Today in Rock Music History

June 4th

1983 The Police’s “Every Breath You Take” tops the U.K. singles chart.

Written by Sting, the track stays at the top for four weeks.

The song, from the “Synchronicity” album, is later named Song of the Year at the 26^th Annual Grammy Awards.

1984 Bruce Springsteen unfurls his seventh studio album, “Born In The U.S.A.” 

It’s #1 on the Billboard Album Chart for seven weeks becoming Springsteen’s commercial triumph.

1996 Metallica roll out “Load.”   

The album sells 680,000 copies in the first week and spends four weeks at the top of the Billboard Album Chart.  It goes on to move over 5-million units in the U.S.

2005 “Mesmerize,” the fourth studio album from System Of A Down, is #1 on the Billboard 200. 

The album is eventually certified platinum (over one million copies sold). “Hypnotize” arrives six months later.

2022 “The Steeple” by Halestorm is #1 on Billboard’s Mainstream Rock chart. 

It’s the second single from the band’s fifth studio album “Back From The Dead” (pictured). 

MORE TODAY IN ROCK…

1952 Wings guitarist Jimmy McCulloch is born. 

1964 The Beatles begin their first world tour. Ringo Starr misses the early dates while recovering from a tonsillectomy. He is temporarily replaced by Jimmy Nicol (formerly of Georgie Fame & The Flames).

1967 The Monkees win an Emmy for Outstanding TV Comedy Series.

1968 Please allow me to introduce myself. The Rolling Stones begin recording “Sympathy For The Devil” at London’s Olympic Sound Studios. Reacting to Senator Robert Kennedy’s assassination (which occurred during the sessions), Mick Jagger inserts the line “who killed the Kennedys?” The Stones finish the track in less than a week.

1985 Black Stone Cherry vocalist/guitarist, Chris Robertson, is born. 

1989 Osbourne donates $15,000 for AIDS research.

1990 Paramore’s drummer, Zac Farro, celebrates his birthday.

1992 Young Elvis (Presley) beats out the Vegas Elvis for the Postal Services’ commemorative stamp.

1993 No, I don’t have a gun.  Kurt Cobain (Nirvana) is arrested after a heated dispute with Courtney Love over Cobain’s gun collection. 

1994 The soundtrack to the superhero film “The Crow,” featuring The Cure, Violent Femmes, Pantera, Helmet and Nine Inch Nails, is #1 on the Billboard 200. 

1997 Faces bassist Ronnie Lane dies of multiple sclerosis, following an 18-year battle, at the age of 51.

2004 Though they decided to break-up months earlier, Creed officially announce the spilt after eight years and sales of 30-million albums. Guitarist Mark Tremonti cites differences between himself and singer Scott Strapp as the reason. Strapp works on a solo effort while Tremonti, Creed drummer Scott Phillips and the group’s original bassist Brian Marshall form Alter Bridge.

2010 The comedy “Get Him To The Greek” is in theaters. Metallica’s Lars Ulrich appears as himself and plays the lover of singer Jackie Q, the ex-girlfriend of Infant Sorrow’s Adlous Snow (Russell Brand). For trivia buffs, Infant Sorrow is also the title of a William Blake poem.

2013 Slayer launch an international tour at the Impact Festival in Warsaw, Poland. It’s Slayer’s first show with returning drummer Paul Bostaph, who had left the group in ’02.

2014 John Lennon’s original poetry and drawings for “In His Own Write” and “A Spaniard In The Works” are auctioned for more than $2.9 million, better than double the pre-sale estimate. It’s the largest-ever private collection of Lennon’s work, over 100 items, put on the block.

2015 Jack White (White Stripes) is inducted into Nashville’s Music City Walk of Fame.

2015 Rage Against The Machine’s Tom Morello announces the launch of Firebrand Records. “One-stop shopping for all your rebel-music needs.”

2017 Coldplay perform Oasis’ “Don’t Look Back In Anger” with pop singer Ariana Grande at the “One Love Manchester” concert. The Oasis classic is an anthem for the city following the 5/22 terror attack that killed 22 following a Grande concert in Oasis’ hometown. 

2017 Tool plays their first New York City concert in eleven years as the headliner of the Governors Ball, a three-day music festival on Randall’s Island. “Fox News, Huffington Post, the left, the right, Trump, Breitbart, Facebook – none of these things are your enemy,” Tool’s Maynard James Keenan tells the audience. “Your enemy is ignorance. That’s the fight.”  The band then performs “Opiate.” 

2021 Led Zeppelin‘s “Whole Lotta Love” has the greatest riff of all time according to the readers of Total Guitar and Guitar World magazines.  “Crazy Train” (Ozzy Osbourne w/ guitarist Randy Rhodes), “Back In Black” (AC/DC) and “Smoke On The Water” (Deep Purple) are next in line.   

2022 Six years after being released from prison for attempting to hire an undercover police officer to murder his wife As I Lay Dying singer Tim Lambesis marries for the third time.  The bride is model Dany Ciara. 

2022 Original Bon Jovi bassist Alec John Such dies at age 70.