April 25, 1980 – Black Sabbath release their ninth studio album, Heaven and Hell. It’s the first Sabbath album to feature Ronnie James Dio as lead singer, who replaced Ozzy Osbourne. The album goes on to reach platinum status in the U.S.
April 25, 1988 – Doc McGhee, manager of Bon Jovi and Mötley Crüe, pleads guilty to importing more than 40,000 lbs of marijuana into the U.S from Colombia via a shrimp boat. McGhee receives a five-year suspended prison sentence, a fine of $15,000, and is ordered to set up an anti-drug foundation. He gives back to the community by organizing the Moscow Music Peace Festival, an all-star hard rock event dedicated to promoting world peace and helping curb illegal drug use in the Soviet Union. Ironically, several of the headliners at the time were heavy drug users, including Ozzy Osbourne, Skid Row and Mötley Crüe.
April 25, 2004 – Billy Joel crashes his 1967 Citroen into an empty house in Bayville, NY and cuts his hand. It was Joel’s third car accident in two years. No one was seriously injured.
April 25, 1994 – Adam Horovitz of the Beastie Boys is sentenced to 200 hours of community service for attacking a TV cameraman during the memorial services for actor River Phoenix.
20 Facts You Might Not Know About Black Sabbath
Classic Rock Birthdays
April 25, 1958 – Fish (born Derek William Dick), vocals (Marillion)
April 25, 1945 – Stu Cook, bass (Creedence Clearwater Revival)
April 25, 1918 – Ella Fitzgerald, jazz vocalist (d. 1996)
April 25, 1923 – Albert King (born Albert King Nelson), guitar, vocals (d. 1992)
April 25, 1960 – Paul Baloff, vocals (Exodus) (d. 2002)
April 25, 1955 – David Sikes, bass, vocals (Boston, Giuffria)
April 25, 1965 – Eric Avery, bass (Jane’s Addiction)
April 25, 1950 – Steve Ferrone, drums (Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, Average White Band)
April 25, 1933 – Jerry Leiber, songwriter, producer (Leiber and Stoller) (d. 2011)
Rock Remembrances
April 25, 1974 – Pamela Courson, the long-time girlfriend of the late Jim Morrison, dies of a heroin overdose in Los Angeles. She was 27. Courson had found Morrison dead on July 3, 1971 in the bathtub of their apartment in Paris, France. After Morrison’s death and a legal battle, she inherited all proceeds from his estate. Upon her death, her parents and Morrison’s parents agreed to equally divide the earnings from Morrison’s estate.
April 25, 2007 – Bobby “Boris” Pickett dies of leukemia in Los Angeles. He was 69. Pickett became famous with the 1962 Halloween anthem “The Monster Mash.”
