Eddie Van Halen died on October 6, 2020, at age 65 after a long battle with throat and lung cancer, closing out one of the most influential careers in rock guitar history. Born in the Netherlands and raised in Pasadena, California, Van Halen co-founded Van Halen with his brother Alex in 1972, and his explosive two handed tapping technique on tracks like "Eruption" rewired what an entire generation of guitarists thought was possible. Albums like Van Halen, 1984, and 5150 paired his virtuosic playing with the band's larger than life showmanship, first under David Lee Roth and later Sammy Hagar. Beyond his own band, Van Halen famously played the searing guitar solo on Michael Jackson's "Beat It," done as a favor and without payment. His homemade Frankenstrat guitar became as iconic as the riffs he wrote on it.

Ginger Baker, drummer and co-founder of the power trio Cream, died on October 6, 2019, in Canterbury, England. Alongside Eric Clapton and Jack Bruce, Baker formed Cream in 1966, and his ferocious, jazz influenced drumming on records like Disraeli Gears and Wheels of Fire helped establish the template for the extended, improvisational rock solo, most famously on his own drum showcase "Toad." Baker's polyrhythmic style, drawing heavily on African percussion traditions he studied obsessively, earned him a reputation as rock's first true drum virtuoso, and his volatile chemistry with Bruce became as legendary as the band's music. After Cream split in 1968, he formed the short lived supergroup Blind Faith with Clapton and Steve Winwood before a long, restless solo career ranging from jazz fusion to Nigerian afrobeat.

On October 6, 2009, KISS released Sonic Boom, their first studio album in eleven years and the first to feature the band's now longtime lineup of Paul Stanley, Gene Simmons, Tommy Thayer, and Eric Singer. Determined to recapture the raw, riff driven energy of their 1970s output, Stanley took the production reins himself alongside Greg Collins, deliberately avoiding modern studio polish in favor of a stripped down, garage rock attack on tracks like "Modern Day Delilah" and "Say Yeah." The album was initially sold exclusively through Walmart in the US, a distribution move that raised eyebrows but still pushed it into the Billboard top ten. Sonic Boom marked KISS's strongest chart showing in decades and proved the band could still write hook heavy rockers without leaning on nostalgia. Produced by Paul Stanley and Greg Collins.