It’s April 15th and here are some reasons why this day matters in rock history:

In 1983, The Bad Brains released their second full-length album, Rock for Light. Years later, Kurt Cobain would call it one of his all-time favorite records.

In 2001, Ramones singer and punk pioneer Joey Ramone died at age 49 after a long battle with lymphatic cancer.

In 1982, Billy Joel successfully underwent surgery to fix a broken wrist he got when his motorcycle hit a car in Long Island, New York. The hospital switchboard got flooded with well wishes from fans so the singer had to ask people to stop calling because they were “tying up lines for those people who are really sick.”

In 1971, The Beatles won the Oscar for Best Original Score for the Paul McCartney-penned “Let It Be.”

In 2003, Fleetwood Mac released their album Say You Will. The disc reunited the band with Lindsey Buckingham, but vocalist Christine McVie opted to not reunite.

And in 1996, Jerry Garcia’s remaining ashes were scattered near San Francisco’s Golden Gate Bridge. The rest of his ashes had been distributed in India’s Ganges River 11 days earlier. He had died in August of 1995.

And that’s what happened today in rock history.

Photo: Getty

(H/T This Day in Music)

Mark Madden

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