It’s February 2nd and here are some reasons why this day matters in rock history:

In 1973, Keith Emerson of Emerson, Lake and Palmer injured his hands when his piano blew up during a concert in San Francisco. The instrument was set to explode as part of a stunt but it detonated prematurely.

In 1979, Sex Pistols bassist Sid Vicious died of a heroin overdose in New York City. The day before, the rocker held a party to celebrate his release on 50-thousand dollars bail pending his trial for the murder of his former girlfriend, Nancy Spungen. It was at that party where he did the heroin.

In 1985, Foreigner started a two-week run at number one on the singles chart with “I Want to Know What Love Is.”

In 1976, Genesis released their seventh album,A Trick of the Tail, their first to feature drummer Phil Collins as lead vocalist.

In 2004, Courtney Love announced her plans to publish her diaries, which her agent said included writings “that have been whispered and wondered about for years but that no one has ever seen.” Fans actually didn’t see them until they came out three years later in 2007.

And in 2005, Linkin Park’s Chester Bennington visited southern Thailand to see the damage left by the 2004 tsunami. While there, he went to two elementary schools and helped paint a house.

And that’s what happened today in rock history.

(H/T This Day in Music)

Dr. John Cooper