The Interesting Classic Rock Events That Happened In 1979

Before the decade wrapped up, rock music was still as strong as ever. The genre continued to dominate the airwaves and rock acts were playing at sold-out shows left and right. Here are the other events that happened in 1979:

February 2 – Sid Vicious died of a heroin overdose at 21 years old.

A few days after he was arrested and charged with the murder of his girlfriend Nancy Spungen, Sid Vicious attempted to commit suicide by slitting his wrist and when that didn’t work out, he tried jumping out the window. In December 1978, he was jailed for assaulting Patti Smith’s brother Todd. While he was out on bail in February, he held a party to celebrate. He recently underwent a detoxification methadone programme but that night, he asked for heroin. He died from overdose and was discovered by his mother the next morning. Apparently, it was her who supplied him with heroin.

March 27 – Eric Clapton married the ex-wife of George Harrison, Pattie Boyd.

Eric Clapton and George Harrison may have been close friends but that didn’t stop the former from falling in love with Harrison’s wife Pattie Boyd. In fact, he wrote several songs for her including Wonderful Tonight and the musical masterpiece Layla. For a while, it seemed that it was hopeless and his unrequited love will remain just that. By 1974 after Boyd’s split with Harrison, she finally got together with Clapton and after five years, they got married. The marriage didn’t last long and they separated in 1984 and divorced in 1988.

July 1 – Sony introduced the first ‘Walkman’.

Before iPods and streaming services, Sony struck gold with the Walkman and they went on to sell hundreds of millions of these gadgets. It first went on sale in Japan for $150 and it was an instant hit. They retired the line in 2010.

September 21 – The ‘No Nukes’ concert took place in Madison Square Garden, and featured Bruce Springsteen, Crosby Stills & Nash, Tom Petty, and Jackson Browne.

It was a series of shows organized by the Musicians United for Safe Energy collective. It marked the first official appearance of Bruce Springsteen with his E Street Band. A triple live album featuring selections from the said concerts.

December 30 – Emerson, Lake & Palmer disbanded.

They were progressive rock titans who sold 48 million records worldwide. While recording their second studio effort Tarkus, there was mounting tension between Keith Emerson and Greg Lake. In early 1979, Carl Palmer tried to organize a farewell tour and announce their split at its conclusion. The trek didn’t push through and by the end of the year, they went their separate ways.