Happy birthday to one of the most distinctive guitarists in Rock. Dire Straits co-founding brother Mark Knopfler was born on this day in 1949 in Glasgow, Scotland.
Other Noteworthy Classic Rock events on August 12 include...
1964 Beatles A Hard Days Night opens in US.
1966 Beatles open last US tour, Chicago.
1967 Fleetwood Mac does first concert set during Windsor Jazz & Blues Fest in Windsor, UK.
1968 Led Zeppelin members play together for first time.
1969 Blind Faith makes US concert debut at Madison Square Garden.
1970 Janis Joplin does her last concert at Harvard Stadium in Cambridge, MA.
Neil Young, the Eagles and Joni Mitchell appear on the same night at the Corral Club in Topanga Canyon, California.
1985 Neil Young releases Old Ways.
1989 Ozzy Osbourne, Bon Jovi, Scorpions, Skid Row and Motley Crue play Moscow Peace Festival.
1991 Metallica releases Metallica (The Black Album).
1994 Woodstock '94 opens in Saugerties, NY.
1995 Golden Gaate Park hosts a public wake for Jerry Garcia.
1996 Alex Van Halen's wife, Kelly, files for divorce after 12 years of marriage.
2000 Wind gusts topple ten tons of equipment on stage during .38 Special's Mancos, California concert. The band escapes uninjured.
2009 Guitar legend Les Paul dies of pneumonia in White Plains, New York.
2010 Little Feat drummer Richie Hayward dies of liver disease.
2011 John and Elaine Irwin granted divorce ending 18 year marriage.
2015 Billy Joel becomes a father again at 66...
