Serious Rock History Was Made Today!!

Happy Birthday to

1953 - Alex Lifeson (Alexander Zivojinovich)

Alex Lifeson, guitarist, Rush, (1980 UK No.13 single ‘Spirit Of Radio’ 1982 US No. 21 single ‘New World Man’). Lifeson was made an Officer of the Order of Canada on May 9, 1996. The trio was the first rock band to be so honored, as a group.

On this Day!!!

1979-Neil Young: The acoustic “My My, Hey Hey (Out Of The Blue)” is released as a single. The Neil Young song is famous for the line “it’s better to burn out than to fade away.” A Rock version, titled “Hey Hey, My My (Into the Black),” is on the B-side. Both songs are on the live “Rust Never Sleeps” album.

1965-The Beatles:The Beatles meet Elvis Presley at the latter’s L.A. home. By all accounts an awkward meeting with John Lennon suggesting Elvis go back to playing Rock n’ Roll like he did in the ‘50s. Sound advice.

1967-The Beatles:The Beatles manager Brian Epstein is found dead in his locked bedroom from what is ruled as an “accidental overdose of sleeping pills.” The Beatles are with the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi when they hear the news. The Maharishi offers words of comfort dismissing the physical world as unimportant.

1989-Guns N’ Roses: Making a public disturbance, peeing on the floor, verbally abusing a flight attendant and (worst of all) smoking in a non-smoking section, gets Gun N’ Roses Izzy Stradlin arrested at the Phoenix airport. The band’s publicist dismisses the incident as just Izzy’s way of “expressing himself.” The guitarist pleads guilty a couple months later, pays a fine and gets probation.

1990-Stevie Ray Vaughn: Blues guitar great Stevie Ray Vaughn dies in a helicopter crash while on tour with Eric Clapton.

1991-Pearl Jam: Pearl Jam’s album “Ten” featuring “Even Flow” spends a total of 26 weeks on the Billboard charts.

1994-John Mellencamp: John Mellencamp and Me’Shell Ndegeocello’s remake of Van Morrison’s “Wild Night” lands at #4 on the pop chart.

1996-Pearl Jam: Pearl Jam’s “No Code” arrives. It goes straight to #1 on the Billboard 200.

2005-Stained: Staind’s five studio album, “Chapter V,” is #1 on the Billboard 200. 185,000 copies are moved in the first week. The lead single is “Right Here.”

2008-Stained: Staind’s “The Illusion Of Progress” debuts at #3 on the Billboard 200. Despite moving 92,000 copies, it’s the first of the group’s last four albums not to debut at #1.

2008-Guns N’ Roses: Welcome to the jungle. Kevin Cogill, a 27-year-old blogger, is arrested by the FBI for leaking tracks from Guns N’ Roses long-overdue “Chinese Democracy” album online. Cogill is taken into custody at his home in Culver City, CA, on “suspicion of violating federal copyright laws.”

2015-Van Halen: Van Halen’s David Lee Roth calls out a fan for throwing a beer can onstage during the band’s concert in Camden, NJ. “In a younger day, I would’ve promised I would’ve slept with his girlfriend,” says Roth. “At this point in my career, the roughest, most f***ed insult I could probably make to this guy is that I probably already have slept with his wife.”

2021 Guns N’ Roses: Guns N’ Roses play the first-ever Rock concert in Las Vegas’s Allegiant Stadium (home of the NFL’s Las Vegas Raiders). The show is part of the band’s U.S. tour.

2023-Metallica: Metallica set an attendance record for SoFi Stadium in L.A. More than 156,000 tickets are purchased for the two-concert stand during Metallica’s “M72″ world tour.