Are you ready to learn some stuff? It’s May 8th and here’s what happened Today in Rock History!
Starting it off as always with releases! We have Junta from Phish in 1989 and the digital release of Radiohead’s A Moon Shaped Pool in 2016!
We also saw Roger Waters solo debut with The Pros And Cons Of Hitch Hiking in 1984, and Break the Cycle by Staind and All Killer No Filler by Sum 41 on the same day in 2001!
Moving on to birthdays now, we have Dino Bardot from Franz Ferdinand, Chris Frantz of the Talking Heads, Dave Roundtree of Blur, and Alex Van Halen of, you guessed it, Van Halen. CUE THE DRUMS!
In 1996, an LA judge ruled against Tommy Lee and Pamela Anderson in their case against Penthouse magazine. The magazine attempted to publish still photos from the couple’s X-rated home video that was stolen from their home.
In 2015, Rush began their R40 Live tour. The band would begin their show playing newer songs and then work backwards to the song that broke them in America, Working Man. This tour would be their last one, as drummer Neil Peart would develop brain cancer and pass in 2020. RIP The Professor.
In 2012, the lead singer of punk band Against Me!, Tom Gabel, comes out as transgender and would undergo gender reassignment surgery (the first high-profile musician to do so), becoming Laura Jane Grace.
And finally in 1965, The Rolling Stones are on their first American tour and stop in Jacksonville, Florida. In the audience was a 17-year-old boy that decides in that moment to be a singer of his own rock band. That kid grew up to be Ronnie Van Zant, lead singer of Lynyrd Skynyrd.
This has been Today in Rock History! Keep on Rocking, keep on Rolling! Check back tomorrow for your next rock history lesson!
