This Day in History: 2023-10-24

ROCKTOBER 24^th

Featuring the song “Black Magic Woman” Santana’s “Abraxas” album tops the Billboard 200.  1970

 The double album “Mellon Collie And The Infinite Sadness” is released. The Smashing Pumpkins’ set contains “Bullet With Butterfly Wings,” which becomes the band’s first Top 40 U.S. hit, peaking at #22 on the Billboard Hot 100. 1995

Linkin Park issue their debut album, “Hybrid Theory.” Over the next dozen years, the album moves over 10 million copies in the U.S., enough to earn the group a diamond certification. 2000

Two years in the making, Coldplay issue their fifth album, “Mylo Xyloto.” The set includes the singles “Every Teardrop Is A Waterfall” and “Paradise.” 2011

Red Hot Chili Peppers are #1 on the Billboard 200 with “Return Of The Dream Canteen.” With “Unlimited Love,” which topped the album chart earlier in the year, the Peppers are the first Rock band in seventeen years to have two #1 albums in the same year.  The last band to achieve this was System Of A Down in ’05 with “Mezmerize” and “Hypnotize” albums. 2022

MORE TODAY IN ROCK…

Rolling Stones bassist, the stoic Bill Wyman, is born. 1936

President Richard Nixon encourages broadcasters to ban Rock lyrics with drug references. 1970

Rolling Stones guitarist Keith Richards gets fined and receives a slap on the wrist (a conditional discharge) after being convicted on four drug charges and three firearm offenses resulting from a June 26th police raid of his home. 1973

John Lennon sues the U.S. government for wiretapping his phone. Lennon’s anti-Vietnam War activities led the feds to conduct a surveillance program. 1973

KISS unfurls “Alive II” (the follow-up to ’75’s “Alive!”). The double platinum album is originally distributed with KISS rub-on tattoos and an eight-page booklet. 1977

The Guinness Book of Records claims Paul McCartney (with or without John Lennon) is the most successful composer of all time. 1979

“Love Will Find A Way,” by Yes, is #1 on Billboard’s Mainstream Rock chart.  1987

Guitarist Ben Moody leaves Evanescence in the middle of the band’s European tour.  2004

Jon Bon Jovi is named Habitat For Humanity’s worldwide ambassador at an event held in Philadelphia. Bon Jovi also announces the formation of the Philadelphia Soul Charitable Foundation, which partners with Habitat for an initiative to renovate houses in the city. 2006

Kurt Cobain goes to #1 but this time it’s without Nirvana. Cobain tops Forbes.com‘s sixth annual Top-Earning Dead Celebrities list. Cobain’s music earned $50 million over the previous year. During that time, the singer’s widow, Courtney Love, sold 25% of her stake in Nirvana’s publishing rights. And one licensing agreement allowed Nirvana songs to be used on CSI: Miami. 2006

Kid Rock announces the creation of a scholarship for Detroit residents studying music business or music technology at Wayne State University. “I truly believe that a major part of Detroit’s healing and moving forward will come through education,” says Rock. 2008

The two surviving members of Sublime perform under that name at Cypress Hill’s SmokeOut Festival in San Bernardino, CA, despite legal action from the family of the band’s deceased founder, Bradley Nowell (who died from a drug overdose in ’96 just as the band was achieving mainstream success). Bud Gaugh and Eric Wilson, both original members, are augmented by singer Rome Ramirez. 2009

U2 is named The Greatest Act of the Last 25 Years at the Q Awards in London. 2011

Following months of speculation after saying he was thinking about becoming a candidate Kid Rock tells Howard Stern’s SiriusXM audience that he is not running for the U.S. Senate.  “Are you kidding me?,” Rock asks.  2017

Marilyn Manson fires longtime bassist Jeordie White (Twiggy Ramirez) less than a week after White is publicly accused of rape by his former girlfriend, Jessicka Addams, of the Riot Grrrl band Jack Off Jill.  2017

Fats Domino dies at age 89. Known for his songs “Ain’t That A Shame” and “Blueberry Hill,” Domino outsold every ’50’s Rock N’ Roll act except Elvis Presley. 2017

Soilwork cancel a planned concert in Singapore. The show, originally scheduled to take place months earlier, was postponed amid a controversy over a petition calling for the event to be banned. “These Heavy Metal bands do not represent the culture which we want in our youths,” states the petition organizers. “Their subliminal messages in their songs include death and suicide.” 2019