kings Of Leon, Foo Fighters and Red Hot Chili Peppers donate tracks to the album for Japan Disaster Relief. Two weeks earlier (3/11), the country suffered a horrific earthquake, tsunami and massive nuclear power plant radiation (caused by the earthquake). 2011

Bret Michaels files a lawsuit in Los Angeles County Superior Court against Tony Award Productions and CBS, blaming them for his ’10 brain hemorrhage. A backdrop fell on Michaels after a performance at the ’09 Tony Awards. The incident left him with a broken nose and a split lip. Michaels claims that he was not properly advised on how to exit the stage. 2011

A little over a year after disbanding, My Chemical Romance issue their greatest hits compilation, “May Death Never Stop You,” featuring the single “Fake Your Death,” which they call their eulogy song. 2014

Coldplay’s Chris Martin and wife Gwyneth Paltrow announce their separation on Paltrow’s GOOP newsletter. “It is with hearts full of sadness that we have decided to separate,” the couple says in a post entitled Conscious Uncoupling.  2014

Rolling Stone magazine, with KISS on the cover, hits newsstands. The ongoing feud between original KISS members, in advance of their Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame induction, lands them on the cover for the very first time. 2014

Radiohead’s “OK Computer” and The Doors’ self-titled ’67 debut are selected, as seminal works, for inclusion into the Library of Congress’ National Recording Registry. 2015

Metal Church issue “XI.” The band’s eleventh studio release also marks the return of vocalist/frontman Mike Howe, who left in ’98.  2016

The Rolling Stones give a free concert in Havana, Cuba. They are the biggest act to perform there since Cuba’s communist revolution in ’59. 2016

Imagine Dragons begin an extended run at #1 on the Billboard Rock Songs chart with “Believer.”  2017

Having announced they are ‘retiring’ after their current tour, Yellowcard play what they say is their final concert.  It’s in Anaheim where the band played their first-ever sold-out show.  2017

Megadeth’s A Tout le Monde wins its first Gold Medal from the Beverage Testing Institute based out of Chicago who rank the beer as “Exceptional.”  2017

Package deal. Metallica’s “Hardwired… To Self-Destruct,” jumps to #2 on the Billboard 200 following sales generated from a concert ticket/album sale redemption offer in conjunction with the band’s North American tour.  2018

Eagle Of Death Metal’s Jesse Hughes, a survivor of a ’15 mass-shooting at the Bataclan club in Paris, calls the students at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, where a gunman killed 17, “disgusting vile abusers of the dead” for participating in the March for Our Lives protest (the day before).  He mocks gun control and the efforts for stricter gun laws in an Instagram post. “Obviously … the best thing to do to combat chronic abusers and disregarders of the law (like the law against murder) is to… pass another law,” Hughes writes.  2018

Longtime Foo Fighters’ drummer Taylor Hawkins dies at age 50. He is found dead in his hotel room in Bogota, Colombia while the band is on tour. “The Foo Fighters family is devastated by the tragic and untimely loss,” reads a band’s statement. “His musical spirit and infectious laughter will live on with all of us forever.”  A toxicology report determines the drummer had marijuana, opioids, tricyclic antidepressants and benzodiazepines in his system. Hawkins joined the Foos in ’97.  2022

Former Iron Maiden vocalist, Blaze Bayley, suffers a heart attack.  Subsequently, he undergoes triple bypass surgery. 2023