Today in Rock History – August 30

Are you ready to learn some stuff? It’s August 30th and here’s what happened Today in Rock History!

Starting off with releases, we got A Beautiful Lie from Thirty Seconds to Mars in 2005, Danzig’s self-titled debut record in 1988 and The Breeders’ Last Splash in 1993!

And after 13 years since their previous release, Tool gave us Fear Inoculum in 2019

Its Lars Fredericksen of Rancid’s birthday!

In 1995, a day after his 53rd birthday, Sterling Morrison of The Velvet Underground died of non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. A year later the band would pay tribute to Morrison at that year’s Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony

In 1976, The Notting Hill riots took place at the Notting Hill Carnival as black youth clashed with police. The event inspired members of The Clash (who were present at the riots) to write their song White Riot, which called for white people to protest with the same uproar.

In 1992, Nirvana played what would be their final show in the UK, headlining at that year’s Reading Festival. The show would become one of their most famous, which began with Kurt Cobain being pushed onto stage in a wheelchair as a joke about the speculations about his mental health.

22 years prior, Jimi Hendrix ALSO played his final show in the UK at 1970’s Isle of Wight Festival. The show was plagued with tech issues, like Hendrix’s amp picking up security radio signals.

And finally in 1969, a small band from Birmingham called Earth announced their new name at a show after playing four of their songs: The Wizard, Warning, N.I.B., and Black Sabbath. If you haven’t guessed already, Earth became forever known as Black Sabbath.

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