Rock and Metal History, a day like today March 2
1942: Lou Reed, songwriter, lead singer and lead guitarist of Velvet Underground and a solo performer ("Take A Walk On The Wild Side", was born in Brooklyn, New York; died October 27, 2013 in Southampton, New York of an illness related to a liver transplant.
1948: Rory Gallagher, elite guitarist with the group Taste and a solo performer, was born in Ballyshannon, County Donegal, Ireland; died June 14, 1995 in London from complications of a liver transplant that led to a staph infection.
1956: Mark Evans, bassist of AC/DC from 1975-1977, was born in Melbourne, Australia.
1962: Jon Bon Jovi, founder and lead singer of the group Bon Jovi and a solo performer, was born in Perth Amboy, New Jersey.
1964: "Twist and Shout" by the Beatles was released in the U.S.
1974: Planet Waves by Bob Dylan & the Band remained #1 on the Album chart for the third week.
1977: Chris Martin, songwriter, pianist, guitarist and vocalist of the acclaimed group Coldplay, was born in Exeter, Devon, England.
1978: A new group appeared on the Irish television show Youngline, broadcast on RTÉ. They were then known as the Hype, today as U2.
1981: Styx released the single "Too Much Time On My Hands".
1983: Sony, Philips and Polygram introduce a revolutionary new digital audio system called a Compact Disc, that contains up to 1 hour of uninterrupted music.
1999: We lost the great Dusty Springfield to cancer at age 59. She died in Henley-on-Thames, England.
2004: Metallica began a 137-day tour of North America with a show at the America West Arena in Phoenix, Arizona.
2007: Jimi Hendrix was crowned the 'wildest guitar hero' of all-time in a poll of music fans for Classic Rock magazine. Hendrix beat Keith Richards into second place, with Stevie Ray Vaughan in third. Led Zeppelin's Jimmy Page made it to number four, followed by Dimebag Darrell, who played for several heavy metal bands including Pantera and Damageplan.
2008: Canadian guitarist, singer, Jeff Healey, died of cancer. Healey lost his sight to retinoblastoma, a rare cancer of the eyes when he was 8 months old, resulting in his eyes being surgically removed. After living cancer-free for 38 years, he developed sarcoma in his legs. Despite surgery for this, the sarcoma spread to his lungs and ultimately was the cause of his death. Healey released over 12 albums, presented a long running radio show and worked with many artists incuding; Stevie Ray Vaughan, Buddy Guy, B.B. King, ZZ Top & Eric Clapton.
