Kiss ended the decade with the October 1989 release Hot in the Shade . Although the album failed to achieve Platinum status, it spawned the hit ballad ” Forever “, co-written by Michael Bolton . Peaking at No. 8 in the US, it was the group’s highest-charting single since “Beth”…
Read More
Aerosmith’s next album was even more successful. Pump , released in September 1989, featured three top-ten singles: ” Love in an Elevator “, ” Janie’s Got a Gun “, and ” What It Takes “, as well as the top 30 ” The Other Side “, re-establishing the band as…
Read More
In September 1989, Europe did a gig at the Whisky a Go Go club in West Hollywood, California , under the pseudonym Le Baron Boys . That name would later be used as a title for a much-circulated Europe bootleg , which contained demo recordings from 1989 to 1990. Two…
Read More
In the 1989 MTV Video Music Awards , Jon Bon Jovi and Richie Sambora performed acoustic versions of “Livin’ on a Prayer” and “Wanted Dead or Alive”. While MTV Unplugged was already in development by the time of this event, its showrunners have credited the pair’s performance with influencing the…
Read More
In 1989, Right Between the Eyes was released on Atlantic / Megaforce , with Jerry Harrison on vocals and Drew Bollmann on second guitar. A video for “Taking My Breath Away” was played on MTV ‘s Headbangers’ Ball . Following the release of Right Between the Eyes and a supporting…
Read More
Kiss continued, introducing veteran drummer Eric Singer . Singer had played with Paul Stanley previously, as part of Stanley’s backing band during a 1989 solo tour.
Wanting to give fans something new after the massive radio and video airplay for not only the seven singles but also the album tracks that radio DJs were playing off the album, the band performed “Tear It Down”, a Hysteria B-side at the 1989 MTV Video Music Awards .
At the 1989 American Music Awards , Def Leppard won Favorite Heavy Metal/Hard Rock Artist, as well as Favorite Heavy Metal/Hard Rock Album (for Hysteria ).
At the 1989 Brit Awards held at the Royal Albert Hall in London, Def Leppard were again a nominee for Best British Group, and the band performed “Pour Some Sugar on Me” at the ceremony.
The band went into a hiatus in 1987 following the conclusion of their Raised on Radio tour. Columbia Records released the Greatest Hits compilation in November 1988, which became one of the best-selling greatest-hits albums, selling over 15 million copies and continuing to sell half a million to a million…
Read More