50 Fun Facts About Hard Rock

Led Zeppelin's name reportedly came from a joke by Keith Moon and John Entwistle that a supergroup with Jimmy Page and Jeff Beck would go down like what?

Page, Beck and Moon had already cut 'Beck's Bolero' together in 1966 with John Paul Jones on bass.

Malcolm and Angus Young took the name AC/DC from a label their sister Margaret spotted on what?

Angus's schoolboy uniform, another sister-inspired idea, later inspired Chrissy Amphlett's schoolgirl look.

'Smoke on the Water' describes a 1971 fire at the Montreux Casino during a concert by which artist?

Someone in the audience fired a flare gun into the rattan ceiling; the smoke drifted over Lake Geneva as the band watched.

Van Halen's touring contract famously demanded a bowl of M&M's backstage with which colour removed?

The clause was a canary in the coal mine: if the brown ones were there, the crew knew the venue had not read the technical rider properly.

Which 1987 album is the best-selling debut album of all time in the United States?

It has been certified 18 times platinum, putting it in the country's top ten sellers of any kind.

Aerosmith's 'Walk This Way' was reborn in 1986 as a collaboration with which hip hop group?

The remake reached number four on the Hot 100, higher than Aerosmith's original.

In what year did Kiss first perform without their trademark makeup, kicking off their 'unmasked' era?

The makeup returned when the original line-up reunited in 1996.

Brian May's homemade Red Special guitar has a neck carved from wood salvaged from what?

May built it with his father Harold as a teenager, which is why the guitar is nicknamed 'the Fireplace'.

Def Leppard drummer Rick Allen lost his left arm in a crash on New Year's Eve of which year?

He plays the parts he once drummed with his left arm using four electronic foot pedals.

Which ZZ Top member is famously the only one without the band's trademark facial hair?

The drummer joined the Moving Sidewalks in 1969, the band that became ZZ Top that July.

Ozzy Osbourne bit the head off a bat he thought was rubber during a 1982 show in which city?

He was treated with rabies shots afterwards.

Alice Cooper's 1969 'Chicken Incident' happened at a rock revival concert in which city?

Cooper says he assumed the bird could fly and simply tossed it into the crowd.

The Scorpions' 'Wind of Change' famously opens with singer Klaus Meine doing what?

Meine and Rudolf Schenker own the 'Wind of Change' trademark.

Why did Mick Jones name his band Foreigner?

The band's first choice, Trigger, was already taken.

Who played every instrument on the 1995 debut Foo Fighters album?

He recorded it in one week in October 1994 and released it under a band name so people would not assume it was a solo record.

Pearl Jam's debut album Ten is named after the jersey number of which basketball player?

The band dropped the name after signing to Epic, once Blaylock had inked a Nike deal.

Soundgarden took their name from what in Seattle?

A Sound Garden stands on NOAA property beside Magnuson Park.

Nirvana's Nevermind hit number one on the Billboard 200 in January 1992 by knocking off which album?

It returned for a second week at the top that February.

Which 1966 London trio is widely regarded as rock's first supergroup?

Eric Clapton, Jack Bruce and Ginger Baker had all come from previously successful bands.

Guns N' Roses' Chinese Democracy took more than a decade to make, with reported costs of over how much?

The New York Times dubbed it 'the most expensive recording never made' three years before it finally appeared in 2008.

Which AC/DC album, released five months after Bon Scott's death, is the second-best-selling album ever?

It was Brian Johnson's first album as singer, and Scott's name deliberately does not appear in the writing credits.

Bon Scott's final AC/DC album, Highway to Hell, was the first of three the band made with which producer?

Scott died on 19 February 1980, less than a year after the album came out.

Def Leppard's Hysteria (1987) spawned how many hit singles?

It has sold more than 20 million copies, and Rick Allen chose the title in reference to the media frenzy after his crash.

Bad Company was formed in 1973 by Paul Rodgers and Simon Kirke, both formerly of which band?

They signed to Led Zeppelin's Swan Song label in North America.

Journey hired which singer in October 1977, beginning the run that produced 'Don't Stop Believin''?

He made his live debut with the band at the Old Waldorf that same month.

Which two sisters have been the only constant members of Heart?

'Barracuda' was written by a furious Ann after a reporter implied the sisters were lovers.

Audioslave paired Chris Cornell with the instrumentalists of which band?

Rick Rubin made the introduction after Zack de la Rocha quit in 2000, comparing it to the Yardbirds becoming Led Zeppelin.

Velvet Revolver joined three Guns N' Roses alumni with the singer of which band?

Scott Weiland was fired in 2008 and went straight back to his old group.

Josh Homme founded Queens of the Stone Age after the break-up of which desert-rock band?

The new name came from a nickname producer Chris Goss had given his old band.

Which band did the 1975 Guinness Book list as 'the globe's loudest' after a 1972 Rainbow Theatre gig?

Three audience members reportedly passed out from the volume.

Boston's Tom Scholz built his first basement studio while working for which company after MIT?

The demos he cut there became 'More Than a Feeling' and 'Peace of Mind'.

Which drummer and lyricist completed Rush's classic power-trio line-up in July 1974?

He was picked from five auditioning drummers, four months after the debut album came out.

Who was Thin Lizzy's bassist, singer and chief songwriter for their whole career?

He wrote or co-wrote nearly all of the band's twelve studio albums.

Whitesnake began as the backing band for a singer who had just left which group?

David Coverdale released a solo album called White Snake in 1977 before the band took the name.

Dee Snider testified before the Senate about explicit lyrics in 1985 alongside which folk singer?

'We're Not Gonna Take It' was named specifically in the PMRC hearings.

'Bohemian Rhapsody' climbed to number two in the US in 1992 thanks to which film?

In the UK it was Christmas number one twice with the same recording, in 1975 and 1991.

Which 1970 concert album, recorded on a university campus, cemented The Who's reputation on stage?

A gig at Hull the next night was also taped, but technical problems meant Leeds was released.

Hollywood Rose merged in 1985 with which other LA band to form Guns N' Roses?

Rejected names for the new group reportedly included 'Heads of Amazon'.

Aerosmith's first Hot 100 number one, 'I Don't Want to Miss a Thing', came from which 1998 film?

Diane Warren wrote it, and Steven Tyler's daughter Liv starred in the film.

Led Zeppelin's fourth album carried no title on its cover. What appeared instead?

Each member chose one; Page's is usually read as 'ZoSo'.

Mötley Crüe's metal umlauts were reportedly inspired by what the band members were drinking?

Vince Neil suggested the spelling flourish.

Living Colour's 'Cult of Personality' won which Grammy Award in 1990?

CM Punk has used the song as his WrestleMania entrance music.

Wolfmother, whose 'Woman' won a Grammy in 2007, come from which Australian city?

Their first show under the name was at a Sydney pub in April 2004.

Greta Van Fleet, the band Robert Plant called 'Led Zeppelin I', formed in 2012 in which Michigan town?

The name is a twist on Gretna Van Fleet, a local resident who gave her blessing.

Which White Album track was an attempt to out-noise The Who and is often cited as proto-metal?

AllMusic's Stephen Thomas Erlewine called its sound a 'proto-metal roar'.

Which 1964 British Invasion single by the Kinks is regularly cited as an early form of hard rock?

Dave Davies' distorted riff came from slashing his amplifier's speaker cone.

At the 1967 Monterey Pop Festival, Jimi Hendrix ended his set by doing what to his guitar?

Photographer Ed Caraeff's shot of Hendrix kneeling before the flames became one of rock's most famous images.

Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley's official fan club, six figures strong, is known as what?

It began in Terre Haute, Indiana, when fans lobbied a local radio station to play the band.

Blue Cheer's crude, distorted 1968 cover of 'Summertime Blues' came from which debut album?

The San Francisco band's take on the Eddie Cochran classic is often cited as a blueprint for hard rock and heavy metal.

Which 1970 fourth album, distinctly heavier than its predecessors, was Ritchie Blackmore's band's breakthrough?

Released in 1970, it arrived the same year as Black Sabbath's Paranoid, another record seen as pivotal for heavy metal.