Are you ready to learn some stuff? It’s May 12th and here’s what happened Today in Rock History!
We’ve got a lot ahead of us today so let’s start it off big with the release of The Rolling Stones Exile on Main St in 1972!
We aren’t stopping there as we also got Are You Experienced, the debut record for The Jimi Hendrix Experience in 1967!
You thought we were done? No way! We also got Invisible Lantern from the Screaming Trees in 1988, The Southern Harmony and Musical Companion by The Black Crowes in 1992, both 5 by Lenny Kravitz and A Thousand Leaves by Sonic Youth in 1998 and Turn Blue by The Black Keys in 2014.
Moving onto birthdays now, we have Billy Squier, Ivan Kral of the Patti Smith Group, Steve Winwood, Eric Singer of KISS
As well as Billy Duffy of The Cult, Paul D’Amour of Ministry and Tool, and Mr. Brett, the guitarist of Bad Religion and owner of Epitaph Records
I guess I should also mention that it’s actor Rami Malek’s birthday today. You may know him as the guy who impersonated a squeaky clean version of Freddie Mercury in a movie that should have been better than the one we got.
Speaking of Queen, in 2007 guitarist Brian May was placed under police protection after he receives death threats in the mail from a deranged fan. The fan claimed that May had caused his mental illness and that he was really Brian May.
In 2013, Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield records his version of David Bowie’s Space Oddity while on board of the International Space Station. The video was posted to YouTube and received not only praise from fans, but Bowie as well, saying “It’s possibly the most poignant version of the song ever created.”
We lost artist H. R. Giger in 2014. Giger, a Swedish surrealist artist, worked with various musicians and groups to create everything from album covers (Danzig’s Danzig III: How the Gods Kill) and inserts (Dead Kennedy’s Frankencrist), to microphone stands for Jonathan Davis of Korn. You may also know him for creating one of horrors greatest creatures: the Xenomorph from the Alien franchise.
In 1986, after being convicted for drunk driving, Joe Strummer of The Clash gets banned from driving
Meat Loaf filed for bankruptcy with debts of over $1 million in 1983.
In 1996, a 17-year-old died after suffering a body surfing injury the day before at a Smashing Pumpkins show in Dublin, Ireland
In 2000, at the beginning of Metallica’s lawsuit against Napster, the band’s drummer Lars Ulrich appeared on The Charlie Rose Show to debate against Chuck D of hip-hop group Public Enemy on whether MP3 downloading is a vehicle for piracy or a return of power for the consumer. The debate gets heated at times but they both make extremely valid points. Check it out below!
In 1977, the Sex Pistols signed with Virgin records after being dropped from both EMI and A&M records in the span of 6 months.
In 1967, Pink Floyd performed the first concert to ever use quadraphonic sound (a way to pan sound around a venue).
And finally in 2011, during a show at London’s O2 Arena on his The Wall tour, Roger Waters is joined on stage by former Pink Floyd bandmate’s David Gilmour and Nick Mason for the first time since their performance together at Live 8 in 2005. They play two songs together, Comfortably Numb and Outside The Wall.
This has been Today in Rock History! Keep on Rocking, keep on Rolling! Check back tomorrow for your next rock history lesson!
