50 Fun Facts About Hard Rock

Whose death in September 1980 led Led Zeppelin to disband?

Drummer John Bonham died on 25 September 1980 after a day of heavy drinking; the band announced that December that it could not continue without him.

Malcolm and Angus Young took the name AC/DC from a label their sister Margaret spotted on what?

Margaret Young saw the letters AC/DC on the back of her sewing machine, and her brothers Malcolm and Angus adopted them as the band's name in 1973.

'Smoke on the Water' describes a 1971 fire at the Montreux Casino during a concert by which artist?

Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention were playing the Montreux Casino on 4 December 1971 when a fan's flare gun set the rattan ceiling alight; Deep Purple watched the smoke spread over Lake Geneva.

Van Halen's touring contract famously demanded a bowl of M&M's backstage with which colour removed?

The clause was a canary in the coal mine: if the brown ones were there, the crew knew the venue had not read the technical rider properly.

Which 1987 album is the best-selling debut album of all time in the United States?

Appetite for Destruction, Guns N' Roses' 1987 debut, is certified 18-times platinum by the RIAA, more than any other debut album in US history.

Aerosmith's 'Walk This Way' was reborn in 1986 as a collaboration with which hip hop group?

Run-DMC's remake, with Steven Tyler and Joe Perry on vocals and guitar, reached number four on the Hot 100, higher than Aerosmith's original.

In what year did Kiss first perform without their trademark makeup, kicking off their 'unmasked' era?

Kiss unveiled their bare faces on MTV on 18 September 1983 to launch the album 'Lick It Up'; the makeup returned when the original line-up reunited in 1996.

Brian May's homemade Red Special guitar has a neck carved from wood salvaged from what?

May built it with his father Harold as a teenager, which is why the guitar is nicknamed 'the Fireplace'.

Def Leppard drummer Rick Allen lost his left arm in a crash on New Year's Eve of which year?

Allen's Corvette crashed on the A57 near Sheffield on 31 December 1984; he returned with a custom kit whose foot pedals trigger the parts he once played with his left arm.

Which ZZ Top member is famously the only one without the band's trademark facial hair?

Drummer Frank Beard is the one clean-shaven member, while Billy Gibbons and Dusty Hill grew the chest-length beards that became the band's trademark in the late 1970s.

Ozzy Osbourne bit the head off a bat he thought was rubber during a 1982 show in which city?

He was treated with rabies shots afterwards.

Alice Cooper's 1969 'Chicken Incident' happened at a rock revival concert in which city?

At the Toronto Rock and Roll Revival on 13 September 1969 Cooper tossed a live chicken into the crowd, assuming it could fly; the audience tore it apart.

The Scorpions' 'Wind of Change' famously opens with singer Klaus Meine doing what?

Meine and Rudolf Schenker own the 'Wind of Change' trademark.

Why did Mick Jones name his band Foreigner?

Jones chose Foreigner because three members were British and three American, so in either country half the band would be foreigners; the first choice, Trigger, was already taken.

Who played nearly every instrument on the 1995 debut Foo Fighters album?

Dave Grohl recorded the album almost single-handedly in a week at Robert Lang Studios in October 1994, with only one guest guitar part, and used a band name so it would not be taken as a solo record.

Pearl Jam's debut album Ten is named after the jersey number of which basketball player?

The band first performed as Mookie Blaylock, after the New Jersey Nets guard, and when trademark concerns forced a new name they kept his jersey number, 10, as the album title.

Soundgarden took their name from what in Seattle?

A Sound Garden stands on NOAA property beside Magnuson Park.

Nirvana's Nevermind hit number one on the Billboard 200 in January 1992 by knocking off which album?

Nevermind replaced Michael Jackson's Dangerous at number one on the Billboard 200 dated 11 January 1992, a symbolic handover that put grunge on top of the charts.

Which 1966 London trio is widely regarded as rock's first supergroup?

Cream united Eric Clapton (Yardbirds, Bluesbreakers), Jack Bruce and Ginger Baker (Graham Bond Organisation) in 1966, each already a name in his own right.

Guns N' Roses' Chinese Democracy took more than a decade to make, with reported costs of over how much?

The New York Times dubbed it 'the most expensive recording never made' three years before it finally appeared in 2008.

Which AC/DC album, released five months after Bon Scott's death, introduced singer Brian Johnson?

Back in Black was Brian Johnson's first as singer, and Scott's name deliberately does not appear in the writing credits; it has sold an estimated 50 million copies.

Bon Scott's final AC/DC album, Highway to Hell, was the first of three the band made with which producer?

Robert 'Mutt' Lange produced Highway to Hell (1979), Back in Black (1980) and For Those About to Rock (1981); Scott died on 19 February 1980, less than a year after the first.

Def Leppard's Hysteria (1987) spawned how many hit singles?

All seven singles from Hysteria charted, from 'Women' to 'Rocket', with 'Love Bites' reaching number one in the US; Rick Allen picked the title to describe the media frenzy after his crash.

Bad Company was formed in 1973 by Paul Rodgers and Simon Kirke, both formerly of which band?

Rodgers and Kirke had sung and drummed in Free ('All Right Now') before forming Bad Company with Mick Ralphs and Boz Burrell; the new band signed to Led Zeppelin's Swan Song label.

Journey hired which singer in October 1977, beginning the run that produced 'Don't Stop Believin''?

Steve Perry made his live debut with the band at the Old Waldorf that same month, October 1977.

Which two sisters have been the only constant members of Heart?

Ann and Nancy Wilson have fronted Heart since the mid-1970s; Ann wrote 'Barracuda' in fury after a record promoter implied the sisters were lovers.

Audioslave paired Chris Cornell with the instrumentalists of which band?

Tom Morello, Tim Commerford and Brad Wilk of Rage Against the Machine carried on with Chris Cornell after Zack de la Rocha quit in October 2000; producer Rick Rubin suggested the pairing.

Velvet Revolver joined three Guns N' Roses alumni with the singer of which band?

Scott Weiland of Stone Temple Pilots fronted Velvet Revolver from 2003 until he was fired in April 2008, after which he rejoined his old band.

Josh Homme founded Queens of the Stone Age after the break-up of which desert-rock band?

Kyuss split in 1995, and Homme took the new name from a nickname producer Chris Goss had given Kyuss: 'Queens of the Stone Age'.

Which band did the 1975 Guinness Book list as 'the globe's loudest' after a 1972 Rainbow Theatre gig?

Three audience members reportedly passed out from the volume.

Boston's Tom Scholz built his first basement studio while working for which company after MIT?

Scholz was a product design engineer at Polaroid when he built the basement studio where he cut the demos that became 'More Than a Feeling' and 'Peace of Mind'.

Which drummer and lyricist completed Rush's classic power-trio line-up in July 1974?

Neil Peart replaced John Rutsey on 29 July 1974, two weeks before Rush's first US tour, and went on to write nearly all of the band's lyrics.

Who was Thin Lizzy's bassist, singer and chief songwriter for their whole career?

Phil Lynott fronted Thin Lizzy on bass and vocals from 1969 until the band split in 1983, writing or co-writing nearly every song on its twelve studio albums.

Which Whitesnake single reached number one on the US Hot 100 in 1987?

The re-recorded 'Here I Go Again' topped the Hot 100 in October 1987, five years after Whitesnake first cut it for Saints & Sinners; 'Is This Love' stalled at number two.

Dee Snider testified before the Senate about explicit lyrics in 1985 alongside which folk singer?

John Denver, Frank Zappa and Dee Snider all testified at the 19 September 1985 Senate hearing on the PMRC's proposed warning labels; Twisted Sister's 'We're Not Gonna Take It' was among the songs cited.

Queen's 'Bohemian Rhapsody' climbed to a new US peak of number two in 1992 thanks to which film?

Wayne's World lifted the song past its original 1976 US peak of number nine; in the UK it was Christmas number one twice with the same recording, in 1975 and 1991.

Which 1970 concert album, recorded on a university campus, cemented The Who's reputation on stage?

A gig at Hull the next night was also taped, but technical problems meant Leeds was released.

Which Van Halen album was the first to feature Sammy Hagar on vocals?

5150, released in March 1986 and named after the band's studio, was Van Halen's first album with Sammy Hagar and its first to top the Billboard 200.

Aerosmith's first Hot 100 number one, 'I Don't Want to Miss a Thing', came from which 1998 film?

Diane Warren wrote the ballad for Armageddon, the 1998 asteroid film starring Steven Tyler's daughter Liv; it gave Aerosmith its only Hot 100 number one.

Led Zeppelin's fourth album carried no title on its cover. What appeared instead?

Four hand-drawn symbols, one chosen by each band member, stood in for a title; Page's is usually read as 'ZoSo'.

Mötley Crüe's metal umlauts were reportedly inspired by what the band members were drinking?

The band were drinking Löwenbräu when they settled on the name, and the beer's umlaut inspired the dots on Mötley Crüe.

Living Colour's 'Cult of Personality' won which Grammy Award in 1990?

Best Hard Rock Performance went to the song Living Colour is best known for, even though the band scored several other hits.

Wolfmother, whose 'Woman' won a Grammy in 2007, come from which Australian city?

Their first show under the name was at a Sydney pub in April 2004.

Greta Van Fleet, the band Robert Plant called 'Led Zeppelin I', formed in 2012 in which Michigan town?

The band formed in Frankenmuth, Michigan, in 2012 and twisted its name from Gretna Van Fleet, a local resident who gave her blessing.

Which White Album track was an attempt to out-noise The Who and is often cited as proto-metal?

McCartney wrote 'Helter Skelter' after reading Pete Townshend boast about The Who's loudest, dirtiest record yet; the track ends with Ringo's shout of 'I've got blisters on my fingers!'

Which 1964 British Invasion single by the Kinks is regularly cited as an early form of hard rock?

'You Really Got Me' topped the UK chart in September 1964 on Dave Davies' distorted riff, produced by slashing the speaker cone of his little Elpico amplifier with a razor blade.

At the 1967 Monterey Pop Festival, Jimi Hendrix ended his set by doing what to his guitar?

Setting it on fire produced one of rock's most famous images: photographer Ed Caraeff's shot of Hendrix kneeling before the burning guitar, hands raised.

What is Kiss's official fan club, founded by Terre Haute, Indiana fans in 1975, called?

The Kiss Army began in Terre Haute, Indiana, when fans lobbied a local radio station to play the band; membership was in the six figures.

Blue Cheer's crude, distorted 1968 cover of 'Summertime Blues' came from which debut album?

Vincebus Eruptum, Blue Cheer's January 1968 debut, opens with the San Francisco trio's brutal take on Eddie Cochran's 'Summertime Blues', often cited as a blueprint for heavy metal.

Which 1970 album, Deep Purple's fourth and distinctly heavier than its predecessors, was the band's commercial breakthrough?

In Rock arrived the same year as Black Sabbath's Paranoid, another record seen as pivotal for heavy metal; Deep Purple had begun as a progressive rock group in 1968.