Born on September 17, 1985, Jon Walker became best known as the bassist of Panic! at the Disco during one of the band's most transformative periods. Walker joined in 2006 following the departure of original bassist Brent Wilson and quickly became part of the touring and creative lineup alongside Brendon Urie, Ryan Ross, and Spencer Smith. Walker contributed to the band's dramatic stylistic evolution on 2008's Pretty. Odd., which traded much of the electronic theatricality of their debut for psychedelic pop, classic rock, and Beatles-inspired arrangements. He played on songs including "Nine in the Afternoon" and "That Green Gentleman (Things Have Changed)". Walker and Ryan Ross left Panic! at the Disco in 2009 and subsequently formed The Young Veins, continuing the vintage rock direction they had explored together.

On September 17, 1991, Ozzy Osbourne released No More Tears, his sixth solo studio album and one of the defining records of his post-Sabbath career. Powered by Zakk Wylde's enormous guitar tone and Ozzy's unmistakable voice, the album balanced crushing heavy metal with some of the strongest melodic songwriting of his solo catalog. Featuring "No More Tears", "Mama, I'm Coming Home", "Mr. Tinkertrain", "Road to Nowhere", and "Hellraiser", the album became a major commercial success. "Mama, I'm Coming Home" reached No. 28 on the Billboard Hot 100, becoming Ozzy's highest-charting solo single in the United States. Lemmy Kilmister contributed lyrics to several songs, adding another legendary metal voice behind the scenes. No More Tears became one of Ozzy's best-selling solo albums and remains a cornerstone of early-1990s heavy metal. Produced by Duane Baron and John Purdell.

On September 17, 1991, Guns N' Roses unleashed Use Your Illusion I and Use Your Illusion II simultaneously, an enormous two-album statement that pushed the band far beyond the raw street-level hard rock of Appetite for Destruction. Across 30 songs, Axl Rose, Slash, Duff McKagan, Izzy Stradlin, and Matt Sorum stretched their sound into blues, punk, piano ballads, sprawling epics, and ambitious orchestral rock. Use Your Illusion I delivered "November Rain", "Don't Cry", "Live and Let Die", and "Dead Horse", while Use Your Illusion II brought "Civil War", "You Could Be Mine", "Estranged", and an alternate version of "Don't Cry". The albums debuted at No. 2 and No. 1 respectively on the Billboard 200, an extraordinary achievement for two records released on the same day.

Together, the Use Your Illusion albums captured Guns N' Roses at their most excessive, fractured, adventurous, and ambitious, with the band attempting something far bigger than simply repeating the formula that had made them superstars. Produced by Mike Clink and Guns N' Roses.