The Most Shocking Rock + Metal Moments of the ’70s, ’80s + ’90s

There were some really shocking moments in rock and metal during the ’70s, ’80s and ’90s.

There are certainly some pretty shocking things that still happen in our world today. But when you look at some of the events that took place in music in the 20th century, it looks like the Wild West compared to now.

It’s always shocking when a musical icon dies, so mentioned quite a few really big deaths in the gallery below. But there were a lot of other major occurrences as well, including the release of an album by a serial killer, fatal plane crashes and other vehicular tragedies, fans who were killed at concerts, big band break-ups, musicians being blamed for deaths and so much more.

Picture this — it’s August of 1977 and you turn on the news to find that Elvis Presley, the King of Rock ‘n’ Roll, had died. Or, it’s 1995 and you end up in a strange part of the (brand new) internet and discover that you can buy a copy of Tommy Lee and Pamela Anderson’s, er, intimate home video.

The moments mentioned in this list changed the course of rock and metal, for better or for worse. You can’t rewrite history, but you can study and learn from it.

Scroll through the images below to learn about some of the things people were hearing about on the news throughout the 20th century.