Hard Rock Timeline

1952 Sep 12 Neil Peart is born
Neil Peart (pronounced /ˈpɪərt/) OC, (born September 12, 1952) is a Canadian musician and author. He is the drummer and lyricist for the rock band Rush. Peart grew up in Port Dalhousie...
1953 Jul 29 Geddy Lee is born
Geddy Lee, OC (born Gary Lee Weinrib; July 29, 1953) is a Canadian musician, best known as the lead vocalist, bassist, and keyboardist for the Canadian rock group Rush. Lee joined Rush in...
1953 Aug 27 Alex Lifeson is born
Alex Lifeson, OC (born Aleksandar Živojinović; August 27, 1953) is a Canadian musician, best known for his work as the guitarist of the Canadian rock band Rush. In the summer of 1968, Lif...
1964 Steven Tyler forms first serious band
Steven Tyler forms his first serious band, The Strangeurs, in Sunapee, NH, in which he is the drummer. He later changed the band's name to Chain Reaction. The band wrote originals and a...
1968 Jul Deep Purple release Shades of Deep Purple
Shades of Deep Purple is the debut album by English hard rock band Deep Purple, released in 1968 on Parlophone in the UK and Tetragrammaton in the US. It was released without much atte...
1968 Nov 22 The Beatles release the White Album
The Beatles is the ninth official British album and the fifteenth American album by The Beatles, a double album released in 1968. It is more commonly known as The White Album as it has no...
1968 Dec 11 Deep Purple release The Book of Taliesyn
The Book of Taliesyn is the second album by English rock band Deep Purple, released in 1968 by EMI's Harvest Records in the UK, Tetragrammaton in the US and Polydor in Canada and Japan in...
1969 Jan 12 Led Zeppelin releases self-titled debut album
Led Zeppelin is the debut album of English rock band Led Zeppelin. It was recorded in October 1968 at Olympic Studios in London and released on Atlantic Records on 12 January 1969. The al...
1969 Jun 21 Deep Purple release Deep Purple
Deep Purple, also referred to as Deep Purple III, is the third studio album by English rock band Deep Purple, released in 1969 on Harvest Records in the United Kingdom and on Tetragrammat...
1969 Aug Alice Cooper releases Pretties for You
Pretties for You was the debut album by Alice Cooper. At this time, the name "Alice Cooper" referred to the band, not its lead singer, though the lead singer was also known as Alice Coope...
1969 Oct 22 Led Zeppelin II is released
Led Zeppelin II is the second studio album by English rock band Led Zeppelin, released 22 October 1969 on Atlantic Records. Recording sessions for the album took place at several location...
1969 Dec Deep Purple release Concerto for Group and Orchestra
The Concerto for Group and Orchestra is a concerto composed by Jon Lord, with lyrics written by Ian Gillan. It was first performed by Deep Purple and The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra cond...
1970 Aerosmith is formed
Aerosmith is an American hard rock band, sometimes referred to as "The Bad Boys from Boston" and "America's Greatest Rock and Roll Band". Their style, which is rooted in blues-based hard ...
1970 Mar Alice Cooper releases Easy Action
Easy Action is the second studio album by Alice Cooper, released by Straight Records in March 1970. The title comes from a line in the musical film West Side Story, which was one of the b...
1970 Jun 3 Deep Purple release In Rock
Deep Purple in Rock (also known as In Rock) is an album by English rock band Deep Purple, released in June 1970. It was their fourth studio album and the first with the classic Mk II line...
1970 Oct 5 Led Zeppelin III is released
Led Zeppelin III is the third album by English rock band Led Zeppelin. It was recorded between January and July 1970 and was released on 5 October 1970 by Atlantic Records. Composed large...
1971 Jan 12 Alice Cooper releases Love It to Death
Love It to Death is a 1971 album by Alice Cooper. Hits include "Ballad of Dwight Fry", "Is It My Body", and one of Cooper's trademark songs, "I'm Eighteen". After two failed albums, this ...
1971 Sep 15 Deep Purple release Fireball
Fireball is an album by English rock band Deep Purple, released in 1971. It was their fifth studio album, and the second with the classic Mk II lineup. It was recorded at various times be...
1971 Nov Alice Cooper releases Killer
Killer is the fourth studio album by Alice Cooper, released in 1971. Cooper said in the liner notes of Fistful of Alice and In the Studio with Redbeard, which spotlighted the Killer an...
1971 Nov 8 Led Zeppelin's fourth album is released
The untitled fourth album by English rock band Led Zeppelin was released on 8 November 1971. It has no official title printed anywhere on the album, and is generally referred to as Led Ze...
1972 Jan Blue Öyster Cult releases their self-titled debut album
Blue Öyster Cult is the eponymous debut album by hard rock band Blue Öyster Cult, released in January 1972 (see 1972 in music). The album featured songs such as "Cities on Flame with Rock...
1972 Mar 1 Deep Purple release Machine Head
Machine Head is the sixth studio album released by English rock band Deep Purple. It was recorded through December 1971 in Montreux, Switzerland, and released in March 1972. Machine He...
1972 Jun Alice Cooper releases School's Out
School's Out is the fifth studio album by Alice Cooper, released in 1972. The album's title track has remained a staple song in Alice Cooper's live setlist and receives regular airplay on...
1972 Jun 17 The Eagles release their self-titled debut album
Eagles is the debut album by the rock band of the same name, released in 1972.The album was recorded at London's Olympic Studios with producer Glyn Johns. The album was an immediate succe...
1972 Dec Ace Frehley joins Kiss
In December 1972, the group added lead guitarist Ace Frehley (born as Paul Frehley on April 27, 1951 in the Bronx, New York City). According to the book Kiss & Tell by Ace Frehley's forme...
1972 Dec
to 1973 Apr
Deep Purple release Made in Japan
Made in Japan is a double live album by English rock band Deep Purple, recorded during their first tour of Japan in August 1972. It was originally released in December 1972, with a U.S. r...
1972 Dec Kiss (band) is formed
Kiss (also typeset as KISS) is an American rock band formed in New York City in December 1972. Easily identified by its members' trademark face paint and stage outfits, the group rose to ...
1973 AC/DC is formed
AC/DC are an Australian rock band formed in Sydney in 1973 by brothers Malcolm and Angus Young. Although the band are commonly classified as hard rock, and considered pioneers of heavy me...
1973 Jan 13 Aerosmith releases self-titled debut album
Aerosmith is the self-titled debut album by American hard rock band Aerosmith, released in 1973.
1973 Jan 26 Deep Purple release Who Do We Think We Are
Who Do We Think We Are is the seventh studio album by the English rock band Deep Purple. It was recorded in Rome (in July 1972) and Frankfurt (October 1972) using the Rolling Stones Mobil...
1973 Jan 30 First Kiss performance
The first Kiss performance was on January 30, 1973, for an audience of three at the Popcorn Club (renamed Coventry shortly afterward) in Queens. In March of that year, the band recorded a...
1973 Feb Blue Öyster Cult releases Tyranny and Mutation
Tyranny and Mutation (On the album cover: THE BLVE ÖYSTER CVLT: TYRANNY AND MVTATION) was the second album by hard rock band, Blue Öyster Cult, released in 1973.
1973 Feb 25 Alice Cooper releases Billion Dollar Babies
Billion Dollar Babies is an album by American hard rock band Alice Cooper, released in 1973. The album became the best selling Alice Cooper record at the time of its release, hit number o...
1973 Mar 28 Led Zeppelin releases Houses of the Holy
Houses of the Holy is the fifth album by English rock band Led Zeppelin, released by Atlantic Records on 28 March 1973. The album title is a dedication by the band to their fans who appea...
1973 Apr 17 The Eagles release Desperado
Desperado is the second studio album by the American rock band Eagles. It was recorded at Island Studios in London, United Kingdom and released in 1973. Desperado is a concept album, base...
1973 Oct 10 Kiss begins recording first album
The band entered Bell Sound Studios in New York City on October 10, 1973 to begin recording their first album.
1973 Nov 1 Kiss is signed to Buddah Records
Former TV director Bill Aucoin, who had seen the group at a handful of showcase concerts in the summer of 1973, offered to become the band’s manager in mid-October. Kiss agreed, with the ...
1973 Nov 20 Alice Cooper releases Muscle of Love
Muscle of Love is an album by Alice Cooper, released in 1973. It is the last studio album recorded by the original Alice Cooper band, and is a concept album about teenage angst, life on t...
1974 Feb 5 Kiss starts first tour
Kiss's first tour started on February 5, 1974 in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, at the Northern Alberta Jubilee Auditorium.
1974 Feb 15 Deep Purple release Burn
Burn is the eighth studio album by English rock band Deep Purple. It was recorded in Montreux, Switzerland, in November 1973 with the Rolling Stones Mobile Studio, and released in Februar...
1974 Feb 18 Kiss releases self titled debut
Kiss is the self-titled debut album from the American hard rock band Kiss. When it was released, on February 18, 1974, Kiss had been a band for little more than one year. Much of the mate...
1974 Feb 19 Kiss debuts on television
On February 19, the band performed "Nothin' to Lose," "Firehouse," and "Black Diamond" for what would become their first national television appearance, on ABC's Dick Clark's In Concert (...
1974 Mar 1 Aerosmith releases Get Your Wings
Get Your Wings is the second studio album by American hard rock band Aerosmith, released March 1, 1974. The album is the first to feature production from Jack Douglas, who would go on to ...
1974 Mar 1 Rush release self-titled debut album
Rush is the eponymous debut studio album by Canadian rock band Rush, released in 1974 and remastered in 1997. Rush's first release shows much of the heavy metal sound typical of many of t...
1974 Mar 22 The Eagles release On the Border
On the Border is the third studio album by the Eagles, released in 1974. During the making of the album, the band experienced significant changes. As the band tried to lean towards a more...
1974 Apr Blue Öyster Cult releases Secret Treaties
Secret Treaties is Blue Öyster Cult's third studio album, released in 1974. In 1975, a Melody Maker poll of critics voted Secret Treaties as the "Top Rock Album of All Time." The album...
1974 Jun The Bee Gees release Mr. Natural
Mr. Natural is the Bee Gees' twelfth album (tenth worldwide), released in July 1974. It was the first Bee Gees release to be produced by Arif Mardin, who was partially responsible for lau...
1974 Aug Alice Cooper releases Greatest Hits
Alice Cooper's Greatest Hits is a greatest hits album by Alice Cooper, released in 1974. It features the hit singles of songs from their third album (Love It to Death) to the last album w...
1974 Sep 6 Judas Priest release Rocka Rolla
Rocka Rolla is the debut album by the British heavy metal group Judas Priest, released in 1974. It was produced by Rodger Bain, who had made a name for himself as the producer of Black Sa...
1974 Oct 22 Kiss releases Hotter Than Hell
Hotter Than Hell is the second album from the rock group Kiss. It was certified Gold on June 23, 1977, having sold 500,000 copies. The album was re-released in 1997 (along with most of Ki...