Are you ready to learn some stuff? It’s May 7th and here’s what happened Today in Rock History!
Starting off big, as it was on this day in 2016 that Axl Rose, after finishing a tour with Guns N Roses, took over as the interim lead singer of AC/DC at a show in Lisbon. This was due to singer Brian Johnson being told by doctors that if he continued touring, he would get permanent hearing loss. Rose filled in for Johnson for the remaining dates of AC/DC’s current tour.
Moving onto releases now, we have The Great Southern Trendkill from Pantera and Trouble at the Henhouse from The Tragically Hip in 1996, as well as The Golden Age of Grotesque from Marilyn Manson in 2003!
We got a laundry list of birthdays to get through so let’s start off with Phil “Wizzö” Campbell of Motorhead!
We also have Jerry Nolan of the New York Dolls, Bill Kruetzmann of the Grateful Dead and Steve Diggle of the Buzzcocks
We aren’t done yet as we also have Paul Leary of the Butthole Surfers, Bernie Marsden of Whitesnake, and Matt Helders of the Arctic Monkeys!
We lost record producer Steve Albini in 2024 from a heart attack and Nigel Preston of The Cult of a drug overdose in 1992.
In 1992, John Frusciante quit the Red Hot Chili Peppers during the Japan leg of their Blood Sugar Sex Magik tour. After a stint in rehab in 1998 and getting clean of his drug addiction, Frusciante rejoined the band in 2009.
Eagles classic Hotel California topped the Hot 100 in 1977.
And speaking of the Eagles, in 1978 the band played a game of softball against members of Rolling Stone magazine after RS claimed that the band are “more interested in finding a softball team they can beat.” The band beat the magazine’s team 15-8.
In 1974, Led Zeppelin launched their label Swan Song. To celebrate, the band held a party at the Four Seasons in NYC. In attendance that night included the band, their manager Peter Grant and multiple signees like the supergroup Bad Company!
In 1968, while on a plane ride home from his final gig with the band Bluesology, keyboardist Reginald Dwight tries to come up with a stage name that he could use for his solo career. He would find the group’s horn player Elton Dean and lead singer Long John Baldry to ask if he could use their names to create a new one. They agreed. Dwight would soon become Elton John.
In 1994, Jello Biafra, lead singer of punk group Dead Kennedys, was injured during a Fixtures show in a club in Berkeley, CA. As an audience member in the pit, a mosher landed on Biafra’s leg and started a fight with the rocker. According to Jello, the mosher and his friends kicked him in the head and called Biafra a “sellout rock star.”
In 1998, Steve Perry left Journey. This would honor an agreement made with other members Neal Schon and Jonathan Cain that allowed them to continue as a band without Perry. And no, I’m not gonna make the Separate Ways joke…. but I will play the song!
And finally in 2005, System of a Down performed on Saturday Night Live. During their performance of protest rager B.Y.O.B., the network had their finger on the button and used a five second delay anytime the band dropped the F-Bomb. They were banned soon after one unprompted F-bomb got through the censor and the video of the performance seems to have disappeared from official SNL outlets, becoming a bit of lost media.
This has been Today in Rock History! Keep on Rocking, keep on Rolling! Check back tomorrow for your next rock history lesson!
