This Day in History: 2024-05-26

MAY 26th

“Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band,” the eighth studio album by The Beatles, is released in the U.K. (U.S. release is a week later).  Praised for its innovations in songwriting, production and graphic design, the album spends 27 weeks at #1 on the U.K.’s Record Retailer chart. 1967

The Beatles compilation “1967–1970” (aka the “Blue Album”) tops the Billboard 200.  1973

“Black Gives Way To Blue,” Alice In Chains’ first album in 14 years, goes gold (500,000 units shipped). It entered the Billboard 200 at #5 with first-week sales exceeding 125,000 copies. The singles “Check My Brain” and “Your Decision” went to #1 on the Rock Songs chart. 2010

Pantera‘s major label debut, “Cowboys From Hell” released in ‘90, is certified double platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for sales in excess of 2-million copies in the U. S. It has been called one of the most influential Metal albums of the 1990s.  2023

MORE TODAY IN ROCK…

The Band’s drummer, Levon Helm, has a birthday. He’s from Marvell, AR. 1942

One-time hostess at Bob’s Big Boy Hamburgers, Stevie Nicks achieves even greater fame as a lead singer with Fleetwood Mac. It’s her birthday. 1948

Lenny Kravitz is born into a showbiz family in Brooklyn. 1964

All we are saying… John Lennon and Yoko Ono begin their eight-day bed-in for peace at Montreal’s Fairmont Queen Elizabeth Hotel (Suite 1742). During their stay, the couple is interviewed by journalists from around the world and the song “Give Peace A Chance” is recorded (on 6/1). 1969

One of the few mega-successful Rock instrumentals, “Frankenstein,” by the Edgar Winter Group, is #1 on the U.S. pop survey. 1973

Sting, Stewart Copeland and Andy Summers of The Police perform together for the first time as part of Mike Howlett’s band, Strontium90, in Paris, France.  1977

KISS provide Marvel Comics with a vial of their blood to mix with the red ink used to print their comic book.  1977

Motley Crue drummer Tommy Lee begins a five-day jail sentence for violating his parole by drinking alcohol.  2000

The Vines bassist Patrick Matthews walks out during a gig in Sydney, Australia. Angry with singer Craig Nicholls, Matthews never returns to the group.  2004

Blink-182 (Tom DeLonge, Mark Hoppus and Travis Barker on crutches) help paint a home in Harrisburg, PA, as part of “Raise The Roof,” a partnership between Clear Channel Entertainment and Habitat for Humanity, which provides homes for people in need. The band plays a show that evening at the Star Pavilion in nearby Hershey. 2004

Paul McCartney receives an honorary Doctor of Music degree from Yale University in New Haven, during the school’s commencement ceremony. A Yale band plays “Hey Jude” as McCartney is presented with the doctorate. 2008

Alice Cooper cancels his first concert in 30 years. “Alice got food poisoning somewhere on our trip between Phoenix, Mexico City and Santiago (where the concert was scheduled). Once we were on the plane to Santiago after an 8-hour layover in Mexico City, Alice started to feel ill,” says Coop’s rep. Alice is back on stage the following evening. 2011

The Vaccines question the decision to make The Who one of the headline acts at Glastonbury saying that Florence & The Machine should have been given the honor instead. “The Who are such a safe booking,” says The Vaccines’ Justin Young. “People are complaining about the lack of women at the top of festival bills and the lack of new artists.” 2015

The Duff McKagan documentary “It’s So Easy And Other Lies: Live At The Moore” is screened in the U.S. Directed by Christopher Duddy, the Guns N’ Roses bassist tells his life story during a ’13 live performance in Seattle. 2016

In the week following Chris Cornell‘s death, his work (solo, with Soundgarden and Audioslave) is streamed 32.5 million times (up 549 percent), his album catalog sells 38,000 copies (up 1,732 percent), and his songs garner 144,000 downloads (up 2,222 percent).  The top song is Soundgarden’s “Black Hole Sun.”   2017

Disturbed’s cover of the Simon & Garfunkel’s ‘60’s hit “The Sound Of Silence” is officially certified double platinum (2 million units) by the Recording Industry Association of America.  2017

Rage Against The Machine drummer Brad Wilk undergoes surgery to repair a torn meniscus. “Got a lot of hard notes outa this knee,” Wilk writes on Instagram.  2021

Yes drummer Alan White passes away at home (in the Seattle area) after a short illness at age 72.  White joined Yes in ’72.  2022

After a fan in the audience displays a sign that includes Confederate flag imagery during a Pantera concert in Sofia, Bulgaria, frontman Philip Anselmo publicly “disavows” the Confederate flag… a symbol the band has used in stage production and merchandise design.  2023