Today in Rock History – April 28

Are you ready to learn some stuff? It’s April 28th and here’s what happened Today in Rock History!

Starting off with releases, we have AC/DC’s Powerage, released in 1978. One of the band’s lesser albums when it was released, it has since garnered more acclaim.

Other releases on this day include: 10,000 Days from Tool, Humanz by Gorillaz, Flush the Fashion from Alice Cooper and Halestorm’s debut record!

It’s Kim Gordon of Sonic Youth’s birthday today.

We lost Steve Currie of T. Rex in a car crash in 1981

Apple launched the ITunes Store in 2003, the first legally authorized download platform for buying music. With no subscription fees, personal use rights, and songs just costing 99 cents, ITunes became the largest music vendor in the world by 2010.

In 2017, Soundgarden begin their final tour with Chris Cornell.

In 1990 Axl Rose gets married to Erin Everly in Las Vegas. Nine months later, they divorced.

In 1976, Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band appeared at the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville, the first time a rock group had played the Opry since 1968.

In 2008, Scott Weiland of Stone Temple Pilots was sentenced to 192 hours in county jail, fined $2000, required to complete an 18-month alcohol program and was placed on four years probation for a 2007 drunk driving offense.

In 1978, Cheap Trick play their first of two shows at the Budokan in Tokyo. The concerts were recorded and released as the live album Cheap Trick At Budokan. The album helps the band finally gain mainstream popularity in the US with their live version of I Want You To Want Me!

In 1973, Pink Floyd’s The Dark Side of The Moon hit No. 1 on the US Billboard Chart where it would last a week in that slot. The album would continue to stay on that chart for 741 weeks.

And finally in 1982, the California State Assembly consumer-protection-committee heard testimony from “experts” that claimed that the Led Zeppelin song Stairway to Heaven, when played backwards, contained the words: “I sing because I live with Satan. The Lord turns me off, there’s no escaping it. Here’s to my sweet Satan, whose power is Satan. He will give you 666. I live for Satan.” The back-masking claims were inconclusive.

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