Historic events this week from Billy Joel, John Lennon, Paul McCartney, Alice In Chains and Van Halen

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JANUARY 24, 1995: BALANCE BY VAN HALEN
Van Halen’s Balance was their fourth with singer Sammy Hagar.

The final Van Halen studio album to feature Hagar on vocals, was also their fourth straight US #1 album.

The 3x Platinum album featured three Top 10 singles, and earned the band their fourth Grammy nomination for “The Seventh Seal.”

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JANUARY 25, 1991: PAUL McCARTNEY UNPLUGGED
Paul appeared on the 21st episode of MTV Unplugged, but he was the first to release his performance as an album. Among a few cover songs, Unplugged (The Official Bootleg) contains six Beatles songs and “I Lost My Little Girl”; the first song Paul ever wrote, when he was 14 years old.

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JANUARY 25, 1994: ALICE IN CHAINS’ JAR OF FLIES
After two albums of alternative metal, Alice In Chains switched gears with the largely acoustic Jar of Flies EP.

Featuring their first #1 single, “No Excuses”, the EP has sold over 3 million copies worldwide and is their second biggest release behind 1992’s Dirt.

Jar of Flies is the first EP in music history to debut at #1.

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JANUARY 27, 1970: INSTANT KARMA! COMPLETED IN A DAY

Lennon’s third single outside The Beatles was written, recorded and completed in one day.

“…wrote it for breakfast, recorded it for lunch, and we’re putting it out for dinner…” – John Lennon

Featuring George Harrison, it was Lennon’s 2nd “solo” single since privately leaving The Beatles four months earlier.

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JANUARY 27, 2014: BILLY JOEL BEGINS MADISON SQUARE GARDEN RESIDENCY

Billy Joel announced a once monthly residency at Madison Square Garden, for as long as there is demand.

He only performed 2 shows at MSG in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but he’s back at it.

May 14, 2022 will mark his 80th show of his residency, and his 126th performance at Madison Square Garden over his six decade career.