Are you ready to learn some stuff? It’s June 16th and here’s what happened Today in Rock History!
Starting off with releases, we got Woodstock from Portugal. The Man in 2017 and David Bowie’s legendary album The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spider from Mars in 1972.
We lost Kristen Pfaff of Hole in 1994 of a heroin overdose and James Honeyman-Scott of The Pretenders in 1982 of heart failure from cocaine use.
In 2013, Black Sabbath created a new UK chart record for the longest gap between No.1 albums with their 19th studio album 13. Their last number one record released 42 years prior with their second album Paranoid.
During a Blink-182 concert in Los Angeles in 2023, Kourtney Kardashian announced to husband Travis Barker that she is pregnant by holding up a sign that reads “Travis I’m Pregnant” ala the band’s All the Small Things music video. And that’s gonna be the only time I’m talking about a Kardashian with this blog. EVER
The first day of the Monterey Pop Festival began in 1967. Held in California, the festival was considered the starting point for the “Summer of Love” movement. Monterey had all proceeds go to charity as all artists agreed to play it for free. The festival was also the first major US appearances by The Who and Jimi Hendrix.
Today is also the second day of the inaugural Tibetan Freedom Concert, taking place in San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park in 1996. Drawing over 100,000 fans, the festival featured a who’s who of 90s rock icons like the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Smashing Pumpkins and Rage Against the Machine
And finally in 2010, Metallica, Megadeth, Slayer and Anthrax played on the same bill together at the Sonisphere Festival in Warsaw, Poland. This would be the first time that the Big Four of thrash metal performed together. Six more super successful shows in Europe followed (their show in Bulgaria was later released), and a year later The Big Four do seven more ending in NYC on September 14th. All have not appeared on the same bill together since.
This has been Today in Rock History! Keep on Rocking, keep on Rolling! Check back tomorrow for your next rock history lesson!
