Today in Rock History – May 15

Are you ready to learn some stuff? It’s May 15th and here’s what happened Today in Rock History!

We’ve got a lot of heavy hitters when it comes to releases today! Starting off we have Minutes to Midnight from Linkin Park!

In 2001, we got both Lateralus from Tool and the Green Album by Weezer!

We also got Sky Blue Sky from Wilco, Rize of the Fenix by Tenacious D, I Should Coco from Supergrass, and 21st Century Breakdown from Green Day!

Moving onto birthdays now, we have Tom Chapman of New Order, Brad Shultz of Cage the Elephant and Zoltan Bathory of Five Finger Death Punch

In 1997, Oasis (along with Sony Music), became the first musicians to attempt censorship over the Internet. The band tried to stop unofficial websites from carrying lyrics, sound files, and photos of the band. That CLEARLY worked as there are tons of these still on the internet to this day.

In 2022, The Who played their first show in Cincinnati, Ohio since the tragic December 1979 stampede that killed 11 concert goers.

In 1981, John Lydon, aka Johnny Rotten of the Sex Pistols, performed with his Public Image Ltd at New York’s Ritz Club. Well they didn’t ACTUALLY perform as the band just posed behind a video screen with their music being played from tapes. The audience, justifiably, booed the band and pelted the stage with various objects. Since I couldn’t find video of the ordeal, here’s what it most likely looked like:

And finally in 1995, Stone Temple Pilots frontman Scott Weiland is arrested on possession charges outside a motel in Pasadena, CA. Police found heroin and cocaine on Weiland and this would be the first of many high-profile drug arrests for the singer.

This has been Today in Rock History! Keep on Rocking, keep on Rolling! Check back tomorrow for your next rock history lesson!