Born James Newell Osterberg, Jr on April 24, 1947, the young Iggy Pop grew up in humble Michigan surroundings. With an English teacher for a father and a traditional homemaking mother, Osterberg's future as a wild, stage-performing musician is almost surprising. Beginning his musical endeavours as a drummer for a band called the Iguanas, Osterberg eventually left his home state to go explore the … [Read more...]

Before Soundgarden became the band known today, singer and drummer Chris Cornell, and bassist Hiro Yamamoto were part of an early-80's band known as the Shemps. After Yamamoto left the group, his replacement, bassist and guitarist Kim Thayil took over and the foundation for Soundgarden was laid. In 1984, following the breakup of The Shemps, Cornell, Yamamoto, and Thayil joined forces and assumed … [Read more...]

The band Malice formed in Crawley, West Sussex, England in 1976. The group consisted of lead guitarist Marc Ceccango, bassist Michael Dempsey, guitarist Robert Smith and two of their fellow classmates. When Marc Ceccango exited the band in January of 1977, they became known as the Easy Cure. Soon drummer Lol Tolhurst and lead guitarist Porl Thompson joined and after going through a few vocalists, … [Read more...]

To understand the history of Foo Fighters, it is necessary to go back to the days when Nirvana was still in full swing. The tale about how a drummer for one rock legend became the singer, guitarist, and frontman of another legend is one worth telling. In the early 90's, while on the road as Nirvana's drummer, Foo Fighter frontman Dave Grohl would bring along his guitar and compose songs, which he … [Read more...]

Drummer John Hartman met singer/guitarist Tom Johnston in 1969 in California. They started a band named Pud, which would include various members, and began to play in and around San Jose. The duo teamed up with bassist Dave Shogren and singer/guitarist Patrick Simmons in 1970 and soon changed their band’s name to The Doobie Brothers. The band played throughout Northern California and landed a … [Read more...]

Jerry Lee Lewis was born on September 29th, 1935 in Ferriday, Louisiana. Inspired by his cousins, Jerry learned the piano as a young boy. After developing his skills over the years, the barely-teenaged Jerry made his debut at 14, performing the song “Drinking Wine Spo-Dee- O-Dee,” at a local Ford dealership on November 19th, 1949. By the time Jerry was 15, he had been expelled from the … [Read more...]

When friends Ronnie Van Zant, Gary Rossington and Allen Collins came together to form a band in Jacksonville, Florida in 1964 they couldn’t have possibly known they were laying the foundation for what would become one of the most successful southern rock bands of all time. The next year Larry Junstrom and Bob Burns joined and the group played shows throughout Florida and its neighboring states. In … [Read more...]

The band Tangerine Puppets was started in Queens, New York City, by schoolmates John Cummings and Thomas Erdelyi in 1966. The guys soon met German transplant Douglas Colvin as well as Jeffery Hyman. Colvin and Cummings had started to play together and recruited Hyman in 1974. Colvin became the band’s bassist and started going by the name Dee Dee Ramone. “Ramone” was a reference to the name “Paul … [Read more...]

Levon Helm, Robbie Robertson, Rick Danko, Richard Manuel and Garth Hudson came together to form The Hawks, which was a backing band for Toronto-based singer Ronnie Hawkins. After refining their skills while playing with Hawkins, the guys decided they wanted more. They parted ways with Hawkins and started recording and touring on their own. Unfortunately, without the focal point that they had with … [Read more...]

Born on May 9, 1949, William Martin (more commonly known as Billy) Joel has grown over the years to become famous not only for his rock music, but for his pop, jazz, and classical compositions as well. His father being a pianist himself, Joel learned to play piano at a young age and as a result, chose to pursue a career in music rather than finish high school. Beginning with a group called The … [Read more...]