July 15, 1998 – Aerosmith drummer Joey Kramer narrowly escapes serious injury when his Ferrari convertible catches on fire at a gas station.  He is admitted to the hospital with second-degree burns on his arms and hands.  The Ferrari is destroyed. Classic Rock Birthdays July 15, 1956 – Joe Satriani, guitar (Satriani, Chickenfoot, G3) July 15, 1966 – Jason Bonham, drums (Bonham, Sammy Hagar and The Circle) July … Continue reading CDJ Today: July 15 in Classic Rock →

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 … Continue reading CDJ Today: July 6 in Classic Rock →

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 … Continue reading CDJ Today: July 2 in Classic Rock →

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, … Continue reading CDJ Today: July 1 in Classic Rock →

May 11, 1974 – Led Zeppelin attend an Elvis Presley concert in LA and spend over two hours backstage after the show with Elvis.  We’d like a transcript of that conversation! May 11, 1995 – Five guitar heroes honor Stevie Ray Vaughan in a tribute concert in Austin, TX.  Eric Clapton, Buddy Guy, B.B. King, Robert Cray and Stevie’s brother … Continue reading CDJ Today: May 11 →

April 22, 1976 – Dan Aykroyd and John Belushi debut their Blues Brothers act on Saturday Night Live.  They play a cover of “Soul Man” by Sam & Dave, who they used as the basis for their characters. April 22, 1993 – The Who’s Tommy premieres on Broadway where it is performed 899 times until it closes in June of 1995. April … Continue reading CDJ Today: April 22 →

A singer-songwriter, photographer and documentarian as well as son of John Lennon, Julian Lennon appears on TODAY about his new interactive children’s book Touch The Earth, as well as the legacy of his father and the Beatles. via TODAY Touch The Earth by Julian Lennon is available on Amazon. A portion of the proceeds from … Continue reading Julian Lennon on His New Children’s Book and His Father’s Legacy →

April 1, 1985 – David Lee Roth officially leaves Van Halen to start a solo career. Roth later reconsiders and joins Van Halen briefly in 1996 and in 2000, before re-joining permanently in 2006. April 1, 2008 – Scott Weiland officially leaves Velvet Revolver. April 1, 1970  – The Woodstock movie premieres in Hollywood; it eventually grosses $50 million in the United States. April 1, 1976 – Pink Floyd guitarist David … Continue reading CDJ Today: April 1 →

March 20, 1969 – John Lennon marries Yoko Ono at the British Consulate Office in Gibraltar. Lennon said at the time, “We chose Gibraltar because it is quiet, British and friendly. We tried everywhere else first. I set out to get married on the car ferry and we would have arrived in France married, but they wouldn’t … Continue reading CDJ Today: March 20 →

March 16, 1992 – A Metallica show at the Orlando Arena goes horribly wrong when fans dangle an usher by his ankles from the balcony.  Luckily, he was pulled to safety. The band paid $38,000 to repair and clean damaged seats after the rowdy concert. But, everyone ended up happy (well, maybe not the dangling usher) when it was revealed … Continue reading CDJ Today: March 16 →