Today in Rock Music History
A collection of epic events, milestones, birthdays, chart-toppers, concerts, record releases, and relevant rock music news for this day, all brought to you by the Today in Rock Music History staff.
July 6th
1964 The Beatles first, and best film, “A Hard Day’s Night,” premieres in London.
The film shows The Beatles going through a series of adventures as they prepare for a TV appearance.
1974 “Band On The Run” (Paul McCartney & Wings) returns to #1.
After losing the top spot on the Billboard 200 to Gordon Lightfoot’s “Sundown.”
1991 “For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge” is #1 on the Billboard 200.
It’s Van Halen’s third straight chart- topping effort (“5150” and “OU812” are the other two).
The band’s ninth studio set, but the third with Sammy Hagar handling vocals, begins a three-week stay atop the Billboard survey.
2019 “Help Us Stranger” is #1 on the Billboard 200.
The Raconteurs third album is their first in eleven years.
MORE TODAY IN ROCK…
1925 Bill Haley is born. Bill Haley and His Comets had several hits but are best remembered for “Rock Around The Clock,” the song that got the party started.
1949 Santana drummer (‘69–’74) Mike Shrieve is born. His Woodstock drum solo during “Soul Sacrifice” is a highpoint of the event.
1952 Guitarist Graham Oliver (Saxon) has a birthday.
1957 John Lennon meets Paul McCartney at a Quarrymen’s show. Lennon, the leader of the Quarrymen, talks with McCartney who knows all the words to “Be-Bop-A-Lula” and “Twenty Flight Rock” and can play proper chords. Lennon is impressed.
1979 The eldest of four brothers, Jet’s Nicholas (Nic) John Cester is born in Melbourne, Australia.
1985 Phil Collins sits at #1 with “Sussudio,” his third track to top the charts.
1987 The Grateful Dead issue one of their more commercially successful efforts, “In The Dark,” containing the single “Touch Of Grey”
2007 Ozzy Osbourne is the first celebrity honored with a plaque on Birmingham, England’s Walk of Stars. “This means more to me than any f***ing Hollywood thing,” says Ozzy of the hometown tribute. He also has a star on Hollywood’s Walk of Fame.
2012 U2 bassist Adam Clayton’s former personal assistant, Carol Hawkins, is sentenced to seven years in prison for embezzling 3.8-million dollars from him to fund a lavish lifestyle.
2018 Panic! At The Disco’s Brendon Urie comes out in a Paper magazine interview. “I’m married to a woman and I’m very much in love with her, but I’m not opposed to a man because to me, I like a person. Yeah, I guess you could qualify me as pansexual because I really don’t care,” explains Urie.
2021 Machine Gun Kelly’s “Tickets To My Downfall” returns to #1 on Billboard’s Rock Albums Chart after 40-weeks on the survey. It first topped the Rock chart in fall of ’20.
2022 Metallica’s “Master Of Puppets,” the title track from the band’s ’86 set, sees “a dramatic sales increase” after it’s incorporated into the season four finale of “Stranger Things” on Netflix. The song debuts on the Billboard 100 at #40.
2023 Former Judas Priest guitarist K.K. Downing’s band KK’s Priest makes its live debut in Wolverhampton, U.K. In addition to Downing, the band includes former Judas Priest singer Tim “Ripper” Owens.
2023 Guitarist Nita Strauss and her drummer Josh Villalta (aka Josh V.) are officially engaged during a record release party in L.A. for Strauss’ album, “The Call Of The Void.”
2024 AC/DC top the Hard Rock Digital Song Sales chart with their ’90 hit “Thunderstruck” (from the band’s “The Razor’s Edge” set). The song previously claimed the #1 spot on the Hard Rock Digital Sales chart in ’12.
Also See…
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The Allman Brothers Band – At Fillmore East
At Fillmore East is what happens when a band stops trying to impress and just starts being. You don’t listen to it so much as submit to it. A live document that never feels dated, because it was never chasing a moment—it was the moment.