Are you ready to learn some stuff? It’s April 11th and here’s what happened Today in Rock History!
Starting it off as always with releases, and we’ve got three biggies in the metal space: 1995’s Astro-Creep: 2000 by White Zombie, CCR’s Mardi Gras in 1972, Deja Vu from CSNY in 1970, Iron Maiden’s Seventh Son of a Seventh Son in 1988 and British Steel from Judas Priest released in 1980!
Moving onto birthdays, we have: Nigel Pulsford of Bush, Tom Thacker of Sum 41, Chris Gaylor of The All-American Rejects, Dylan Keefe of Marcy Playground, and Oliver Riedel of Rammstein
In 1981, Eddie Van Halen gets married to actress Valerie Bertinelli, star of Indianapolis-set sitcom One Day at a Time. They met eight months earlier at a Van Halen show Bertinelli’s brother took her to in Shreveport, LA. Their marriage lasted until 2007. They would have one son together, Wolfgang.
And keeping that love train going, in 2002, Pam Anderson and Kid Rock get engaged in the Las Vegas desert.
In 1983, Dave Mustaine was kicked out of Metallica due to his addictions. Mustaine would go on to found one of the eras’ most successful metal bands: Megadeth
We lost J. Geils of The J. Geils Band in 2017 at the age of 71
In 1977, Alice Cooper played a gig in Sydney, Australia. The show had an audience of 40,000 people, the largest crowd for a rock concert in the country’s history at that point. After the show, however, things got interesting as Cooper was placed under house arrest in his hotel until he posted bond for almost $60,000. The amount was the sum that a promoter claimed to have paid Alice for a 1975 tour that he never made. After finding out the promoter didn’t fulfill his end of the agreement either, the two settled.
And finally in 1992, Pearl Jam appeared as the musical guests on an episode of Saturday Night Live, hosted by Sharon Stone. During Stone’s opening monologue, she recreates her famous scene from Basic Instinct, that cuts away to dumbstruck onlookers, including Pearl Jam.
This has been Today in Rock History! Keep on Rocking, keep on Rolling! Check back tomorrow for your next rock history lesson!
