Why June 20th Matters In Rock History

British rock singer David Bowie performs with an acoustic guitar on stage, in costume as 'Ziggy Stardust,' circa 1973. (Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images)
British rock singer David Bowie performs with an acoustic guitar on stage, in costume as 'Ziggy Stardust,' circa 1973. (Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

It’s June 20th and here are some reasons why this day matters in rock history:

- In 1969, a young David Bowie signed his record deal with Mercury Records. The label had to wait three years for him to produce a successful follow-up to Space Oddity.

- In 1980, Billy Joel had his first No. 1 song when “It’s Still Rock and Roll to Me” topped the charts.

- In 1998, Black Sabbath, the Foo Fighters, Korn, Pantera, Limp Bizkit and many others took the stage at England’s Ozzfest, the first-ever Ozzfest that took place outside of the US.

- In 2000, Deftones released their third album, White Pony, which featured songs like “Change (In the House of Flies),” “Back to School (Mini Maggit),” “Digital Bath” and “Elite.”

- And in 2009, Green Day had the first-ever No. 1 song on the new Billboard Rock Songs chart with “Know Your Enemy” off 21st Century Breakdown. It also topped the Alternative Songs and Mainstream Rock Tracks chart – the first of only three songs to do that.

And that’s what happened today in rock history.

Original article by Dave Basner at iHeartRadio