Today in Rock History – 5th SEPTEMBER:

BIRTHDAYS
1945: Al Stewart
1946: Farrokh Bulsara a.k.a. Freddie Mercury
1946: Buddy Miles (Band of Gypsys)
1946: Loudon Wainwright III
1947: Mel Collins (King Crimson) Mel has also recorded or toured with Chris Squire, Uriah Heep, Alan Parsons Project, Alexis Korner, Alvin Lee, Bad Company, Snafu, Humble Pie, Phil Manzanera, Bryan Ferry, Eric Clapton, Small Faces, Camel, Joan Armatrading, The Rolling Stones, Roger Chapman, Gerry Rafferty, The Byron Band, Marianne Faithfull, Caravan, Dire Straits, Tears for Fears, 10cc, Roger Waters, Richard Wright and many more!
1949: David “Clem” Clempson (Colosseum / Humble Pie / Rough Diamond)
1956: Roine Stolt (Kaipa / Transatlantic / The Flower Kings / Agents of Mercy / Anderson/Stolt / The Sea Within)
1968: Brad Wilk (Rage Against The Machine)
1969: Dweezil Zappa

Happy 55th Birthday to Dweezil Zappa, who is brilliantly keeping his father, Frank’s legacy alive. I saw his concert in Auckland in 2018 ~ it’s astounding how well Dweez plays the Zappa material live and is an exceptional guitarist!

EVENTS
1969: The Stooges made their New York debut at The Pavilion supporting MC5.
1976: Lynyrd Skynyrd guitarist Gary Rossington was seriously injured in a car crash in Florida.
1987: Ian Astbury of The Cult was arrested & jailed, after a riot at their show in Vancouver.
1990: B.B. King received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
1990: Death of drummer, Charlie Charles of The Blockheads.
2017: Death of multi-instrumenalist musician, Holger Czukay of Can (aged 79).
2024: Death of drummer, Johnnie Bolin of Black Oak Arkansas & Tommy Bolin Band (aged 70). Johnnie was principal of Tommy Bolin Archives, overseeing all the posthumous releases of his brother Tommy’s recordings. His son, Bobby will continue this work.
2024: Death of bassist, Brian “Herbie” Flowers (aged 86). He was a member of the bands Blue Mink, Rumplestiltskin, CCS, T. Rex, The Daisies & Sky, as well as working on sessions. Herbie played on over 500 hit recordings by David Bowie (‘Space Oddity’ & ‘Diamond Dogs’ albums), Elton John (‘Tumbleweed Connection’ & ‘Madman Across the Water’), Marc Bolan, Camel, Roy Harper, David Essex (“Rock On”), Al Kooper, Bryan Ferry, Harry Nilsson, Cat Stevens, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, Ringo Starr, Jeff Wayne (‘The War of the Worlds’) and many more. He also played bass on Lou Reed’s ‘Transformer’, featuring his best known performance, “Walk on the Wild Side”.

Freddie would have been 78 today! Freddie Mercury of Queen, that is. As a musician / songwriter, he was fantastic… as a singer, easily amongst the best ever… as a showman, he was unsurpassable!