Are you ready to learn some stuff? It’s July 30th and here’s what happened Today in Rock History!
Starting off with a big one as it was one this day in 2003 that the Molson Canadian Rocks for Toronto aka SARSStock was held in Toronto. The show, held after the SARS outbreak in Toronto, was used to help bring tourism back to the city. The benefit show featured performances from The Rolling Stones, The Flaming Lips, AC/DC and Rush and was later released on DVD titled Toronto Rocks.
We got some great releases today. Starting off, we have Is This It from The Strokes in 2001.
Other releases include Springsteen’s The Rising in 2002, The Rolling Stones’ Out of Our Heads in 1965 and both Alice in Chains’ MTV Unplugged and Sublime’s self-titled, major-label debut in 1996.
We also got the single release of Metallica’s Enter Sandman in 1991!
Moving onto birthdays now, we have Rat Scabies of The Damned, Brad Hargreaves of Third Eye Blind and Jeffrey Hammond-Hammond of Jethro Tull!
In 2001, while performing at OzzFest, Marilyn Manson, clad in a thong, wraps his legs around a security guard’s head and grinds his face. The 26-year-old guard sues Manson, claiming his head was “completely engulfed” in Manson’s groin. Manson was later arrested and charged with battery and sexual assault, then pleads no contest to the battery charge. He would pay a $4,000 fine.
The public funeral procession for Ozzy Osbourne took place on this day in 2025. Tens of thousands of fans gathered in Birmingham in the UK as Osbourne’s procession made a stop at Black Sabbath Bridge. The Osbourne family took time to stop and view tributes left by fans as the bridge became filled with flowers and tributes to the singer after his death. The Osbourne family hosted a private funeral the following day at the family’s private family estate where Ozzy would be buried.
In 1991, after pulling over a limousine for making an illegal turn, a police officer was forced to tear up the traffic ticket. But why would he do this you may ask. Well the limo was carrying Guns N Roses frontman Axl Rose who was traveling to that nights GNR gig. Rose threatened to cancel the show if the ticket was warranted.
And finally in 2016, Jack White’s Third Man Records celebrated its 7th anniversary by launching a specially engineered turntable into space via a high-altitude balloon. Dubbed The Icarus Craft, it played the first vinyl record in space. The record? A 45-single titled A Glorious Dawn written in collaboration between composer John D. Boswell and scientist Carl Sagan.
This has been Today in Rock History! Keep on Rocking, keep on Rolling! Check back tomorrow for your next rock history lesson!
