Today in Rock History – 8th MAY:

BIRTHDAYS
1911: Robert Johnson
1943: Paul Samwell-Smith (The Yardbirds)
1944: William Fifield a.k.a. Bill Legend (T. Rex)
1945: Keith Jarrett
1951: Chris Frantz (Talking Heads / Tom Tom Club / Gorillaz)
1951: Philip Bailey (Earth Wind & Fire)
1953: Alex Van Halen (Van Halen)

1953: Billy Burnette (Fleetwood Mac)
1971: Candice Night (Blackmore’s Night)
1976: Martha Wainwright
1977: Joe Bonamassa

EVENTS
1974: Rick Wakeman quit Yes.
1974: Death of British blues keyboard player, Graham Bond [aged 36].
1976: BBC Radio 1 DJ, Johnnie Walker quit the station, after being told he must pretend to like The Bay City Rollers.
1982: Death of Casablanca Records boss, Neil Bogart [aged 39].
1993: Mark Knopfler received an honorary music doctorate from the University of Newcastle.
1993: Aerosmith entered the US album chart at No.1 with ‘Get a Grip’, a No.2 hit in the UK.
2019: IRIS released her third single, “Dead to You”.
2024: Death of drummer, Dennis Thompson, of MC5 [aged 75].
2024: Death of drummer, John Barbata, of The Turtles, CSN&Y, Jefferson Airplane & Starship [aged 79].

Legendary blues guitarist / singer / songwriter, Robert Johnson was born on this day in 1911! He died at 27 and only had 29 known recordings (available across two LPs). His music wasn’t widely played during his lifetime, and few facts are known about his life. Yet he’s now regarded as the greatest bluesman of all time!

Happy Birthday to Alex Van Halen, who is 71 today! You can hear how good he is on this classic Van Halen song, from their ‘1984’ LP.