As big as Live Aid, with an unfeasibly broad bill of rock, pop and showbiz stars, the Wembley fest commemorated Queen’s late flamboyant frontman and made a little history of its own

Hear ’n Aid saw the hard-rock community muscling in on the charity single bandwagon. Cue a heavyweight cast, guitar battles and big hair contests

The Who drummer Keith Moon celebrated his 21st birthday by taking a Rolls Royce for a swim – or did he? Eyewitnesses explain what they saw...

From London's east end to some of the biggest stages in the world, Iron Maiden's story started with a three track demo and a sweaty pub gig decked out like an old Western movie...

When Jimi Hendrix arrived in London in 1966 he blew the minds of Clapton, Beck and Page. They'd soon follow his lead and develop an explosive new form of electric blues

The strange theft of Gram Parson’s corpse – told by the people who were there.

“The glass went straight through my fingers then sliced down and cut the tendons and nerves. It cut an artery as well...”

Eat your heart out, Bob Geldof – Hear ’n Aid saw the hard-rock community muscling in on the charity single bandwagon. Cue a heavyweight cast, guitar battles and big hair contests

It was supposed to be the New York adventure that would make the Tunbridge Wells pub rockers worldwide superstars. But what seemed like a great idea turned into a PR disaster

In the blue corner, grunge’s brand new poster boy and his motormouthed wife. In the red corner, Gn’R’s short-tempered frontman and six huge bodyguards. Gentleman, handbags at the ready…

Film-maker Kenneth Anger was “hissing like a snake”, hipster Abbie Hoffman was threatening troops with a water pistol filled with LSD, and the freaks were chanting: “Out, demons, out!”

When prog rockers Jethro Tull pipped Metallica to win Best Hard Rock/Heavy Metal Recording award in 1989, most in the audience started laughing. Some of them haven’t stopped

It was the biggest music battle of the 80s. In the blue corner: Dee Snider, Frank Zappa and John Denver. In the red corner: the US government. Seconds out…

In 1971, Black Sabbath released the monumental Master Of Reality album, inventing heavy metal’s future… and opening the door on an era of cocaine, Quaaludes and dagger-wielding Satanists

Revolver is a feat of The Beatles' sonic experimentation and songwriting genius – we bring you the story behind how the album was made

Johnny Cash had given up on life by the early 90s. Then he met Rick Rubin – the producer who would reawaken his career with the acoustic American Recordings

Pink Floyd’s classic line-up reunited only once, to play the historic Live 8 charity concert in 2005. Just don’t ask them to do it again

We track down the stars of classic car crash metal documentary The Decline Of Western Civilization Pt 2: The Metal Years. But where are they now?

As the 70s kicked in BB King was playing to a whole new audience of white kids. Then he decided to leap across the Atlantic to cut the classic In London with the British rock elite...

On May 9, 1974, Bruce Springsteen played the gig that saved his career and made him a star. This is the story of what happened, by the people who were there.

The Doors brought controversy with them when they arrived to play their debut UK gigs, but over two nights at London’s Roundhouse it was their incendiary music that did the talking.

By mid-1971, the man once known as ‘God’ was a recluse with a heroin habit – and a shotgun barrel in his mouth. Friends including Pete Townshend and George Harrison intervened to save his life

In 1976, ZZ Top took their World Wide Texas show on the road complete with an entire menagerie. The result was the craziest tour of the 70s

In a small London studio, two Yardbirds, one member of The Who and a pair of passing session maestros united to record a spontaneous instrumental track. Things would never be the same again.