Historic events this week from Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, Mick Ronson and Poison
APRIL 29, 1993: MICK RONSON DIES
Mick Ronson is best known as Bowie’s guitarist for The Man Who Sold the World, Hunky Dory, The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars, Aladdin Sane and Pin Ups.
A sought after session/touring guitarist, Ronson contributed production, guitar and string arrangements to Lou Reed’s Transformer, as well as guitar/vocals on Mellencamp’s #1 hit, “Jack & Diane.”
After his health began failing in the late 80s, he was diagnosed with liver cancer. He died in April 1993 at age 46.
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MAY 1, 1976: LED ZEPPELIN’S PRESENCE IS #1
Led Zeppelin’s penultimate album, Presence, spent two weeks at #1 despite not having a charting single in the US.
They were unable to tour for the album because singer Robert Plant was recovering from a car accident. Plant recorded all of his vocals for Presence while seated in a wheelchair.
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MAY 2, 1995: THE WALL GOES DIAMOND
Pink Floyd’s epic rock opera, The Wall, spent 15 straight week’s at #1. Helped along by the hits “Another Brick in the Wall, Part 2” and “Comfortably Numb”, the album quickly went Gold.
In May 1995, The Wall was certified Diamond with over 10 million sold in the US. With each new generation discovering the album, it has sold over 23 million copies in the US alone.
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MAY 3, 1988: POISON’S OPEN UP AND SAY… AHH!
Poison’s sophomore album, Open Up and Say…Ahh!, remains the glam metal band’s biggest album. The album went 5x Platinum thanks to the hits “Your Mama Don’t Dance”, “Nothin’ But a Good Time” and the #1 single “Every Rose Has Its Thorn.”
