Are you ready to learn some stuff? It’s May 21st and here’s what happened Today in Rock History!
We’ve got a really strong start with releases today! We’ve got OK Computer from Radiohead in 1997!
Other releases include Love, Lust, Faith and Dreams from Thirty Seconds to Mars in 2013, Scaled and Icy by Twenty One Pilots in 2021 and Down on the Upside from Soundgarden in 1996!
We also got Saskadlephia from The Tragically Hip in 2021, Black Dog Barking from Airbourne in 2013 and Agents of Fortune from Blue Oyster Cult in 1976! Cue the cowbell!
Moving onto birthdays we have Kevin Shields of My Bloody Valentine and Stan Lynch of Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers
In 1981, Bob Marley was given a state funeral in Jamaica. The funeral combined elements of Ethiopian Orthodoxy and Rastafarian traditions.
In 2023, the Foo Fighters announced their new drummer, Josh Freese. The band would then announce a new tour and album, But Here We Are. Freese would stay with the band almost two years before he was let go by the band in 2025
In 2007, Creed singer Scott Stapp was arrested at his home in Florida and charged with domestic assault. The singer was held without bail.
We lost Nick Menza of Megadeth in 2016 after suffering a heart attack on stage with his band OHM.
ZZ Top released the music video for their song Gimme All Your Lovin’ in 1983. This video is important to ZZ Top’s history as it marked the first appearance of the Eliminator! The 1933 Ford Hot Rod, owned by Billy Gibbons, appeared in three more of the band’s videos and has been associated with the band since.
While performing at a show in Hamburg, Germany in 1980, The Clash’s Joe Strummer was arrested after smashing his guitar on the head of a fan. He would later be released after a negative alcohol test.
Black Sabbath received the lifetime achievement award at the 2015 Ivor Novello songwriting awards. During their acceptance speech, guitarist Tony Iommi announced the band would embark on their final tour the following year.
And finally, in 1975, after an Alice Cooper show in Knoxville, TN, forgot one of his stage props in his hotel room. The “prop”, Cooper’s 13-foot boa constrictor named Julius Squeezer escaped down the toilet. The snake would stay in the hotel’s pipes for two weeks and would later be found by country singer Charley Pride in his hotel room. Fear forever unlocked.
This has been Today in Rock History! Keep on Rocking, keep on Rolling! Check back tomorrow for your next rock history lesson!
