Guitar great Joe Satriani was born on this day in Westbury, New York in 1956. Legend has it that Satriani, on learning during a high school football practice on September 18, 1970 that Jimi Hendrix had died, decided on the spot to quit the squad and take-up guitar. It proved to be a great decision not only for Joe, but also Steve Vai, Kirk Hammett and a number of other notable guitarists that would take lessons from him when he moved to northern California at the age of 22. His first west coast band experience came in a San Francisco based group named the Squares. He was briefly a late stage member of the Greg Kihn Band, and would go on to do stints in Mick Jagger's solo band and Deep Purple. Since 2008, Satriani has been with Sammy Hagar and Michael Anthony in Chickenfoot. Joe's 14 solo albums have sold more than 10 million copies, making him one of the most successful instrumental musicians of all time.
Other Noteworthy Classic Rock events on July 15 include...
1946 Linda Ronstadt born.
1948 Lynyrd Skynyrd's Artimus Pyle born.
1949 Trevor Horn of Yes born.
1952 .38 Special's Jeff Carlisi born.
1958 John Lennon's mother dies after being struck by drunk driver's car.
1973 Ray Davies announces he's retiring during the Kink's set during the Great Western Expres festival in White City, England. Soon after, he is hospitalized after downing a number of tranquilizers.
1974 Elton John signs a five album deal with MCA Records for $8 million.
1978 200,000 turn out to see Bob Dylan play at the Blackbushe Airport in England.
1980 Linda Ronstadt does her debut performance in an off-Broadway production of Pirates of Penzance
1989 Pink Floyd plays on floating stage at Canal di San Marco in Venice, Italy for more than 200,000.
1994 Phil Collins announces he will divorce his wife, Jill.
1994 Pink Floyd does Dark Side Of The Moon in concert in Detroit. First performance of the album in 20 years.
1998 Joey Kramer of Aerosmith suffers burns when his Ferrari catches fire at a gas station. Burns he sustained cause Aerosmith to cancel tour.
1999 Bruce Springsteen opens his reunion tour with the E Street Band.
2008 John Mellencamp releases Life, Death, Love & Freedom.
2009 Paul McCartney plays from the marquee of the Ed Sullivan theater before appearance on David Letterman Show.
2000 Paul Young of Mike and the Mechanics and Sad Cafe dies of a heart attack at 53.
2010 Joe Perry slightly injured when a car hits the Aerosmith guitarist’s motorcycle from behind near Boston.
2011 Charlie Gilmour, son of the Pink Floyd guitarist and Polly Samson, sentenced to 16 months in jail for actions during violent student protests late in 2010.
2016 Guns N' Roses detained at Canadian border after a gun is found on tour bus.
2017 The Eagles do their first concert since Glenn Frey's death at Dodger Stadium in LA.
