The guy Jon Bon Jovi tagged "The Voice" was born on this day in 1949 in Hanford, California. Stephen Ray Perry's father co-owned a radio station there and it's said the future front man of Journey was inspired to be a singer the instant he heard Sam Cooke's song Cupid on the radio. He was in a few bands starting in his early 20's, including Pieces, a group with Tim Bogert, bassist in the band Cactus and with the post Jeff beck Group Beck, Bogert & (Carmine) Appice. That was followed by time in a band known as Alien Project. A demo of one of that group's songs reached Journey manager Herbie Herbert, who was looking for a lead singer more suited to the direction he had in mind for the Bay Area band than Robert Fleishman, the lead singer at the time. Herbert kept his plan under the radar by adding Perry as a roadie and then having Steve do a song with the band during a sound check while Fleishman was out of the concert hall before a Long Beach show. Hearing Perry that night was like Perry hearing Sam Cooke to the other members of Journey. Fleishman was out, Perry was in and Journey was on its way to becoming one of the biggest bands in America.

Robert Weston Smith, the radio DJ known as Wolfman Jack, was born on this day in 1938. His raspy voice, howls and irreverent asides as he intro and outro songs on XERF, a 250,000 watt radio station in Ciudad Acuna, Mexico that blasted its signal across a large portion of the United States, made him a radio legend. He would later relocate to XERB, a 50,000 watt station in Southern California and then Minneapolis, but he continued recording shows for the Mexican station that operated at 5x the power output US stations were permitted to transmit at.
On January 21 in 1968, Jimi Hendrix cut what many consider the best cover song ever recorded, his version of Dylan's All Along The Watchtower. The session included Brian Jones of the Rolling Stones and Traffic's Dave Mason on guitar, and Jimi played bass as well as lead guitar on the track.
Soul man Jackie Wilson had a heart attack while performing in New Jersey on this day in 1984. He went into a coma and passed away eight years later.
Aerosmith's Joe Perry received the Les Paul Award today in 2017.

A pair of impressive albums had their debut on this day in 1975 and '78.  Blood On The Tracks, widely considered one of Bob Dylan's best, and the breakout album Infinity from Journey.  Dylan had started recording his 15th album in New York City in the fall.Unsatisfied with the sound of several of the songs, he delayed its release and went to a Minneapolis studio to re-record half the songs on it.  Journey's 1978 release on this date was the album that introduced Steve Perry.  The group's three previous releases had established a fair sized fan base.  Infinity, produced by Roy Thomas Baker, became one of the year's biggest albums in a year an amazing number of great lps came out.
Meet The Beatles got its US release on this day in 1964. The Grateful Dead's Jerry Garcia released his self-titled sol debut on this day in 1972, and Jimmy Buffett shipped out Changes in Latitudes, Changes in Attitudes on 1/20/1977 and Def Leppard unleashed Pyromania on this date in 1983.
Rockers born on January 20 include Eric Stewart of 10cc(1945)and Judas Priest's Ian Hill and Paul Stanley of KISS, both in 1952.
And January 20th in 1982, Ozzy Osbourne chomped the head off a bat on stage at the Iowa Veterans Auditorium in Des Moines and spent the evening in the Broadlawns Medical Center after getting rabies shots.

Janis Lyn Joplin was born on this day in Port Arthur, Texas in 1943. A combination of alcohol and heroin would cut her career and life short in October, 1970. Pearl, just her 4th album, would be released posthumously just before what would have been her 28th birthday in 1971. Though tragic, her early death was not all together shocking given her hard, fast lifestyle and frequent periods of heavy drug and alcohol abuse. 
The death of another Rocker born on January 19th (1949) did come as a shock. The always sharp dressed and clean cut singer Robert Palmer died after suffering a heart attack at 54 in a Paris hotel room in September, 2003.
Musicians lost on this day include pioneering Rocker Carl Perkins (1998) and the legendary Wilson Pickett (2006).
On 1/19/1993, a reunited Fleetwood Mac performed at Bill Clinton's inauguration. Aerosmith's Steven Tyler took a seat as a judge on this night in 2011 on the opening show of the 10th season of American Idol.

Recording sessions for Dark Side Of The Moon began on this day in 1973. The album would get its release on March 1. On February 18 of that year, the Rolling Stones did a benefit concert in LA to raise money to provide relief to Nicaraguans suffering from a devastating earthquake that struck near the country's capital on 12/23/1972. Bad Company formed on this day in 1974, Paul Rogers & Simon Kirk coming from Free, Mick Ralph from Mott The Hoople and Boz Burrell from King Crimson. Warren Zevon's Excitable Boy album dropped on this day in 1978, and Bryan Adams' Cuts Like A Knife in '83. The Rolling Stones, Stevie Wonder and Otis Redding were inducted into the Rock Hall Of Fame on 1/18/1998. And Glenn Frey of the Eagles died on this day in 2016 from pneumonia and complications relating to other ailments.

January 16 has been an unlucky day for Paul McCartney. On This day in 1980, he was arrested at the Tokyo airport when customs inspectors found 8oz of marijuana. Four years later on 1/16, Paul and wife Linda were both placed under arrest in Barbados on drug charges.
Liverpool's Cavern Club, scene of many early Beatles club shows, opened on this date in 1957. Gregg Allman and Cher's marriage officially ended on this date in 1979. Mistaking it for a smuggler's airplane, Jamaican police fired on Jimmy Buffett's sea plane when Jimmy and Bono took off from Montego Bay on 1/16/1996, and the Rolling Stones played Madison Square Garden for the first time in 20 years on this night in 1998.

You may not recognize the name, but if you love Classic Rock you've certainly heard her sing. Clydie King, a backing vocalist featured on a slew of amazing songs, passed away on January 7th due to complications related to dialysis. 
Credited as 'Brown Sugar' on some recordings, King's superb voice is heard on albums by the Rolling Stones (Exile on Main Street), Humble Pie (Eat It), Steely Dan (Can't Buy A Thrill, The Royal Scam, Aja), Bob Dylan (Saved, Shot Of Love, infidels), Linda Ronstadt (Heart Like A Wheel, Don't Cry Now), Joe Walsh (The Smoker You Are, The Player You Get), Joe Cocker (Mad Dogs and Englishmen, Lynyrd Skynyrd (Pronounced 'Leh-nerd-Skin-erd), Elton John (Caribou), Ray Charles, BB King, and many others. She also released four solo albums.

Ronald Wayne Van Zant was born on this day in Jacksonville, Florida in 1948. He and other classmates formed the band that would become Lynyrd Skynyrd when Ronnie was 16. Van Zant and other long-term members Gary Rossington and Allen Collins eventually chose to name the group after a gym teacher who ragged on students with long hair, Leonard Skinner.
Another musician with Van in his birth name was born on 1/15 - Don Van Vliet. Better known as Captain Beefheart, he was a regular musical cohort of Frank Zappa. Martha Davis of the Motels was born on 1/15 in 1951.
The Rolling Stones appeared on the Ed Sullivan Show on this night in 1967, an appearance that almost was cancelled until Mick Jagger agreed to change "night" to "time" when the band did Let's Spend The Night Together.
Scorpions released Love Drive on this date in 1979. Jimi Hendrix was inducted into the rock Hall of Fame by Neil Young on this day in 1992. Harry Nilsson died of a heart attack in 1994.

Who planning new album and symphony backed tour. Pete Townshend tells Rolling Stone that him agreeing to a 2019 Who tour hinged on the band recording a new album.Promising that the concerts will be "as fresh and powerful as ever", the guitarist also indirectly acknowledged he's aware that the overwhelming majority of fans will buy tickets to hear the classics, saying his ultimatum to agreeing to tour on that condition is, "...about my pride, my sense of self-worth and self-dignity as a writer."
Plans call fro almost 30 North American dates, a dozen in the east in the spring, the remainder in the mid and western cities in the fall. All dates are expected to feature the band backed by local symphony orchestras. The band has ruled out an appearance at a Woodstock reunion concert.

MORE WHO INSIGHTS

Rush opened their 80's on this date with the release of the Canadian trio's 7th studio album, which featured Spirit of Radio, Freewill, Jacob's Ladder, Entre Nous, Different Strings and the 9+ minute, three part Natural Science. David Bowie put out his Low album on 1/14/1977, and Springsteen's High Hopes album got released on thsi day in 2014.
Musicians of note born on this day include Allen Toussaint (1938), T-Bone Burnett (1947), Geoff Tate of Queensryche (1959), guitar great Zakk Wylde (1967) and Nirvana, Foo Fighters veteran Dave Grohl.
In the getting together and falling apart department, John Mellencamp filed for divorce from his wife of 20 years, Elaine, on this day in 2011. The following year on this day, Pink Floyd's Roger Waters got married for the 4th time.

Expect an up-tic in Canadian/US border crossings closest to Cleveland on Saturday, January 19. Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson will spend that day attending a series of events at the Rock hall Of Fame. At noon, Lee will discuss his bass collection with Lifeson on the main stage at the Hall and follow it with a book signing of copies of his book, Geddy Lee's Big Beautiful Book Of Bass. The 2013 induction or Rush into the Hall will also be screened during the day, and fans will get to examine an assortment of Geddy's favorite instruments up close. It ain't cheap to attend. Rock Hall members will get to participate for about $130. Non member admission runs around $150 - but copies of Lee's book, which is quite large and beautiful and retails for $75 are included and will be signed by the Rush member that day.

MORE RUSH INSIGHTS

Led Zeppelin's debut album was released on this day in 1969, leading to January 13 of that year being a very big day for the sale of replacement speaker systems.

Plenty of deserving Rockers were inducted into the Rock Hall Of fame over the years on January 12. The include the Doors, Cream, Van Morrison and Sly & The Family Stone in 1992, Led Zeppelin, Neil Young, the Allman Brothers Band, Janis Joplin and Frank Zappa in 1995 and Fleetwood Mac, the Eagles and Santana in 1998.

Clarence Clemons, The Big Man of the E Street Band, was born on this day in 1942 in what is now Chesapeake, Maryland. Were it not for being in a car accident the day before a scheduled tryout, Clemons might have ended up a lineman in the NFL. 
In September, 1971 legend has it, Clemons, was playing sax in a band named the Joyful Noyze at the Wonder Bar in Asbury Park, During a between sets break, Clarence walked to a nearby club where Bruce Springsteen was booked, introduced himself and proposed doing a song with Bruce and his band. They started with an early version of Spirit In The Night on stage at The Student Prince. By the time the song was done, each of them was convinced Clemons belonged in Bruce's band.
Keyboard player Tony Kaye, who had stints in Yes and Badfinger, was born 1/11/1946. On this day in 1985, the first Rock In Rio festival opened. Over its 10 days, AC/DC, Queen, Yes, Rod Stewart, George Benson and James Taylor would headline nights. Ted Nugent got arrested for shooting a flaming arrow during his 1993 concert in Cincinnati. And the Rolling Stones concert scheduled for Montreal was cancelled when an ice storm tore open the roof of Olympic Stadium on this day in 1998.

Roderick David Stewart was born on this day in 1945. Rod recently released his 30th solo album and while Classic Rock fans most appreciate him for then he was belting out great tunes on his early albums and while a member of the Faces and Jeff Beck Group, he still has one of the most distinctive voices of his generation.

Other births of note on 1/10 include Ronnie Hawkins (1935), drummer Aynsley Dunbar of Journey & Whitesnake (1946, Jim Croce (1947), Steely Dan's Donald Fagen (1948) and Pat Benatar (1952).

The Stones recorded Not Fade Away on this day in 1964. Blues legend Howlin' Wolf died on 1/10/1976, and David Bowie passed away three years ago today.

James Patrick Page was born on this day in 1944 in west London. The future Led Zeppelin guitarist was inspired by recordings he heard out of Memphis,Chicago and other US cities steeped in R&B and Blues.
Another whose name is linked to guitar greatness was born on 1/9 was Les Paul (1919). Dave Matthew arrived on this date in 1967. Van Halen greeted the New Year with the album named for it - 1984, and
Rush released A Show Of Hands on 1/9/1989.