Today in Rock History – April 5

Are you ready to learn some stuff? It’s April 5th and here’s what happened Today in Rock History!

Starting it off on a sad note as it was on this day in 1994 we lost Kurt Cobain.

Its really a rough day for grunge fans as we also lost Layne Staley of Alice in Chains in 2002.

We ALSO lost Jim Marshall, the inventor of the Marshall amplifier in 2012. His ‘stacks’ would be used by almost every major rock artist of the 60’s, 70’s, like Hendrix and Page, and the next generation of guitarists like Slash, Eddie Van Halen, and Kurt Cobain.

Moving onto something in a lighter context, let’s talk about birthdays! Today’s birthdays include two drummers from Judas Priest: Les Binks and the late Dave Holland!

Its also Mike McCready of Pearl Jam and Temple of the Dog’s birthday

In 1980, R.E.M. play their first gig ever at a friend’s birthday party at the abandoned St Mary’s Episcopal Church in Athens, Georgia.

And finally, in 2011, a statue that paid tribute to Kurt Cobain was unveiled in Aberdeen, WA. The statue of Cobain’s Fender Jag-Strang guitar was unveiled on the 17th anniversary of Cobain’s death and featured lyrics from Nirvana’s On a Plain etched onto the concrete statue.

This has been Today in Rock History! Keep on Rocking, keep on Rolling! Check back tomorrow for your next rock history lesson!