July 25, 1980 – AC/DC release Back In Black, their first album with lead singer Brian Johnson.  The album sells over 50 million copies worldwide, making it the second highest-selling album of all time (Thriller is #1), and the best-selling hard rock or heavy metal album. Watch Kids React to AC/DC > July 25, 1999 – Woodstock closes out its 3-day festival … Continue reading CDJ Today: July 25 in Classic Rock →

July 9, 1995 – Jerry Garcia performs his last concert with the Grateful Dead at Chicago’s Soldier Field.  At the time, no one knew this would be Garcia’s last show, even Garcia himself.  Although he’d been clean for several years, Garcia had returned to using drugs to ease some physical ailments.  He died exactly one month later at … Continue reading CDJ Today: July 9 in Classic Rock →

June 6, 1981 – The first issue of heavy metal magazine Kerrang is published as a special pull-out by UK weekly music paper Sounds.  AC/DC is on the front cover and there are features on Motörhead, Girlschool and Saxon. June 6, 2004 – Metallica play a rare gig at the Download Festival in England’s Donington Park without drummer Lars Ulrich, who is … Continue reading CDJ Today: June 6 in Classic Rock →

April 8, 1998 –  Mötley Crüe drummer Tommy Lee is sentenced to at least six months in County Jail after pleading no contest to a felony charge of beating his wife, actress Pamela Anderson Lee. He was released after 90 days for good behavior. Concurrently, he completed a 30-day sentence for beating a security guard at a Crüe concert … Continue reading CDJ Today: April 8 in Classic Rock →

March 31, 2015 – Van Halen releases their first-ever live album to feature original singer David Lee Roth. Recorded on June 21, 2013 at the famed Tokyo Dome in Tokyo, Japan, TOKYO DOME LIVE IN CONCERT includes 23 songs, spanning all seven of the band’s albums with Roth. March 31, 1992 – Def Leppard releases Adrenalize, their first album after the death of … Continue reading CDJ Today: March 31 in Classic Rock →

March 17, 1998 – Van Halen release Van Halen III, their eleventh studio album.  It is the only album with former Extreme lead singer Gary Cherone, and the only album to not attain platinum status. March 17, 1985 – Serial killer Richard Ramirez kills a man and leaves an AC/DC hat behind at the crime scene. Ramirez becomes known as … Continue reading CDJ Today: March 17 in Classic Rock →

March 10, 2003 – AC/DC are inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame by Aerosmith‘s Steven Tyler.  The band went on to play “Highway To Hell” and then performed “You Shook Me All Night Long” with Tyler. [watch below] March 10, 1984 – Ian Gillan leaves Black Sabbath after a year with the band. He later says, … Continue reading CDJ Today: March 10 in Classic Rock →

February 19, 1982 – Ozzy Osbourne is arrested in San Antonio for urinating on the Alamo Cenotaph, a 60-foot high statue erected in 1939 to honor the 189 Texans who died there. The Cenotaph is adjacent to the mission, in the Alamo Plaza.  At the time of his arrest, Osbourne is wearing Sharon’s dress. February 19, 1995 – Tommy Lee of … Continue reading CDJ Today: February 19 in Classic Rock →

February 17, 1975 – AC/DC release their debut album High Voltage. The album, released only in Australia, was re-released internationally with a new cover and track listing. February 17, 1989 – David Coverdale marries actress Tawny Kitaen, star of 5 Whitesnake videos including “Here I Go Again,” “Is This Love” and “Still of the Night.”  The couple divorce in 1991. … Continue reading CDJ Today: February 17 in Classic Rock →

February 15, 2006 – KNAC, 105.5 FM, the legendary Los Angeles, California heavy metal radio station, goes off the air and is replaced by a Spanish station. James Hatfield and Lars Ulrich from Metallica are there to play the last song, “Fade To Black,” which was one of the first songs played when the station signed on in 1986. … Continue reading CDJ Today: February 15 in Classic Rock →