This Day in History: 2024-07-09

JULY 9th

“Every Breath You Take” tops the pop chart. The Police song remains at #1 for eight weeks. 1983

“By The Way,” Red Hot Chili Peppers’ eighth studio album, drops.  The album peaks at #2 on the Album Chart, and is subsequently certified double platinum in the U.S.  2002

Belarus customs officials mistake the Red Hot Chili Peppers for Metallica and insist they autograph Metallica photos and CDs – even after RHCP explain they aren’t Metallica. RHCP are touring Europe in support of “The Getaway” album. 2016

MORE TODAY IN ROCK…

AC/DC’s original wailer Bon Scott is born. 1946

Mitch Mitchell (John Ronald Mitchell), drummer for the Jimi Hendrix Experience, is born in Ealing, Middlesex, England.  1946

The revolution is now! “(We’re Gonna) Rock Around The Clock” by Bill Haley And His Comets is #1 in the U.S. The song, which failed to crack the Top 20 in its initial run, is re-released after being used in the opening credits of the film” Blackboard Jungle.” It’s the first Rock n’ Roll song to top the pop chat. 1955

Vocalist Jim Kerr is born.  Though the Simple Minds were successful Kerr’s most notable accomplishment was being married to Chrissie Hynde, of The Pretenders, from ’84 – ’90. 1959

The Animals reworking of a traditional Blues song, “House Of The Rising Sun,” tops the U.K. charts. 1964

The widow-Cobain, actress and Hole leader, Courtney Love, rocks into the world. 1964

Bassist Frankie Bello is born.  Bello is originally a roadie and guitar technician for Anthrax, but later replaces Dan Lilker.  1965

The Doors’ Jim Morrison is buried at P’ere Lachaise Cemetery in Paris. The cemetery is also the final resting place for several famous contributors to the arts and letters including Oscar Wilde and Frederic Chopin. 1971

Detroit native John Anthony Gillis, better known as Jack White (White Stripes, The Raconteurs), has a birthday. 1975

Hoobastank guitarist, Dan Estrin, celebrates his birthday. 1976

Elvis Costello quits his day job at Elizabeth Arden Cosmetics to pursue a music career full-time. 1977

Though producer Richie Zito had to work like a demon to convince Cheap Trick to record it, “The Flame” becomes the #1 song in the U.S. 1988

The Operation Rock N’ Roll Tour, with Judas Priest, Alice Cooper and Motorhead starts in Salt Lake City, of all places. The tour is vocalist Rob Halford’s last with Priest in the ’90s. 1991

Jerry Garcia plays his last concert with the Grateful Dead. It’s at Chicago’s Soldier Field. Garcia suffers a fatal heart attack a month later. 1995

“Metallica: Some Kind of Monster” premieres in New York City. The film chronicles the band’s bitter in-fighting and visits to a therapist while recording the “St. Anger” album. Years later, drummer Lars Ulrich calls the film a mistake. “I am aware a lot of other musicians seem to have lived a lot of those moments. They weren’t necessarily stupid enough to film them like we were and share them with the rest of the world.” 2004

While playing the Oxegen festival near Dublin, Green Day remembers the victims of London’s terrorist attacks two days earlier. “This is for all the innocents,” says singer-guitarist Billie Joe Armstrong prior to the group’s performance of “Wake Me Up When September Ends.” 2005

Slipknot DJ Sid Wilson (a.k.a. +0) breaks both his heels while jumping offstage during the first show of the inaugural Rockstar Mayhem Festival tour in Auburn, WA. Wilson continues to perform onstage in a wheelchair. 2008

Former Motorhead guitarist Michael “Wurzel” Burston dies following a battle with heart disease. He joined the band in ’84 and left in ’95. He was 61. 2011

Candlebox release “In Your Hands,” which honors victims of gun violence in the U.S. “When people read the words ‘gun violence awareness,’ a lot of folks just see the word ‘gun’ and get up in arms about the government coming to try and take their firearms, as opposed to taking a step back to think about the reality of the situation,” states vocalist Kevin Martin.  2021

Three Days Grace add to their run of #1 songs on Billboard’s Mainstream Rock chart with “Lifetime.” From the band’s seventh album “Explosions,” the song is their 17^th #1 on the chart.  2022