Everyone knows that it was recently the anniversary of the Moon Landing, 7/20/1969. At
Ultimate Classic Rock, they asked 50 rockstars where they were when the famous event occurred. Here is what
50 rockstars said they were doing and where they were when it happened. I'm not going to include all 50 rockstars because that would be too much to read, too hard on the eyes and simply overkill. If you want to read the whole list, I have provided a link to it, like always
The Beatles
-They were working on what would become Abbey Road. They were busy watching a rough cut of the film "Let It Be".
Elvis Presley
-His career was sagging, but after appearing on TV in 1968, that gave his career a much needed boost. A recently built casino in Las Vegas, the International Hotel, had saddled up $500,000 for a four-week residency for The King. He was recording at RCA Studios in Hollywood when the moon landing occurred.
Led Zeppelin
-Led Zeppelin was rocking out hard, loud and proud in Cleveland when Neil Armstrong landed on the moon. The soon-to-be-legendary band was on their debut album tour and while touring, they were also working on material for future albums. In fact, the day of the moon landing, 7/20/1969, is when they were performing in Cleveland, Ohio
The Doors
-Soft Parade had proved itself to be a successful album for the 60s-era rockers. It appeared on 7/18/1969. This album, probably like most bands, was recorded around the band's extremely exhausting, punishing tour schedule. The band was in LA at the time of the moon landing. And as a surprise to all, Jim Morrison took a rain check on songwriting for the album.
ZZ Top
-The veteran Texas blues rockers were only in opening-band status at the time. They were still struggling to get a name for themselves. The then lineup consisted of frontman/guitarist Billy Gibbons, bassist Lanier Greig and drummer Dan Mitchell. They had released one single so far and as history would say it, the other two were quickly replaced by Frank Beard and Dusty Hill. While Billy Gibbons didn't watch the moon landing, he did watch B.B. King taking the stage at the International Jazz Festival in Houston
Black Sabbath
-Despite the fact the 1969 is the year Black Sabbath was born from the dark, gloomy industrial atmosphere of Aston, Birmingham, England, the band was still struggling to get off the ground. They had, by this point, abandoned their 12-bar blues sound in favor of a more malevolent sound, the early rumblings of what would later become known as doom metal. Prior to adopting the name Black Sabbath and writing themselves into the heavy metal history book, the band was gigging around England under the moniker Earth. They quickly adopted the name Black Sabbath after a Boris Karloff film
Genesis
-This is one of those bands that should have a revolving door on members. By 1970, Phil Collins was already installed on drums. Prior to guitarist Steve Hackett joining, he was at a concert at the time of the moon landing. He was at the Marquee in London watching King Crimson play and was handed a note to Greg Lake which said the Americans have landed on the moon
David Bowie
-For starters it would be shocking not to see him on here. Especially considering one of his most famous songs is "Space Oddity". This song was inspired by the Stanley Kubrick film 2001: A Space Odyssey. He recorded the song in July 1969. When the BBC aired footage of the moon landing, they used this song as it had been released on July 11, a little over a week before the landing
Santana
-This is a day to remember! Carlos Santana turned 22 the day Neil Armstrong landed on the moon. He was in the midst of a concert in his band's hometown of San Francisco and celebrated both his birthday and the moon landing
The Who
-While Neil Armstrong was landing on the moon, proclaiming "One small step for man, one giant leap for mankind", another Moon was making headway in Hastings, England. The second "Moon" being referenced is Who drummer Keith Moon. The band was performing at the Hastings Pier Ballroom on July 20, 1969.
Alice Cooper
-He describes 1969 as being a crazy year. Just weeks prior to the moon landing, he had released his debut album. He told UCR "Everybody sat there and it was just such a startling thing to actually think that we could do that. And I’m a firm believer that we actually did. I don’t actually believe that it was set up in a studio. But it was so cool. It was just one of those cool, proud American moments that we did that. I think that was a pure patriotic moment. Everybody could kind of look around at each other and go, 'Yeah, we did that. We landed on the Moon.' And who knew what was going to come from there? [After that,] we just figured, 'Well, they’re going to go to Mars tomorrow! [Laughs.]"
Deep Purple
-The legendary hard rockers were awaiting their third LP, Deep Purple, to be released in the UK whereas it had already been released to much success in the US. Once again, this band is one of those revolving-door bands because of its frequent changes in lineup, which each would be lovingly referred to "Mark I" or so on and so forth. By this point, bassist Nick Simper and vocalist Rod Evans had gone, only to be replaced by vocalist Ian Gillan and bassist Roger Glover. The two newbies made their stage debut on July 10 and the band performed at Mothers in Birmingham the night of the moon landing. Ironically enough, the band would go on to write a song called "Space Truckin'"
James Taylor
-He had some serious highs and serious lows in his career. He was the first American artist to be signed to the Beatles' Apple Records label. He was, at the time, fighting a serious drug addiction and struggling to get clean. July 20, 1969 marked a good time for him. He appeared at the Newport Folk Festival in Rhode Island. 15 minutes into his set, festival creator George Wein had announced Neil Armstrong had landed on the moon.
Heart
-The Wilson sisters, Ann and Nancy, were quite some time off from joining the band Heart. 1969 marked them as only just beginning in the music world. Ann was only 19 at the time of the moon landing. They had been performing at mostly family events, church functions and local parties
The Rolling Stones
-Their world was crashing and burning. With the recent death of guitarist/founding member Brian Jones, the band had brought in guitarist Mick Taylor and had performed a concert in London's Hyde Park. Hundreds of white butterflies were released into the air as a tribute to Brian. The guitarist's funeral was on July 10, but front man Mick Jagger was unable to attend as he had a prior commitment. He was in Australia, filming the movie Ned Kelly. While in New South Wales, Australia, the moon landing occurred and Jagger wrote one of the more successful songs for the Stones, "Brown Sugar"
Sammy Hagar
-Hagar been recording music as early as 1967. He released two singles then, "Reach Out to Find Me" and "Ready My Thoughts". The songs were credited to Samson & Hagar, one of many bands the singer/guitarist would run through. Even though he didn't witness the moon landing, he, ironically, would write and record a song with his later band Montrose called "Space Station #5"
Kiss
-With something like this, you know Kiss has to make an appearance. And why not? They have a resident loves-everything-about-space-and-sci fi- member of the band. When the historic moon landing occurred, future Kiss member and future Spaceman Ace Frehley was still in high school. Ace told UCR "“I remember my teacher rolling in a black-and-white TV so the whole class could watch the monumental event. It seemed almost surreal it was happening in 1969! An unbelievable event to watch! It took my breath away!"
Motley Crue
-When the moon landing happened, the one member of the Crue that was busiest was guitarist Mick Mars. He was 18 at the time and still going by his birth name of Robert Alan Deal. He had already performed in several bands, including one called The Jades which did Beatles covers. Bassist Nikki Sixx was 10 at the time and saw it on TV. That told him that the impossible is always possible.
Queen
-Smile is the band that morphed into Queen. 1969 was a good year for them. The band, consisting of singer Tim Staffell, drummer Roger Taylor and guitarist Brian May, had been gigging around London with a strong fanbase. On the day of the landing, May was at Roger Taylor's house. May had told AARP Magazine in 2019 "That night, we watched this tiny little screen on the Taylors’ TV and were all clustered around, What I remember most is that my dad was wrong. He was a pretty talented electronics engineer during and after World War II. Three years before Apollo 11, he said, ‘Oh, we’ll never get to the Moon in our lifetime. It’s technically too difficult.’ So, to see this incredible event happening on television, something dad said was impossible, somehow made it all the more awe inspiring.” I knew I wanted to be a rock musician, but the Moon landing further confirmed that I needed to pursue astronomy as well. Some people say the space race, the Moon landing – oh, that stuff doesn’t matter. But it mattered to me." Ironically, May would go on to finish his studies in astrophysics and later receive a PhD.
Van Halen
-The Van Halen brothers, Eddie and Alex, were 14 and 16 at the time of the moon landing. Like most if not all musicians, they were taking any gig they could get, just to get their name out. Their debut album would not be released for another nine years
Lynyrd Skynyrd
-The famed Southern rockers were still going by the outlaw biker-styled name The One Percent in 1969. The end of that year saw their name change to Lynyrd Skynyrd, after their gym teacher at Robert E. Lee High School. This is where most of the band members attended school. It was supposed to mock the teacher, but it backfired. This gym teacher had repeatedly disciplined front man Ronnie Van Zandt for having long hair and so the name stuck. 1970 seen the now-familiar spelling of the name as well as their debut album, 'Pronounced 'Lĕh-'nérd 'Skin-'nérd,' being released
AC/DC
-George Young, older brother to AC/DC founding members Angus and Malcolm, had enjoyed some success with a group called the Easybeats. When Neil Armstrong touched down on the moon, the Easybeats broke up after several members moved to England. But things were looking up for his younger brothers Malcolm (16) and Angus (14). They were just starting to learn guitar because of having a family that embraced musical talent. A year later, Angus dropped out of high school to form AC/DC with his brother Malcolm in 1973. George was their producer for a while
Aerosmith
-In the summer of 1969, Steven Tyler was the 21 year old son of a Julliard-educated pianist. He was performing in a small band called Chain Reaction. This band had a modest following in the resort area of Lake Sunapee, New Hampshire. Another soon to be Aerosmith member was playing in another Lake Sunapee band called the Jam Band. It was a self-educated guitarist named Joe Perry. Both bands were playing at the same time. Unfortunately, they had missed the moon landing because both bands were trying to get off the ground. Initially, Tyler was not impressed by the Jam Band, but was impressed by Perry's guitar work on a cover of Fleetwood Mac's "Rattlesnake Shake"
Lemmy Kilmister
-1969 was the year Ian Fraser Kilmister, soon to be known as "Lemmy Kilmister" or simply "Lemmy", was still bouncing from band to band. In 1969, he joined a band called Opal Butterfly. This would work out because it brought him into contact with Simon King, who would be in Hawkwind, the band Lemmy would join later. It would be until six years later that Motorhead was born.
Sting
-He had hopes of being a musician. He was 17 in 1969. He had started working in one of the various warehouses in one of the various local shipyards in his hometown of Wallsend, England. His first day was on July 21, 1969. It was less than 24 hours after the Americans had landed on the moon. 8 years would pass before he would move to Newcastle and form The Police with Stewart Copeland and Andy Summers. Ironically, they would write a song in 1979 called "Walking on the Moon"
