Born on September 27, 1943, in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Randy Bachman co-founded The Guess Who, the Canadian band that became one of the biggest rock exports of the late 1960s. His guitar work anchored hits like "These Eyes," "No Time," and the unmistakable riff of "American Woman," which became the first Canadian single to reach No. 1 in the US. After leaving the Guess Who in 1970, Bachman formed Bachman-Turner Overdrive with his brother Robbie and Fred Turner, scoring further hits with "Takin' Care of Business" and "You Ain't Seen Nothing Yet." Decades later, Bachman remained a fixture of Canadian music as host of the CBC radio show Vinyl Tap and was inducted into both the Canadian Music Hall of Fame and the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame.

Born Marvin Lee Aday on September 27, 1947, in Dallas, Texas, Meat Loaf became one of rock's most theatrical voices through his partnership with songwriter Jim Steinman. Their 1977 album Bat Out of Hell, produced by Todd Rundgren, paired operatic bombast with hard rock guitars on tracks like the title song and "Paradise by the Dashboard Light," eventually selling more than 40 million copies worldwide and becoming one of the best selling albums in history. Meat Loaf returned to the formula in 1993 with Bat Out of Hell II: Back into Hell, scoring a global hit with "I'd Do Anything for Love (But I Won't Do That)." Beyond music, he built a substantial acting career, appearing as Robert Paulson in Fight Club and Eddie in The Rocky Horror Picture Show. Few artists have matched his combination of raw power and theatrical excess.

On September 27, 1986, Cliff Burton, bassist for Metallica, was killed at age 24 when the band's tour bus skidded off an icy road near Ljungby, Sweden, and flipped while touring behind Master of Puppets. Burton was thrown through a window and the bus landed on top of him, killing him instantly. Since joining in 1982, Burton had redefined what a metal bassist could do, bringing classical training and a love of distortion and wah pedal effects to tracks like "Anesthesia (Pulling Teeth)," his extended bass solo on Kill 'Em All. His fingerprints are all over Kill 'Em All, Ride the Lightning, and Master of Puppets, and he received a posthumous writing credit on "To Live Is to Die" from ...And Justice for All. Devastated but determined to continue, Metallica hired Jason Newsted and dedicated the rest of their career to Burton's memory. Decades later, he is still widely regarded as one of the most innovative bassists heavy metal has ever produced, a musician who proved thrash could be both brutal and musically sophisticated.