April 14, 1975 – Former Faces guitarist Ronnie Wood gets a coveted Rolling Stones gig, replacing Mick Taylor. Other rumored replacements for the position are Jimmy Page, Jeff Beck, Steve Marriott and Chris Spedding.
April 14, 2009 – George Harrison is honored posthumously with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, in front of the Capitol Records building. In attendance are his wife Olivia, son Dhani, musicians Tom Petty, Jeff Lynne and Paul McCartney, and actors Tom Hanks and Eric Idle.
April 14, 1973 – Led Zeppelin start a two-week run at #1 on the album charts with Houses of the Holy. Quick trivia – the six kids pictured on the cover are actually a collage of two child model siblings, Stefan (5) and Samantha (7) Gates. The photoshoot lasted 10 days at the Giant’s Causeway in Northern Ireland.
April 14, 1982 – Van Halen release their fifth album, Diver Down, which goes on to sell four million copies in the U.S.
April 14, 2009 – The Beatles and The Rolling Stones meet for the first time at a Stones concert in Richmond, England.
April 14, 1974 – Pete Townshend of the The Who makes his solo live debut at London’s Roundhouse. He is backed by his own prerecorded tapes.
April 14, 2018 – Dire Straits is inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, but when lead guitarist and singer Mark Knopfler and his brother and guitarist Dave Knopfler decide to skip the ceremony, nobody inducts them and the other three attending band members do not perform.
April 14, 1980 – Judas Priest release British Steel, their iconic metal album with the songs “Living After Midnight” and “Breaking the Law.”
10 Questionable Classic Rock Song Choices in TV Commercials
Classic Rock Birthdays
April 14, 1945 – Ritchie Blackmore, guitar (Deep Purple, Rainbow)
April 14, 1964 – Vinnie Moore, guitar (UFO)
April 14, 1967 – Barrett Martin, drums (Screaming Trees)
April 14, 1969 – Martyn LeNoble, bass (Porno For Pyros)
April 14, 1952 – Kenny Aaronson, bass (HSAS)
April 14, 1960 – Brian Forster, drums (Partridge Family)
Rock Remembrances
April 14, 1983 – Pete Farndon, bassist and founding member of the Pretenders, is found dead in a bathtub at his home in London from a heroin overdose. He was 30. Farndon had been fired from the Pretenders on June 14, 1982, just two days before Pretenders guitarist James Honeyman-Scott was found dead of heart failure from a cocaine overdose. At the time of his death, Farndon was in the midst of forming a new band with former Clash drummer Topper Headon called Samurai.
April 14, 1994 – Nirvana founder Kurt Cobain is cremated in Seattle. Allegedly, one third of Cobain’s ashes were scattered in Washington’s Wishkah River, one third were scattered in a Buddhist temple in New York and the rest remained with Courtney Love. In later years, it was rumored that those ashes were either a) stolen, b) stuffed inside a teddy bear, or c) partially snorted by Courtney.
April 14, 2021 – Norman “Rusty” Young, guitarist and vocalist of Poco, dies of a heart attack. He was 75. Young is best known for writing the Poco songs “Crazy Love” and “Rose of Cimarron.”
