Who Was Making Rock History On This Day?

1966 - Pink Floyd

Pink Floyd (who were paid £15 for the gig), The Move, Denny Laine, Soft Machine, Yoko Ono and a West Indian steel band all appeared at the launch for the International Times (which became the first and longest running British hippy paper), at London’s Roundhouse. Beatle Paul McCartney attended the event in Arabian dress. The flyers for the evening stated: ‘Bring your own poison, bring flowers & gass (sic), filled balloons’. Admission was 10 shillings (50p) on the door.

1973 - Keith Richards

Keith Richards was found guilty of trafficking cannabis by a Court in Nice, France. The Rolling Stone was given a one-year suspended sentence and a 5,000 franc fine. He was also banned from entering France for two years.

1988 - Bon Jovi

Bon Jovi started a four-week run at No.1 on the US album chart with their fourth release, ‘New Jersey.’ The album produced five Billboard Hot 100 Top 10 singles, the most top ten hits to date for a hard rock album.

1996 - Motley Crue

Motley Crue drummer Tommy Lee was charged with assault for attacking a cameraman who was trying to take pictures of Lee and his wife Pamela Anderson Lee outside an L.A. club. After pleading no contest, Lee was sentenced to four months in prison.

2000 - Radiohead

Radiohead went to No.1 on the US album chart with ‘Kid A’, the group’s fourth album became the first Radiohead release to debut at No.1 in the US.

2000 - U2

U2 went to No.1 on the UK singles chart with ‘Beautiful Day’, the group’s fourth UK No.1 single and taken from their album ‘All That You Can’t Leave Behind’.

2008 - Jon Bon Jovi

Jon Bon Jovi became the latest musician to disapprove of the use of his songs in John McCain’s US presidential campaign. The Bon Jovi song, ‘Who Says You Can’t Go Home’, was used during rallies held by Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin. Foo Fighters, Heart and Jackson Browne had all asked Mr McCain to stop using their tracks in his presidential bid. Bon Jovi, a Democrat supporter, threw a $30,000 (£17,000) per person, fund-raising dinner for Democratic candidate Barack Obama at his New Jersey home in September.

2014 - U2

U2 frontman Bono said he was sorry after their latest album was automatically added to the libraries of all iTunes users around the world, saying the move was a “drop of megalomania, a touch of generosity”. iTunes users complained that the 11-track Songs of Innocence had been added to their music library without permission and that it was not clear how to delete it.

2021 - Elton John

Elton John achieved his first UK No.1 single in sixteen years when his collaboration with Dua Lipa, ‘Cold Heart (Pnau remix)’, rose to the top of the UK Singles Chart during its fifth week in the top-ten.