A fire that started when pyrotechnics used during Great White's set at a Warwick, Rhode Island club ignited acoustic materials near the stage on this night in 2003 claimed the lives of 99 people.  Among those unable to escape the inferno was Great White guitarist Ty Longley.

Other Noteworthy February 20 Classic Rock events include...

1946 Guitarist John 'J' Geils of the J. Geils Band born.

1950 Steely Dan’s Walter Becker born.

1951 Spirit’s Randy California born.

1960 Jimi Hendrix does his first public performance when he plays at his Seattle high school.

1967 Nirvana’s Kurt Cobain born.

1970 John Lennon releases Instant Karma as a single.

1976 Kiss members embed their footprints in sidewalk concrete outside Grauman's Chinese Theater in Hollywood.

1979 George Harrison releases self-titled album.

1982 Pat Benatar marries guitarist & producer Neil Geraldo in Hawaii.

1991 Bob Dylan given Lifetime Achievement award during the Grammys.

1993 Sting plays Saturday Night Live.

2003 Allman Brothers Reunite during memorial service for Butch Trucks at Capitol Theatre in Macon, Georgia...

A federal judge in Los Angeles convinced former Journey front man Steve Perry and a musical collaborator he was suing over release rights to some demos the two worked on to leave the court room and work out a settlement on their own Tuesday (2/18). About an hour and a half later, Perry and Phil Brown emerged from the room they hunkered down in with their lawyers and announced they had reached a settlement. As is often the case in these situations, an apparent condition of the agreement was that details would not be disclosed by either party.

MORE STEVE PERRY INSIGHTS

Eric Clapton and Roger Waters team on Sunshine of Your Love at the Apollo Hammersmith in London Monday (2/17) to launch the Ginger Baker Tribute concert.

Ozzy Osbourne's No More Tours 2 is no more. The Black Sabbath veteran announced he is scrapping the US tour to travel to Switzerland and will undergo six to eight weeks of medical treatment. Oobourne recently revealed he was diagnosed with Parkinson's Disease.Our best wishes to Ozzy as he takes on the challenges ahead.

MORE OZZY OSBOURNE INSIGHTS

Tomorrow in London, quite a lineup of musical greats will pay tribute to Ginger Baker at the Apollo Hammersmith. The concert coordinated by Baker's Cream and Blind Faith band mate Eric Clapton will include performances from the host himself with a 'house band' that includes Paul Carrack, Steve Gadd, Willie Weeks and Chris Stainton. They will be joined during the evening by Steve Winwood, Roger Waters, Ronnnie Wood, Kenny Jones and other special guests.

Four out of print pre-Allman Brothers Band member's albums will get released on CD for the first time and be available on vinyl again for the first time in decades on March 27.

Duane and Gregg Allman's 1966 recording sessions fresh out of high school as The Escorts and the Allman Joys got released in 1973 but did not generate enough sales to continue production. The 1967 and '68 releases by Hour Glass, the band the brothers formed in 1967, fared better, but still went out of print. 1968 found Duane and Gregg joining fall recording sessions for an future Allman Brothers drummer Butch Trucks' group named the 31st of February. This recording will include the earliest released version of Melissa.

MORE ALLMAN BROTHERS BAND INSIGHTS

Almost every band that emerged in the late 80's and early 90's that seemed to have the musical chops and approach to build on the foundation laid by the great classic rock bands and artists has self destructed. One of the most promising ones might make another go of it. The Black Crowes are gearing-up for a tour performing all of the songs on Shake Your Money Maker, their debut album that dropped on this day in 1990. In advance of that tour, Chris and Rich Robinson are doing a few acoustic dates. Here's Jealous Again unplugged from the other night in London.

March 27 will bring the release of a vinyl 50th anniversary Band of Gypsys album recorded when Jimi Hendrix debuted his Experience follow-up band during a two night, four concert stand at the Fill,ore East.The 180 gram audiophile release in black vinyl or a translucent, multi-color swirl version will ad six previously unreleased songs to the tracks on the original 1970 album. All copies will include an 8 page booklet of photos from the concerts and a 24x36" reproduction of the promo poster for the original lp.

MORE JIMI HENDRIX INSIGHTS

Street Survivors: The True Story of the Lynyrd Skynyrd Plane Crash will premier this week in Hollywood. The movie is drummer Artimus Pyle's account of the October, 1977 tragedy that claimed the lives of singer Ronnie Van Zant and Steve and Cassie Gaines.

The film's release was delayed by suit seeking to block it filed by the families of the band members that perished in the tragedy and Gary Rossington contending that the project violated a 1987 agreement surviving band members made against profiting from the tragedy.

Pyle stated in a press release, "This film's story - my story - is not just about the plane crash but also about my personal relationship with the genius that was Ronnie Van Zant - whom I loved like a brother and still miss to this day."

Fans wanting to see it will be able to in theaters starting on June 30th.

MORE LYNYRD SKYNYRD INSIGHTS

The Eagles launched their Hotel California tour in Atlanta Friday night (2/7) with an epic performance of the entire 1976 blockbuster album backed by an orchestra an choir and then did a second set comprised of 24 more songs, closing with an encore with Rock Mountain Way, Desperado, The Long Run and the Hotel California (Reprise). The band's 22 concert US tour includes two concerts in almost all cities, with 3 nights at Madison Square Garden and in Dallas. Two Wembley Stadium concerts in London are planned for late August.

Warren Haynes rolls out the lineup for Mountain Jam. The annual festival he helps stage ran its first several years at Hunter Mountain, a ski area just west of the Hudson Valley about 90 minutes north of New York City. It relocated to Bethel Woods, the amphitheater adjacent to the original Woodstock festival last year.

Fans of early Pink Floyd albums can listen forward to a 22 song live CD/DVD and BLU-ray collection featuring founding Floyd drummer Nick Mason's Saucerful of Secrets band recorded and filmed during May, 2019 concerts. This preview looks and sounds solid to us.?

Tesla will release a live session album recorded during a performance at Abbey Road Studios in London in June, 2019. The March 27 drop will include vinyl and CD editions. A Blu-ray will also be made available.

The Last Time isn't just a Rolling Stones song, it's the possibility that drives ticket sales for the band. The group has confirmed a 15 concert North American tour tour that opens on May 8 in San Diego and includes shows in Vancouver (May 12), Minneapolis (May 16), Nashville (May 20), Austin (May 24, Dallas (May 29), Buffalo (June 6), Detroit (June 10), Louisville (June 14), Cleveland (June 19), Pittsburgh (June 23), St. Louis (June 27), Charlotte (July 1), Tampa (July 5), and Atlanta (July 9).
A 36 hour registered band fan pre-sale opens at 10am February 12. Open purchase starts at 10am on 2/14 through rollingstones.com.
The 45 concerts the band has done since 2017 have drawn more than 2 million fans and grossed close to a half a billion dollars, making it particularly apt that the tour sponsor is a financial services firm.

James Hetfield's first public event since his stint in rehab came at an event showcasing several of his cars and included this chat.

It's no surprise the Play it Loud! exhibit of instruments now on display at the Rock Hall of Fame has more guitars in it than anything else. What is amazing is that it includes so many iconic ones... guitars you'll recognize long before you're close enough to read the accompanying information card that tells about the axe and the role it played in Rock history.

One that even casual fans will recognize from distance at first glance is the battered Fender with a Telecaster body and an Esquire neck Bruce Springsteen had riding his back as he leaned into Clarence Clemons on the cover of Born To Run. Bruce considered the instrument an extension of himself, saying it was so integral to him that he didn't even feel like he had it strapped to him, which he regularly did through four decades of recording and touring.

In addition to appearing on the cover of Bruce's 1975 breakthrough album, it was in the cover shots for Live 1975-85, Human Touch and Wrecking Ball albums.

The 1953/54 guitar Bruce bought for $185 in 1973 no longer accompanies him on the road. It's been retired out of concern that it has withstood so much that continuing to travel and perform with it would do it in. The good news is that means fans can see the a guitar that millions could only admire from a great distance and on album covers very, very close, and near the sax Clarence blew some of his most electrifying solos with.

How long will it be before Lindsey Buckingham returns to Fleetwood Mac? Forever, evidently. Founding drummer and band's namesake Mick Fleetwood was asked whether the door might open for a reunion with Buckingham in the future during a recent interview with Rolling Stone magazine. he replied, "No. Fleetwood Mac is a strange creature. We're very, very committed to Neil (Finn) and Mike (Campbell, and that passed away a time ago, when Lindsey left. And that's not a point of conversation, so I have to say no."?

MORE FLEETWOOD MAC INSIGHTS

Billy Joel welcomed Jon Bon Jovi to the stage during the Piano Man's most recent monthly appearance at Madison Square Garden over the weekend.

Like many, we take issue with many of the nominee and induction selections of the Rock Hall of Fame. Too many deserving of induction artists have been neglected and too many out of genre ones  with little to no relevance to Rock have been enshrined.  That said, the museum itself is remarkable, and the current special exhibit Play It Loud! is amazing to behold. By all means, catch it in person if you can. In case you can't, we'll share some of the instruments and equipment featured in the exhibit in the coming weeks.

Mick Jagger plays a conniving art dealer in The Burnt Orange Heresy, a film that also stars Donald Sutherland, Elizabeth Debicki and Claes Bang. The move is due in theaters on March 6th. Here's a preview...

Aerosmith was honored at  the annual pre-Grammy MusiCares award presentation last night in LA.  The band was joined on stage by Alice Cooper and Johnny Depp, members of the Hollywood Vampires, the side group Joe Perry formed a few years ago. Others on the scene to perform and schmooze included Sammy Hagar and the Foo Fighters. Not in the perfroming lineup but there to accept the honor with his band mates was drummer Joey Kramer, who failed in a legal filing to prevent the group from replacing him with another drummer for the event last night and the group's Grammy Awards performance on Sunday.

MORE AEROSMITH INSIGHTS

Neil Young became a U.S. citizen, taking the oath Wednesday (1/22) after a lengthy delay in securing dual citizen status over his past use of marijuana. Young, who became America based more than 50 years ago, sealed the deal at the LA Convention Center with his wife, actress Daryl Hannah, at his side and waved small US and Canadian flags as he sang "I'm proud to be a Canarican".

MORE NEIL YOUNG INSIGHTS

Joey Kramer drummed out of Grammy's performance. Aerosmith's drummer has lost the lawsuit he filed in an effort to secure his place behind the band when it performs during the Grammy Awards show and the MusiCares Person of the Year ceremony the night before. A court ruled that his filing was unlikely to prove that the defendants had breached "...the covenant of good faith and fair dealing".

Kramer issued a response to the decision to CNN reading, "I knew filing a lawsuit was a bit of an uphill battle considering that the corporate documents don't reference any process for a band member returning from an injury or illness." He said he will respect the band's decision and the ruling of the court, but voiced disappointment that the group gave him so little advance notice and added, "I can hold my head high knowing that I did the right thing - to fight for my right to celebrate the band's success that I have dedicated the better part of my life to helping build."

MORE AEROSMITH INSIGHTS

Joey Kramer drummed out of Grammy's performance. Aerosmith's drummer has lost the lawsuit he filed in an effort to secure his place behind the band when it performs during the Grammy Awards show and the MusiCares Person of the Year ceremony the night before. A court ruled that his filing was unlikely to prove that the defendants had breached "...the covenant of good faith and fair dealing".

Kramer issued a response to the decision to CNN reading, "I knew filing a lawsuit was a bit of an uphill battle considering that the corporate documents don't reference any process for a band member returning from an injury or illness." He said he will respect the band's decision and the ruling of the court, but voiced disappointment that the group gave him so little advance notice and added, "I can hold my head high knowing that I did the right thing - to fight for my right to celebrate the band's success that I have dedicated the better part of my life to helping build."

MORE AEROSMITH INSIGHTS

The Allman Brothers Band has put together a 50th Anniversary box set configured in 5 CD or 10 lp versions that will also include the most recent lineup's final concert together at the Beacon Theatre in 2014. Here is a preview of the set due out February 28, an early demo of Trouble No More.

Drummer Joey Kramer has filed a lawsuit over Aerosmith's decision to have another drummer behind the kit when the band performs during the Grammys ceremony. Kramer has been dealing with some injuries that resulted in the group relying on the drum tech to fill-in for him during some dates during the group's Las Vegas residency, but Kramer claims he is ready, able and willing to play the Grammy event but was notified by the band that the decision had been made to sideline him.. Responding to Kramer's suit, Steven Tyler released a statement that read, "Joey Kramer is our brother; his wellbeing is of paramount importance to us. however he has not been emotionally and physically able to perform with the band, by his own admission, for the last 6 months. We have missed him and have encouraged him to rejoin us to play many times but apparently he has not been ready to do so.

MORE AEROSMITH INSIGHTS

The CD of this June, 2019 career spanning concert came out last November. On January 24th, it becomes available on DVD and vinyl.

After Tom Petty's death, Heartbreakers guitarist Mike Campbell accepted an invite to join Fleetwood Mac. Now, Campbell has another project; a new group he's put together called The Dirty Knobs.  Here's a preview from the album the band hass slated for a March 20 release.

Pearl Jam is set to release it first full studio album in 7 years. Gigatron is set for a March 27 release. The 11th studio recording by the group has been a long time coming. Mike McCready calls the project "...an exciting and experimental road map to musical redemption" for his band.

MORE PEARL JAM INSIGHTS