This Day in History: 2023-06-25
JUNE 25th
Van Halen’s “OU812” is the #1 album on the Billboard 200. The album features the tracks “When It’s Love” and “Finish What Ya Started.” 1988
Stone Temple Pilots’ second album “Purple” is #1 on the Billboard 200. The album sells 252,000 copies in its first week, eventually moving over six-million copies. 1994
Queensryche release their first album with vocalist Todd La Torre, who replaced Geoff Tate. The self-titled album contains the single “Redemption.” 2013
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Keyboardist/guitarist Allen Lanier (Blue Oyster Cult) enters the world. 1946
Multi-instrumentalist Ian McDonald is born in Osterley, Middlesex, England. He is known for his work with Foreigner and King Crimson. 1946
David Paich starts his life in L.A. The son of Jazz composer, Marty Paich, David works as a session musician (keyboards) prior to fronting Toto. 1954
Bo Diddley’s two-sided hit, “Bo Diddley” and “I’m A Man,” tops the R&B chart. Both songs become Rock N’ Roll staples. 1955
Paul McCartney’s “Paperback Writer” is yet another #1 song for The Beatles. 1966
Four-hundred million people watch The Beatles perform “All You Need is Love” on Our World, the first international satellite television program. The BBC commissioned The Beatles to write a song for the program and requested that it contain a message that would easily translate across the globe. 1967
Michael Douglas Henry Kroeger, bassist for Nickelback, is born in Hanna, Alberta. He is the half-brother of frontman Chad Kroeger. 1972
Robert Plant’s solo career gets off to a solid start with “Pictures At Eleven.” The album by the former Led Zeppelin vocalist subsequently peaks at #5 on the Billboard 200. 1982
Red Hot Chili Peppers guitarist and co-founding member, Hillel Slovak, dies from a heroin overdose at age 26. 1988
David Bowie collapses backstage at the Hurricane Festival in Germany. He immediately undergoes surgery for a blocked artery that requires emergency angioplasty. 2004
“X&Y,” Coldplay’s third album, tops the Billboard 200. 2005
“Rockin’ The Corps,” an all-star concert film, premieres in Washington D.C. Filmed at Camp Pendleton (Oceanside, CA) it features performances by Godsmack, KISS, Ted Nugent and Bon Jovi’s Richie Sambora before an audience of military personnel and their families. Proceeds from the screening benefit the Support The Corps charity. 2005
Sky Saxon (born Robert Marsh), leader of the ’60’s Garage-Rock group the Seeds, dies in Austin TX. The Seeds are best known for their proto-Punk “Pushin’ Too Hard,” a Top 40 hit in ’67. 2009
The outlandish Sacha Baron Cohen comedy “Bruno” premieres in L.A. The film closes with a parody of “We Are The World” that features Bono (U2), Sting and Elton John. 2009
Michael Jackson dies after suffering a heart attack. The King of Pop had one of the most successful yet downright weird careers in music history. He was 50. 2009
Atlantic City mayor Lorenzo Langford supports James Hetfield’s criticism of area hotel prices that resulted in moving the Metallica curated Orion Festival to Detroit. “I thought Atlantic City was going to be a lot better than it was,” says Metallica’s frontman. “There was some gouging going on in hotels, ripping people off, crap like that.” 2013
Disturbed singer David Draiman says that he is “done with social media” after dealing with Twitter trolls who baited him about his views. Draiman, the son of Israelis and the grandson of Holocaust survivors, often spoke out against anti-Semitism. 2015
Red Hot Chili Peppers’ “The Getaway” lands at #2 on the Billboard 200 Album Chart. It’s kept out of the top spot by Drake’s “Views” which is #1 for the eighth consecutive week. 2016
