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

In 1967, when appearing onThe Ed Sullivan Show, The Rolling Stones were forced to change the lyrics of “Let’s Spend the Night Together” to “let’s spend some time together” because producers objected to the original lyrics. Mick Jagger could be seen rolling his eyes at the camera when he sung the new lyrics, causing in Sullivan to announce that the band would be banned from performing on his show again.

In 1965, The Who released their first single, “I Can’t Explain.” Then-session musician Jimmy Page played guitar on the track.

In 1972, Don McLean’s “American Pie” started a four-week run at number one on the singles chart, and Led Zeppelin’s “Black Dog” debuted on the same chart, but it would only peak at number 15.

In 1977, the Eagles went to number one on the album chart with Hotel California, the group’s third number one album.

In 1992, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inducted legends like Jimi Hendrix, The Yardbirds, Johnny Cash, Sam & Dave, The Isley Brothers, Bobby “Blue” Bland, Booker T. & the MG’s and promoter Bill Graham.

In 2001, the Brit Awards committee announced that U2 would receive an Outstanding Contribution to Music Award at their ceremony in London, despite that fact that the band actually came from Ireland – not Britain.

And in 2018, the lead singer of The Cranberries, Dolores O'Riordan, died unexpectedly at the age of 46. O'Riordan died of accidental drowning in a bathtub due to sedation by alcohol intoxication while in London for a recording session.

That’s what happened today in rock history.

(H/T This Day in Music)

Mel Taylor