Today in Headbanger History

July 10, 2012 – Slash gets his star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in front of the Hard Rock Cafe. Ex-bandmates Duff McKagan, Gilby Clark and Steven Adler are in attendance.  Charlie Sheen is the master of ceremonies and quips, “It seems quite fitting that Slash is getting a star on the very street Axl Rose […]

July 9, 1995 – Jerry Garcia performs his last concert with the Grateful Dead at Chicago’s Soldier Field.  At the time, no one knew this would be Garcia’s last show, even Garcia himself.  Although he’d been clean for several years, Garcia had returned to using drugs to ease some physical ailments.  He died exactly one month later at […]

July 8, 1958 – The first Gold record album certified by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is awarded to the soundtrack Oklahoma.  At the time, a Gold record represented one million records sold.  It now represents sales of 500,000 copies. July 8, 2000 – Janick Gers of Iron Maiden falls headfirst off the stage during their encore at a […]

July 7, 1980 – Led Zeppelin play their last show with the four original members in  West Berlin. They close the set with a 17-minute version of “Whole Lotta Love.”  Unofficially, the band labeled it the “Cut The Waffle” tour. July 7, 1968 – The Yardbirds disband after a gig in Luton, England. Jimmy Page, with outstanding touring obligations for the Yardbirds, assembles […]

July 6, 1957 – John Lennon and Paul McCartney meet for the first time at The Woolton Church Parish Fete where The Quarry Men (featuring Lennon) were appearing.  McCartney impresses Lennon by playing Eddie Cochran’s “Twenty Flight Rock” and “Be-Bop-A-Lula” from Gene Vincent.  He also shows Lennon how to tune his guitar, something he’d been paying someone else to […]

July 5, 1968 – Creedence Clearwater Revival release their self-titled debut album. It goes on to sell one million copies in the U.S. July 5, 1995 – More than 100 Grateful Dead fans are injured, some seriously, at a Missouri campground when a balcony they crowded onto to escape the rain collapses, police say. More than 4,000 Deadheads […]

July 4, 1982 – Ozzy Osbourne marries Sharon Arden, the daughter of music business manager Don Arden. July 4, 1973 – Slade drummer Don Powell is badly injured in a car crash in which his fiancé is killed. He breaks both of his ankles and five of his ribs and is unconscious for six days after surgeons drill into his skull to […]

July 3, 1988 – The final Texxas Jam takes place at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas – it is now called the “Monsters of Rock.” The headliners are Van Halen, the Scorpions, Dokken, Metallica and Kingdom Come.  During Van Halen’s set, Sammy Hagar loses his voice and promises the crowd Van Halen will play a free concert in Dallas […]