Rock and Metal History, a day like today February 23
1944: Johnny Winter of the Edgar Winter Group was born in Beaumont, Texas; died July 16, 2014 in Zurich, Switzerland.
1948: Steven Priest, founding member and bassist of Sweet, was born in Hayes, Middlesex, England.
1952: Brad Whitford, rhythm guitarist of Aerosmith, was born in Winchester, Massachusetts.
1962: Michael Wilton, elite guitarist of Queensryche, was born in San Francisco, California.
1967: Chris Vrenna, drummer of Nine Inch Nails, Grammy award-winning producer and engineer who worked with U2, the Smashing Pumpkins, David Bowie, and more, was born in Erie, Pennsylvania.
1970: The Doors' Morrison Hotel is certified as the band's fifth consecutive Gold album.
1979: Dire Straits began their first U.S./Canada tour in Boston.
1980: A new rock group first appeared on the charts, although most of us wouldn't get to know them until later. Survivor debuted with their first single--"Somewhere In America".
1995: Melvin Franklin of the Temptations died of heart failure at the age of 52 in Los Angeles.
1998: The Metallica single "The Unforgiven II" was released.
2003: Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers bass player Howie Epstein dies at age 47 after a long battle with drug addiction.
2005: Angel of Retribution was released.It is the fifteenth studio album by British heavy metal band Judas Priest.It is the band's first album since 1990's Painkiller to feature Rob Halford.
2006: The surviving members of Alice in Chains announced they would reform for a series of concerts.
2011: The Foo Fighters released "Rope," the first single off their new album,Wasting Light.
2015: The expanded reissue of Led Zeppelin's album "Physical Graffiti" was released in the U.K.
