On this day in rock history, Iron Maiden commemorated a huge mid-'80s tour with the four-sided, era-defining Live After Death. By then, they'd had plenty of practice, after crossing some two dozen countries over nearly a solid year to present more than 185 concerts.

Meanwhile, 'Heroes' marked the second of David Bowie's legendary Berlin Trilogy albums, as he delved deeper into the electronic sounds first hinted at on the earlier Low. An overarching sonic theme, unified throughout the series, comes courtesy of Bowie's studio collaborators Tony Visconti and Brian Eno.

Two years after Kiss' career-saving concert release Alive!, they returned with its first sequel. Alive II, in order to differentiate itself, only featured tracks from Destroyer, Rock and Roll Over and Love Gun, the latter of which had only been out for a matter of months.

This date also saw the studio debut of Queen's 2000s-era collaboration with former Bad Company frontman Paul Rodgers. The Cosmos Rocks combined Rodgers' street-wise R&B-laced style with Queen's still-super-sized pomp. Long-time Moody Blues frontman Justin Hayward is also celebrating a birthday.

Watch an exciting recap of many of the day’s biggest rock anniversaries above, narrated by our radio host Zach Martin. And learn more about these and other important events by clicking the links below.

News Anniversaries:
Don Henley sued over flying maraca (2000)

Album Anniversaries:
Jethro Tull - War Child (1974)
Art Garfunkel - Breakaway (1975)
David Bowie - 'Heroes' (1977)
Kiss - Alive II (1977)
INXS - Listen Like Thieves (1985)
Iron Maiden - Live After Death (1985)
Queen + Paul Rodgers - The Cosmos Rocks (2008)

Birthdays:
Justin Hayward, Moody Blues (1946)

Iron Maiden Albums, Ranked Worst to Best

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