September 5, 1976 – Lynyrd Skynyrd guitarist Gary Rossington is injured in a car crash in Jacksonville, FL after he falls asleep at the wheel while under the influence of alcohol and drugs. The accident inspires Ronnie Van Zant to write “That Smell” with the lyrics, “Whiskey bottles and brand new cars, oak tree you’re in my … Continue reading CDJ Today: September 5 in Classic Rock →

August 19, 1972 – The Midnight Special TV show debuts on NBC.  The first airing is a 90-minute special encouraging young people to vote in the upcoming presidential election with War performing “Slippin’ Into Darkness.”  The next year it launches as a regular show with announcer Wolfman Jack. August 19, 2005 – A bronze statue of the late Thin Lizzy frontman Phil Lynott … Continue reading CDJ Today: August 19 in Classic Rock →

August 9, 1986 – Queen perform their final concert with Freddie Mercury at the Knebworth Park Festival in England. An audience of 120,000 sees them close out the set with “We Will Rock You”/”We Are The Champions” and “God Save The Queen.” Mercury dies in 1991 of complications related to AIDS. August 9, 2005 – Marc Cohn is shot in … Continue reading CDJ Today: August 9 in Classic Rock →

August 3, 1968 – The Newport Pop Festival begins in Costa Mesa, CA.  It is the first concert with more than 100,000 paid attendees.  Performers include The Grateful Dead, Alice Cooper, Canned Heat, Electric Flag, Iron Butterfly, Jefferson Airplane, The Byrds, Paul Butterfield Blues Band, Sonny & Cher, Steppenwolf and Tiny Tim.  Admission was $5.50 per day for the … Continue reading CDJ Today: August 3 in Classic Rock →

Since 1959, all the way back when Domenico Modugno swept the Record of the Year and Song of the Year categories with “Nel Blu Dipinto Blu (Volare)” (in Italian no less!), the Recording Academy has awarded more than 8,000 Grammy Awards to a wide variety of artists.  The Beatles were the first rock band to … Continue reading You Won’t Believe This List of Rock Artists Who Have Never Won a Grammy →

July 26, 2003 – Nicko McBrain of Iron Maiden is arrested after hitting a parking attendant with his car at the Jones Beach Theater in Wantagh, N.Y., where the band is performing that night. McBrain was asked for his backstage credentials by the parking attendant, and when the attendant couldn’t see them clearly he asked to view them again.  Instead, … Continue reading CDJ Today: July 26 in Classic Rock →

July 19, 1986 – Van Halen headline the Texxas Jam at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas, preceeded by Dio, Loverboy, Krokus, Keel and Bachman-Turner Overdrive who are joined by Leslie West on “Mississippi Queen. July 19, 1976 – Deep Purple disband at the end of their UK tour. David Coverdale goes on to form Whitesnake, and the classic line up of Blackmore, Gillan, Glover, Lord … Continue reading CDJ Today: July 19 in Classic Rock →

Roger Taylor has shared a new video to accompany his recently released solo single “Isolation”. You can watch the video in the player below. The Queen drummer released “Isolation” last month after writing and recording the tune in his garden shed during the COVID-19 lockdown. Taylor played all of the instruments on the track and … Continue reading Watch: Queen’s Roger Taylor Releases Video for New “Isolation” Single →

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 →

June 27, 1994 – Aerosmith become the first major band to release a song, “Head First” (an unused cut from the Get A Grip Sessions), as a free download on the internet.  Download speeds at the time were so slow it took between 60 and 90 minutes to download the track, but ten thousand CompuServe subscribers still … Continue reading CDJ Today: June 27 in Classic Rock →