March 28, 2024

This Day in History: 2024-08-20

AUGUST 20th

Roll with It.jpgSteve Winwood’s “Roll With It,” containing the chart-topping title track, is #1 on the Billboard Album chart. It goes to #1 in the U.S. on its way to selling 3-million copies.  1988

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The Red Hot Chili Peppers’ “The Adventures Of Rain Dance Maggie” knocks the Foo Fighters’ “Walk” from the #1 slot on the Billboard Alternative Rock Songs chart. The song is the lead single from RHCP’s tenth studio album, “I’m With You.” Four weeks later, “Walk” returns to #1. 2011

The Recording Industry Association of America says The Eagles’ album — “Their Greatest Hits 1971-1975” — now certified 38 x platinum is the best-selling album of all-time. Michael Jackson’s “Thriller,” at 33 x platinum, is second. The Eagles’ “Hotel California,” released in 1977, is now 26 x platinum and the third best-selling album of all-time.  2018

 

MORE TODAY IN ROCK…

Led Zeppelin’s Robert Plant, the result of a whole lotta love, is born. 1948

Thin Lizzy bassist/singer Phil Lynott enters the world. The group is known for “The Boys Are Back In Town” and “Jailbreak.” 1949

Doug Fieger, the lead singer for The Knack and co-writer of the ’79 hit “My Sharona” (with lead guitarist Berton Averre), is born in Detroit. 1952

Pantera/Damageplan guitarist, “Dimebag” Darrell (born Darrell Lance Abbott), enters the world. 1966

The last time all time all four Beatles are in the Abbey Road studio together. They finish “I Want You (She’s So Heavy).” 1969

Frank Zappa (temporarily) disbands the Mothers Of Invention. Seems Zappa has grown tired of playing for people who clap for all the wrong reasons. 1969

Fred Durst (William Frederick Durst), Limp Bizkit’s vocalist, is born in Jacksonville, FL. 1970

Miguel “Meegs” Rascon, guitarist for Coal Chamber, has a birthday. 1972

Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band perform a benefit concert for Vietnam vets in L.A. 1981

On tour in England, Foo Fighters Taylor Hawkins overdoses (painkillers or heroin, stories differ) and goes into a coma. “I’ve been into rehab and cleaned up,” Taylor later states. “It’s all in the past.” 2001

Ex-Guns N’ Roses drummer Steven Adler pleads not guilty in a Los Angeles court to charges stemming from his drug-related arrest the previous month. 2008

Megadeth end their show in Paraguay after five songs when fans break through the barricades protecting the stage, leaving several of them injured (and almost killing one person).  2016

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau attends the Tragically Hip’s concert in Kingston, Ontario. The show is the final stop of the band’s farewell tour which launched after lead singer Gord Downie was diagnosed with terminal brain cancer.  2016

Imagine Dragons win Best Rock Video at the MTV Video Music Awards (VMAs) for “Whatever It Takes.” 2018

A monument honoring Thin Lizzy mainman Phil Lynott is unveiled in his hometown of West Bromwich where he was born and lived before moving to Dublin. The unveiling is on what would have been Lynott’s 72nd birthday (see above again). 2021

“The Metal Tour Of The Year,” co-headlined by Megadeth and Lamb Of Godmarks the return of Megadeth bassist James LoMenzota (‘06 – ’10), taking over from David Ellefson, who was fired from the band for illicit social media contact with a minor.  2021

Corey Taylor, vocalist for Slipknot/Stone Sour, says he has tested positive for COVID-19.  “This is the worst I’ve ever been sick in my life; had I not been vaccinated, I shudder to think how bad it would’ve been,” explains Taylor.  2021

Volbeat’s Michael Poulsen marries longtime girlfriend Jeanet Carlsen. This is the second marriage for the singer-guitarist. 2022