July 2, 2005 – Live 8 is a string of concerts in 10 cities taking place in the G8 states and in South Africa. The concerts also coincide with the 20th anniversary of Live Aid. A TV audience of several hundred million watches the shows which include Pink Floyd, The Who, Deep Purple, Mötley Crüe, U2, Coldplay, Sting, Elton John, Paul […]
Today in Headbanger History
Today in Headbanger History – July 1, 2019
July 1, 1983 – Bon Jovi signs with Mercury Records, and goes on to sell over 130 million records worldwide. Initially, they had considered calling themselves “Johnny Electric.” July 1, 1978 – The very first Texxas Jam takes place at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas, Texas, with Aerosmith, Van Halen, Journey, Ted Nugent, Frank Marino and Mahogany Rush, Heart, Head East, Eddie Money, […]
Today in Headbanger History – June 30, 2019
June 30, 1977 – Kiss’ first full-color comic is released by Marvel Comics and has a vial of their blood mixed into the ink. It’s the beginning of Kiss becoming a one billion dollar licensing brand. June 30, 1994 – Stone Gossard and Jeff Ament of Pearl Jam testify before a House of Representatives subcommittee claiming Ticketmaster has a monopoly. The federal investigation was […]
Today in Headbanger History – June 29, 2019
June 29, 2000 – Vandals break into tombs containing the remains of Lynyrd Skynyrd singer Ronnie Van Zant and guitarist Steve Gaines. Van Zant’s casket had been removed from its tomb but did not appear to have been opened. A plastic bag containing Gaines’ ashes had been removed from a metal urn and had been torn, but only a tiny fraction was spilled. […]
Today in Headbanger History – June 28, 2019
June 28, 1984 – Bruce Springsteen shoots his “Dancing In The Dark” video in front of 200 extras at the St. Paul Civic center. Courtney Cox, later of “Friends” fame, plays the front row fan who gets to dance on stage with Bruce. The single (propelled by massive MTV airplay) sells over 1 million copies and also garners Springsteen […]
Today in Headbanger History – June 27, 2019
June 27, 1994 – Aerosmith become the first major band to release a song, “Head First” (an unused cut from the Get A Grip Sessions), as a free download on the internet. Download speeds at the time were so slow it took between 60 and 90 minutes to download the track, but ten thousand CompuServe subscribers still […]
Today in Headbanger History – June 26, 2019
June 26, 1996 – Van Halen announce that Sammy Hagar is leaving the band and that David Lee Roth will again become the lead singer. Hagar reunites with the Van Halen brothers for a 2004 tour that is quite successful, but once again, the two factions split. June 26, 1973 – Keith Richards and his girlfriend Anita Pallenberg are arrested on drug and gun […]
Today in Headbanger History – June 25, 2019
June 25, 2010 – Rush receive their star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in front of the Musicians Institute. They are inducted by Smashing Pumpkins singer Billy Corgan and Donna Halper, a former music director at Cleveland’s WMMS-FM who was among the first to champion the band on their debut album. June 25, 2004 – After a final encore of “Ziggy […]