'80s Metal History (December 17th)

December 17/18, 1983: One of the largest heavy metal lineups of all time played the Dortmund Rock Pop Festival in Germany... Scorpions, Ozzy Osbourne, Def Leppard, Quiet Riot, Judas Priest, Krokus, Michael Schenker Group and... Iron Maiden... Wow! 🤘 Images: Kerrang!

December 17, 2021: Metallica marked their 40th anniversary with two concerts in San Francisco with two different setlists that featured at least one song from each of their studio albums, from deep cuts to fan favorites.

December 17, 1990: Touring the UK with Iron Maiden, Anthrax were gearing up for the first of two nights at London's Wembley Arena. "Got The Time" from their latest album "Persistence Of Time" was issued as a single on Christmas Eve. Kerrang! ad - December 15, 1990

December 17, 1989: Testament's thrash metal was a smash in the US with "Practice What You Preach" a Top 100 album and tour dates selling out, including the last show of the year in their hometown.

December 17, 1985: When she was still the "Metal Queen", Canadian rocker Lee Aaron toured Europe with Finnish metal band Talon that included Frankfurt, one of 20 dates in Germany.

Happy Birthday to former Grim Reaper drummer [1984-88] Mark Simon (December 17, 1956).

December 17, 1987: Guns N' Roses first North American tour saw the band open for The Cult, Mötley Crüe, Iron Maiden and Aerosmith, plus a handful of dates for Alice Cooper. On this day four years later, GnR headlined the second of two shows at the Spectrum in Philadelphia.

December 17, 1988: Guns N' Roses' second album "G N' R Lies" debuted at No. 66 on the US Billboard Top Pop Albums chart. The success of single "Patience", released in April 1989, pushed the LP to No. 2.

December 1989: With founding members who shared an interest in horror/gore films and very heavy music, Dallas thrash/speed metal band Rigor Mortis released the EP "Freaks" on Metal Blade. Release information source: Kerrang! - December 2, 1989.

December 1976: AC/DC released "Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap" internationally, but not in the USA. Long story short, their label Atlantic didn't like it and almost dropped the band. AC/DC's manager assumed Bon Scott would be fired 😯

December 1980: Motörhead were on the cover of the Christmas issue of ZigZag Magazine in Britain. Apparently the Santa costumes were completely trashed after the shoot! 😆 🤘