Grunge

Hernan Cortez, the conquistador lands in Mexico, which he will conquer for the Spanish empire, brutally slaughtering any natives who stand in his way. Neil Young will be inspired to write his 1975 song Cortez The Killer, embellishing a few historical facts with liberal lashings of his vivid imagination.

The Squires, featuring Neil Young, play the last of seven nights at The Fourth Dimension Folk Club, Fort William, Manitoba, Canada.

The High Flying Birds (formerly The Squires), featuring Neil Young, play at The Fourth Dimension, Fort William, Manitoba, Canada. This proves to be their last gig together.

Andy Cairns guitarist/vocalist of Therapy? is born in Ballyclare, County Antrim, Northern Ireland, UK, Europe.

Neil Young completes the recording of I've Been Waiting For You for his solo debut album on Reprise Records.

Neil Young and Crazy Horse play at The Music Hall, Cincinnati, Ohio, USA.

Neil Young and Crazy Horse play at Aichiken Taiikukan, Nagoya, Japan, Asia.

Neil Young and Crazy Horse play the second of two nights at The Catalyst, Santa Cruz, California, USA.

Neil Young begins a month (or so) of recording in Nashville, Tennessee, USA.

Neil Young plays at Red Rocks Amphitheater, Denver, Colorado, USA.

The Melvins play at New Method, Emeryville, California, USA, with Social Unrest, Clown Alley and Mini stry Of Truth.

Neil Young And The Bluenotes play at the Lakeside Amphitheater, Buffalo, New York State, USA.

Sub Pop records of Seattle, Washington, USA, is invoiced in the amount of $248 by Secord Printing of Redmond, Washington, for printing 1200 covers for the Nirvana debut album, Bleach.

On their Suffer tour, Bad Religion play at The Rose Club, Cologne, Germany, Europe.

Nirvana play their first-ever British gig, supporting their Sub Pop Records labelmates Tad at The Riverside, in Newcastle, England, UK, Europe.

Nirvana play at The Ecstasy Club, Berlin, Germany, Europe.

Andy Wood, frontman of Mother Love Bone, overdoses on heroin at his apartment in Seattle, Washington, USA, just days before the band's debut LP is to be released.

The Melvins and D.O.A. play at The Kennel Club, San Francisco, California, USA.

David Geffen, head of Geffen Records, founds a new subsidiary label, DGC, to market alternative rock acts. The label roster will include Nirvana, Sonic Youth, Counting Crows, Beck and Weezer, before merging with Interscope in 1999.

Soundgarden play at Bloom, Mezzago, Italy, Europe.

The Melvins play at Apocalypse, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

On their No Control tour, Bad Religion play in Cleveland, Ohio, USA.

Faith No More are among the artists appearing at Roskilde Festival, Roskilde, Denmark, Europe.

On his Manic Nirvana tour, Robert Plant plays at at The Omni, Atlanta, Georgia, USA.

Bob Dylan plays at the University Of Mississippi, Tad Smith Coliseum, Oxford, Mississippi, USA.

Nirvana film a video for their single Smells Like Teen Spirit at GMT Studios in Culver City, California, USA. Costing less than $50,000 to make, the shoot features real Nirvana fans as the audience.

When Courtney Love appears on the ABC TV show '10 Most Fascinating People' in the USA, she states that she wished she had done 'eight thousand million things differently' to have prevented the death of her husband Kurt Cobain.

Alter Bridge play at The Aztec Music Hall, Amarillo, Texas, USA.

Courtney Love pleads guilty, in The Superior Court, Los Angeles, California, USA, to a drugs charge stemming from a break-in at the home of her former boyfriend, and no contest to an assault charge arising from another incident at the same house. She is required to complete a year in a drug treatment program, perform 100 hours of community service, pay a $1,000 fine and attend three Narcotics Anonymous meetings every week.

Breaking Benjamin play at the Cajun Dome, Lafayette, Louisiana, USA, supported by Silvertide.

Mudhoney perform their classic album Superfuzz Bigmuff at Koko, Camden, London, England, UK.

Eddie Vedder and Pearl Jam bandmates Jeff Ament and Mike McCready join John Doe and Exene Cervenka of punk band X onstage at an Inauguration Day party in the Tractor Tavern, Seattle, Washington, USA.

Heritage Toronto unveils its first commemorative plaque celebrating the Yorkville, Toronto, Canada, music scene. The first plaque is placed at "the birthplace of Canadian song", the Riverboat Coffeehouse at 134 Yorkville Avenue. Opened in 1964, The Riverboat was the best-known coffeehouse in Canada, hosting gigs by Joni Mitchell, Neil Young, Gordon Lightfoot, Bruce Cockburn and countless others.

Courtney Love tells UK music weekly the NME that she is changing her name to Courtney Michelle because she can no longer stand the name Courtney Love.

Deftones, Gossip, Hurts, Jet, The Manic Street Preachers, Mão Morta, Skunk Anansie, The Bloody Beetroots, The Gossip and The Maccabees play on the second of three days of the Optimus Alive 2010 festival, Passeio Marítimo de Algés, Oeiras, Portugal, Europe.

Willie Nelson's 80th birthday is celebrated with a star-studded CMT Crossroads taping at Third Man Records. Taking part are Sheryl Crow, Jack White, Neil Young, Leon Russell, Norah Jones, Ashley Monroe and Jamey Johnson.

Drenge play at The Rescue Rooms, Nottingham, UK.

Drenge play at The Library, Birmingham, UK.

Drenge play at The Sage, Gateshead, UK.

On their The Getaway World Tour The Red Hot Chili Peppers play the last of three nights at Madison Square Garden, New York City, USA.

On their The Getaway World Tour The Red Hot Chili Peppers play at Key Arena, Seattle, Washington, USA.

Highly Suspect play at The Academy 2, Manchester, England, UK, Europe.

Paradox, a movie starring Neil Young and Willie Nelson, is premiered at the SXSW Festival in Austin, Texas, USA.

Powerful music business agency International Talent Booking (ITB) announces that fraudsters have been attempting to scam promoters by posing as representatives of Aerosmith and Pearl Jam. The would-be fraudsters have claimed, by e-mail, to be representing and booking Pearl Jam tours for 2015, and more recently an Aerosmith tour for 2016. In fact, both bands are represented by ITB.