Rod Stewart's Every Picture Tells A Story arrived by accident, was rescued by some last-minute songs, a fat slice of luck and a dozen hard-drinking hombres – and helped launch Rod Stewart’s solo career

Steve Howe was the guitarist with proto-psychedelic Brit-rockers Tomorrow. Then he joined Yes and embarked on a hugely successful career as a member of prog royalty

With music written by a pre-Dio Vivian Campbell, Rainbow In The Dark was part of Holy Diver, an album Ronnie James Dio said was “one of the proudest things I’ve ever done”

With drug use rampant in the band, it’s no surprise that the 80s and 90s delivered Fleetwood Mac some dizzying highs and crashing comedowns

Paul Rodgers and Jimmy Page in one band? What could possibly go wrong? This is the story of The Firm

Jimmy Page, Robert Plant and John Paul Jones tell us how Led Zeppelin's How The West Was Won live album and DVD took shape

An excerpt from Mick Wall's book Two Riders Were Approaching: The Life & Death of Jimi Hendrix

We spoke to modern-day axemasters Zakk Wylde, Phil Demmel, Matt Heafy and Gus G to find out who the lords of the riff really are

As Earth they were going nowhere. Then they chanced on three notes which in the Middle Ages had been branded ‘the devil’s interval’, changed their name to Black Sabbath and changed everything

From his stubborn individuality to his taste in music, Metallica’s Cliff Burton was a true one-off

It was the year Black Sabbath fired Ozzy, AC/DC were on a Highway To Hell and Judas Priest were Unleashed In The East. Oh, and some band called Motorhead gave us Overkill and Bomber

Just your everyday tale of the first (and probably last) anti-drug festival behind the Iron Curtain, with Bon Jovi, Scorpions, Ozzy Osbourne, Cinderalla and Skid Row

1969’s Bath festival was the first of its kind. In 1970 it all went a bit wrong. Promoters Freddy and Wendy Bannister tell the tale.

Settle in for an epic tale in Rio De Janeiro as Iron Maiden, Ozzy and Queen and more play the first ever Rock In Rio festival - as MIck Wall tries to drink their rider

After their multi-million-selling album Permanent Vacation, it was time for Aerosmith to go one bigger. They stepped up to the plate, swung hard and hit a home run with Pump

Classic Rock talks to Jimi Hendrix's friends, admirers and other musicians about his life and importance

Without the man who raised pop lyrics to the level of poetry, we might still be waiting for the concept of album-oriented music – here we round up Bob Dylan's essential albums

Forget Stairway: here Robert Plant tells us why Physical Graffiti highlight Kashmir really marks Led Zeppelin's musical peak

It's 45 years on from their first album, and Queen's career was no bed of roses, no pleasure cruise... but they kept on fighting

Metallica's One single cemented their status as one of the greatest metal bands in the world – here's the story of how it came to life

Metallica's 1988 album was their step up to the big leagues. But things would never be the same again

At the start of 1987, Metallica were teetering on the edge of a crisis – until they knocked out a cheaply recorded EP of covers

Updated Before he was a fixture at royal weddings, master singer-songwriter-showman Elton John created some of the 70s’ most important and enduring albums.

They rocked hard on record, caused mayhem with Motörhead on the road, and cared about only one thing: the music. Here's Girlschool's 10 Best songs