There’s a reason people want to “party like a rock star.”

Since the genre’s arrival, rock has been intrinsically linked with having a good time. Decadence, dancing, wild antics, drinking, drugs, sex - all of these things come to mind when one imagines a rock-star party.

Of course, rockers are still human, and like the rest of us, they often save their biggest partying for their birthdays. As UCR hits its own milestone (we celebrated 10 years in May 2021), we're looking back at some of the coolest, and craziest, birthdays in rock history. In the stories below you’ll find all the classic rock cliches: nudity, narcotics, thousands of dollars worth of damage, police arresting partygoers - and that's just from a Keith Moon party!

From bar fights to hash brownies, elaborate costumes to partial band reunions, birthdays have given many rock stars the reason - or excuse - to celebrate especially hard.

But not every musician follows the same party guidebook. Some - like Dave Grohl -  have used their birthdays as an excuse to throw massive, all-star concert events. Others - like Mick Jagger - have taken over hotels to throw shindigs with their celebrity friends. Then there’s Freddie Mercury, who decided copious amounts of balloons, champagne and drugs weren’t enough one year, so he also had the sky lit up with thousands of fireworks. As we celebrate UCR’s birthday, check out some of the biggest birthday parties in rock history below. While all of them are different, they do share one thing in common: We weren't invited to any of them.

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