1977 in heavy metal music

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This is a timeline documenting the events of heavy metal in the year 1977.

Contents

Bands formed

Bands disbanded

Events

Deaths

Albums

January

DayArtistAlbum
7 The Runaways Queens of Noise
10 Ramones Leave Home
21 Pink Floyd Animals
Sammy Hagar Sammy Hagar

February

DayArtistAlbum
11 Jethro Tull Songs from the Wood
Angel On Earth as It Is in Heaven

March

DayArtistAlbum
8 Foreigner Foreigner
21 AC/DC Let There Be Rock (Australia/New Zealand version)

April

DayArtistAlbum
8 Judas Priest Sin After Sin
The Clash The Clash
29 Alice Cooper Lace and Whiskey
Krokus To You All
Sweet Off the Record

May

DayArtistAlbum
13 Ted Nugent Cat Scratch Fever
Heart Little Queen
Quartz Quartz
UFO Lights Out

June

DayArtistAlbum
20 Ram Jam Ram Jam
30 Kiss Love Gun
Buffalo Average Rock 'n' Roller

July

DayArtistAlbum
7 Rainbow On Stage [1] (live album)
Styx The Grand Illusion
15 Yes Going for the One
25 Bow Wow Signal Fire

August

DayArtistAlbum
12 Motörhead Motörhead [2]
29 Rush A Farewell to Kings
Taste Knights of Love

September

DayArtistAlbum
2 Thin Lizzy Bad Reputation

October

DayArtistAlbum
7 The Runaways Waitin' for the Night
10 Sammy Hagar Musical Chairs
14 Kiss Alive II
17 Lynyrd Skynyrd Street Survivors
21 Meat Loaf Bat Out of Hell
28 Queen News of the World
Sex Pistols Never Mind the Bollocks, Here's the Sex Pistols

November

DayArtistAlbum
3 Triumph Rock & Roll Machine
4 Ramones Rocket to Russia
10 Riot Rock City
Blue Öyster Cult Spectres
Nazareth Expect No Mercy
Uriah Heep Innocent Victim

December

DayArtistAlbum
1 Bow Wow Charge
9 Aerosmith Draw the Line [3]
Scorpions Taken by Force

Unknown release date

ArtistAlbum
Goddo Goddo
Mass Back To The Music
Moxy Ridin' High
Thor Keep the Dogs Away

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lynyrd Skynyrd</span> American rock band

Lynyrd Skynyrd is an American rock band formed in Jacksonville, Florida in 1964. The group originally formed as My Backyard and comprised Ronnie Van Zant (vocals), Gary Rossington (guitar), Allen Collins (guitar), Larry Junstrom (bass), and Bob Burns (drums). The band spent four years touring small venues under various names and with several lineup changes before deciding on "Lynyrd Skynyrd" in 1968. The band released its first album, (Pronounced 'Lĕh-'nérd 'Skin-'nérd), in 1973. By then, they had settled on a lineup that included bassist Leon Wilkeson, keyboardist Billy Powell, and guitarist Ed King. Burns left and was replaced by Artimus Pyle in 1974. King left in 1975 and was replaced by Steve Gaines in 1976. At the height of their fame in the 1970s, the band popularized the Southern rock genre with songs such as "Sweet Home Alabama" and "Free Bird". After releasing five studio albums and one live album, the band's career was abruptly halted on October 20, 1977, when their chartered airplane crashed, killing Van Zant, Steve Gaines, and backup singer Cassie Gaines, and seriously injuring the rest of the band.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ronnie Van Zant</span> American singer (1948–1977)

Ronald Wayne Van Zant was an American singer, best known as the founding lead vocalist and primary lyricist of the southern rock band Lynyrd Skynyrd. He was the older brother of Johnny Van Zant, the current lead vocalist of Lynyrd Skynyrd, and Donnie Van Zant, the founder and vocalist of the rock band .38 Special.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ed King</span> American rock musician (1949–2018)

Edward Calhoun King was an American musician. He was a guitarist for the psychedelic rock band Strawberry Alarm Clock and guitarist and bassist for the Southern rock band Lynyrd Skynyrd from 1987 to 1996.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Steve Gaines</span> American guitarist (1949–1977)

Steven Earl Gaines was an American musician. He is best known as a guitarist and backing vocalist with rock band Lynyrd Skynyrd from 1976 until his death in the October 1977 airplane crash that claimed other band members and crew. His older sister Cassie Gaines, a backup vocalist with the band, also died in the crash.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Allen Collins</span> American guitarist (1952–1990)

Larkin Allen Collins Jr. was an American guitarist, and one of the founding members of the Southern rock band Lynyrd Skynyrd. He co-wrote many of the band's songs with frontman and original lead singer Ronnie Van Zant.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gary Rossington</span> American guitarist (1951–2023)

Gary Robert Rossington was an American musician best known as a founding guitarist of Southern rock band Lynyrd Skynyrd, with whom he performed until his death. Rossington was also a founding member of the Rossington Collins Band, along with former bandmate Allen Collins. Rossington was the last surviving founding member of Lynyrd Skynyrd and the only original member left in the band at the time of his death.

Cassie LaRue Gaines was an American singer, best known for her work with Southern rock band Lynyrd Skynyrd.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Leon Wilkeson</span> American bass guitarist (1952–2001)

Leon Russell Wilkeson was an American musician. He was the bassist of the southern rock band Lynyrd Skynyrd from 1972 until his death in 2001.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Billy Powell</span> American keyboardist (1952–2009)

William Norris Powell was an American musician and the keyboardist of southern rock band Lynyrd Skynyrd from 1972 until his death in 2009.

<i>Street Survivors</i> 1977 studio album by Lynyrd Skynyrd

Street Survivors is the fifth studio album by the Southern rock band Lynyrd Skynyrd, released on October 17, 1977. The LP is the last Skynyrd album recorded by original members Ronnie Van Zant and Allen Collins, and is the sole Skynyrd studio recording by guitarist Steve Gaines. Three days after the album's release, the band's chartered airplane crashed en route to Baton Rouge, Louisiana, killing the pilot, co-pilot, the group's assistant road-manager and three band members, and severely injuring most who survived the crash.

<i>One More from the Road</i> 1976 live album by Lynyrd Skynyrd

One More from the Road is a live album by Southern rock band Lynyrd Skynyrd, capturing three shows recorded in July 1976 at the Fox Theatre in Atlanta, Georgia. Since 1974 Lynyrd Skynyrd had supported rock promoter Alex Cooley so that the theatre could be saved from demolition. This record was the band's first live album, and the only live album from the band's classic era of 1970 to 1977, prior to the plane crash that killed lead singer and songwriter Ronnie Van Zant, guitarist Steve Gaines, and backing singer Cassie Gaines. The album was released in September 1976. It was certified gold by the RIAA on October 26, 1976, platinum on December 30, 1976 and 3× platinum on July 21, 1987.

Gillsburg, also spelled as Gillsburgh, is an unincorporated community in Amite County, Mississippi, United States. The community is part of the McComb, Mississippi Micropolitan Statistical Area.

<i>Lynyrd Skynyrd 1991</i> 1991 studio album by Lynyrd Skynyrd

Lynyrd Skynyrd 1991 is the sixth studio album by American Southern rock band Lynyrd Skynyrd. It was the band's first new studio album since 1977's Street Survivors and the first following a 1977 plane crash that claimed the lives of three members of the band.

The Rossington Collins Band was an American Southern rock band founded in 1979 by guitarists Gary Rossington and Allen Collins following the 1977 plane crash which killed three members of Lynyrd Skynyrd, of which both had been members. The band included two other surviving members of Lynyrd Skynyrd, Billy Powell and Leon Wilkeson. The band wished to develop their own sound rather than being regarded as a reformed Lynyrd Skynyrd, and toward that objective they hired a female lead vocalist, Dale Krantz, who later married Rossington. The Jacksonville-based band released two albums before disbanding in 1982. Their biggest hit, "Don't Misunderstand Me," charted in late 1980.

<i>Twenty</i> (Lynyrd Skynyrd album) 1997 studio album by Lynyrd Skynyrd

Twenty is the ninth studio album by American rock band Lynyrd Skynyrd, released in 1997. The title of the album refers to the fact that it had been twenty years since the plane crash which killed original lead singer Ronnie Van Zant, guitarist Steve Gaines, and backup singer Cassie Gaines.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Artimus Pyle</span> American drummer

Thomas Delmer "Artimus" Pyle is an American musician who played drums with the southern rock band Lynyrd Skynyrd from 1974 to 1977 and from 1987 to 1991. He and his bandmates were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2006.

<i>Southern by the Grace of God</i> 1988 live album by Lynyrd Skynyrd

Southern by the Grace of God is a live album by southern rock band Lynyrd Skynyrd, recorded during the Lynyrd Skynyrd Tribute Tour in 1987. These live concerts were a 10-year anniversary tribute by Lynyrd Skynyrd to the members of the band who had died in a 1977 plane crash. The plane crash killed frontman Ronnie Van Zant, guitarist Steve Gaines, backing vocalist Cassie Gaines and road manager Dean Kilpatrick.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lynyrd Skynyrd plane crash</span> 1977 aviation accident in Mississippi, USA

On October 20, 1977, a Convair CV-240 passenger aircraft ran out of fuel and crashed in a wooded area near Gillsburg, Mississippi, United States. Chartered by the rock band Lynyrd Skynyrd from L & J Company of Addison, Texas, it was flying from Greenville, South Carolina, to Baton Rouge, Louisiana, crashing near its destination.

<i>Street Survivors: The True Story of the Lynyrd Skynyrd Plane Crash</i> American musical survival drama film directed by Jared Cohn

Street Survivors: The True Story of the Lynyrd Skynyrd Plane Crash is a 2020 American musical survival drama film directed by Jared Cohn and written by Cohn and Brian Perera. The film stars Ian Shultis, Taylor Clift, Samuel Kay Forrest, Rich Dally III, Neill Byrnes, Anthony Rocco Bovo and Mark Dippolito.

References

  1. "News in brief" (PDF). Record Mirror . 18 June 1977. p. 5. Retrieved 24 August 2022.
  2. "Motörhead certification".
  3. LTD, BubbleUp (2021-12-09). "AeroHistory: Draw the Line". www.aerosmith.com. Retrieved 2022-11-19.
Preceded by Heavy Metal Timeline
1977
Succeeded by