Are you ready to learn some stuff? It’s May 20th and here’s what happened Today in Rock History!
I know I say this a lot but we have some great releases today! Including OU812 from Van Halen in 1988, 14 Shades of Grey by Staind in 2003, and The Colour and the Shape by the Foo Fighters in 1997!
We also got Unmasked from KISS in 1980, their first without original drummer Peter Criss. And we also saw the first album of an MTV Unplugged performance released on this day in 1991. The album, titled Unplugged (The Official Bootleg), was issued by ex-Beatle Paul McCartney.
We lost Ray Manzarek of The Doors in 2013
In 2015, The Rolling Stones surprised (literally) the capacity crowd at Fonda Theatre in LA by playing a surprise gig where they performed the entirety of Sticky Fingers. The 1,300 person theatre included audience members Jack Nicholson and Bruce Willis among others.
And speaking of concerts, in 1980, The Clash held a concert in Hamburg, West Germany. The show was riddled with crowd violence and it came to a head when lead singer and rhythm guitarist Joe Strummer struck a hostile fan in the head with his guitar. Strummer was arrested but later cleared of charges.
While waiting for bandmates John Entwistle and Keith Moon to arrive for a Who show in Newbury, England in 1966, Roger Daltrey and Pete Townshend go on with the bassist and drummer from their opening act. Entwistle and Moon finally showed up halfway through, a fight broke out afterwards with Townshend hitting Moon with his guitar. Moon and Entwistle would quit to form a new band. They would return to The Who a week later.
In 2017, The Cranberries played their final show with lead singer Dolores O’Riordan, whose health issues caused the cancellation of the band’s remaining tour dates. O’Riordan would later die in 2018.
After being found guilty of spousal abuse of then wife Pamela Anderson, Tommy Lee of Motley Crue was sentenced to six months in jail and three years probation in 1998.
And finally, in 2006 Heavy Metal band Lordi becomes the first Finnish group as well as heavy metal band to win that year’s Eurovision Song Contest. The band won with their song Hard Rock Hallelujah while dressed in horror garb.
This has been Today in Rock History! Keep on Rocking, keep on Rolling! Check back tomorrow for your next rock history lesson!
