Are you ready to learn some stuff? It’s February 21st and here’s what happened Today in Rock History!
Starting it off with birthdays we have: Record Producer David Geffen, Jerry Harrison of the Talking Heads, Vince Welnick of the Grateful Dead, Randy Blythe of Lamb of God and Eric Wilson of Sublime!
Now things are gonna get wild! In 1977, KISS get their blood drawn backstage at a show at Nassau Coliseum. Why is that important, you may be asking? Well, that blood would later be mixed with the ink used to print the first KISS comic book that June.
In 2000, the Foo Fighters canceled a tour of South America to play The Late Show with David Letterman for his first show back from heart surgery. The song they chose:
In 2012, members of the Russian feminist punk group, Pussy Riot staged a surprise protest performance at Moscow’s Cathedral of Christ the Savior. The band said the protest was directed at the church leader’s support of Putin during his election campaign. They even turned their performance into a music video titled Punk Prayer – Mother of God, Chase Putin Away! The following month, three of the band members were arrested and charged with hooliganism. They were held in custody until July and each were sentenced to two years in prison.
Speaking of prison, in 2008, a computer expert working for a US National Security lab in New Mexico was sent to jail for two years for electronically stalking Chester Bennington. The stalker said she was able to obtain family photos, accessing Bennington’s email and voicemails and even threatened his wife Talinda.
In 1984, Rolling Stones bassist Bill Wyman meets his future wife Mandy Smith at the Lyceum in London. The only issue is is that Wyman was 47 and Smith was just 13. They married five years later when Mandy turned 18. Yikes. Definitely gives this song a new meaning
And finally in 2020, the final rock radio station serving Boston, WAAF, changes formats to a Christian contemporary format called K-Love. In a jab at the new owners, the final song played in the format was…
Hell yeah
This has been Today in Rock History! Keep on Rocking, keep on Rolling! Check back tomorrow for your next rock history lesson!
