March 28, 2024

This Day in History: 2024-05-31

MAY 31st

Get an ‘A’ for attitude. Billy Idol, Megadeth’s Dave Mustaine and Alice Cooper are heard on the “Rock School” soundtrack. The documentary is about the Philadelphia music school for children who want to learn to Rock. 2005

Queen’s musical, “We Will Rock You,” closes after a 12-year run London’s Dominion Theatre. There were 4,600 performances for more than 6.5 million people. 2014

“Pistol” debuts.  The mini-series is based on guitarist Steve Jones memoir, “Lonely Boy,” chronicling his experiences in the Sex Pistols, the notorious Punk band. 2022

MORE TODAY IN ROCK…

Led Zeppelin’s unique and powerful drummer, the legendary John Bonham, enters the world. In early Zeppelin promotional materials he is tagged as the “champion beer drinker in England.” 1948

Jimi Hendrix signs up for a three-year Army hitch. It’s either that or jail time (for riding in a stolen car). 1961

The Who earn the title “the loudest Rock band ever.” Their concert at the Charlton Athletic Grounds in England hits 120 decibels according to the Guinness Book of World Records. Any wonder guitarist Pete Townshend constantly complains of hearing loss? 1976

Supertramp play Madison Square Garden. While on stage they are awarded a platinum album for “Breakfast In America.” 1979

The first International Rock Awards are held in New York. Rolling Stones guitarist Keith Richards picks up the Living Legend honor while Eric Clapton takes the trophy for Best Guitarist. 1989

Alan McGhee, head of Creation Records, sees Oasis perform in Glasgow. Thinking he’s found a cross between the Sex Pistols and The Beatles, he signs the group. 1993

Stevie Wonder receives the Polar Music Prize in Stockholm. 1999

Frontman Perry Farrell puts the blame for the demise of Jane’s Addiction squarely on guitarist Dave Navarro’s freelancing (first he claims it was Navarro’s participation in the Rock Star reality series – and subsequent tour – then later says it was MTV’s “‘Til Death Do Us Part: Carmen & Dave” with Navarro and then wife, Carmen Electra). Navarro responds, essentially saying Farrell doesn’t have a clue. The bickering, via online posts, takes up the better part of the month. 2007

Ex-Talking Heads frontman David Byrne transforms Battery Maritime Building in New York into a musical instrument by attaching devices that cause beams and pipes in the structure to vibrate and produce sound. It’s an 11-day exhibition. 2008

Alice In Chains co-founder Jerry Cantrell is given the Stevie Ray Vaughan Award at the eighth annual MusiCares MAP Fund benefit concert at Club Nokia in L.A. The honor is for the guitarist’s dedication and support of the MusiCares MAP Fund, and for his commitment to helping other addicts with the addiction and recovery process. 2012

Scott Weiland files a countersuit against his former band Stone Temple Pilots. He seeks in excess of $7 million in damages for what he believes was a conspiracy to oust him. In the documents Weiland asks, “How do you expel a man from the band that he started, named, sang lead on every song, wrote the lyrics, and was the face of for twenty years? You don’t, but three of the instrumentalists from the band Stone Temple Pilots tried.” 2013

Members of Mastodon appear in an episode of the cable TV series “Game Of Thrones,” playing a group of wildings who are brutally murdered before getting resurrected by White Walkers. 2015

Europe’s music video for their ’86 hit “The Final Countdown” surpasses one billion YouTube views. The clip, uploaded in ‘09, contains concert and soundcheck footage.  2022

Failed Arizona GOP gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake has Lenny Kravitz’s rendition of “American Woman” (a cover of the Guess Who’s ’70 derogatory take on the U.S.) playing as she enters a rally in Scottsdale to announce yet another legal challenge to the results of the ’22 election which she lost but refused to concede. Lake gets beat up on social media for obvious reasons.  2023