Monsters of Rock

Wikipedia contributors · CC BY-SA · EN · 04/10/2026

Monsters of Rock was a hard rock and heavy metal music festival. It was originally held annually in Castle Donington, England, from 1980 to 1996, taking place every year except 1989 and 1993. It later branched into other locations such as the Netherlands, Poland, Spain, Italy, Germany, France, Sweden, Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, the United States and Russia.

History

In 1980, promoter Paul Loasby, along with Maurice Jones, planned a one-day festival dedicated specifically for bands within the hard rock and heavy metal genre. Loasby was an established and successful promoter working that year on the Rainbow UK tour and penned the festival as the final show of the tour for the band to headline. Jones knew the owner of the Donington Park race track, Tom Wheatcroft, located next to the village of Castle Donington in Leicestershire, England, and the site was chosen to host the event.

(A year earlier, promoter Bill Graham’s July 1979 Day on the Green Festival at Oakland Coliseum in California was also dubbed "The Monsters of Rock" show. This concert featured Aerosmith, Ted Nugent and AC/DC.)

Donington Park was unknown as a major location but its location in the East Midlands next to the M1 and A42 allowed for better transportation to the site from around the country. Additionally, the site ground level sloped which allowed for a better viewing for the audience throughout the site.

The first Monsters of Rock line-up consisted of a mix of British and international bands. The event was a success with 35,000 heavy metal fans attending. Although only conceived as a one-off event, it was mentioned on the day the idea that the festival will return the following year and the first edition birthed what would become a regular festival for the next 15 years, becoming synonymous as a Mecca for fans of the genre and further establishing the Midlands as the home of heavy metal.

Over the years, the attendance continued to grow, reaching 107,000 in 1988–where two fans died during the Guns N' Roses set. The blame was initially accounted to the large size of the crowd and a rush forward during the band's set. But it was officially declared that the cause was laid on the weather, causing muddy and wet conditions on the sloping ground. As a result, the festival did not take place in 1989, and it was replaced that year by a two-day festival similar to Monsters of Rock, the Moscow Music Peace Festival in Soviet Union, which included performances by several Monsters of Rock veterans Bon Jovi, Ozzy Osbourne, Mötley Crüe and Scorpions. Monsters of Rock returned the year after with a limitation to the crowd of 75,000.

The festival had been held in parallel in West Germany from 1983 to 1991. In 1984 and 1986 the festival branched into Sweden. In 1988, the festival occurred for the first time in France, Italy, Spain and the Netherlands. It was held as a one-time event in 1991 in Russia (one of the largest concerts of all time, with an estimated audience of over 1.6 million), Poland, Belgium, Hungary. In 1994, the festival was exported overseas to Chile, Argentina and Brazil.

In 1993 the Monsters of Rock radio show debuted in the United States with host Harlan Hendrickson. Guests on the show include everyone from AC/DC, Kiss, Van Halen, Judas Priest, Motörhead, Cinderella, Ozzy Osbourne, Bon Jovi, Cheap Trick, Mötley Crüe, Ratt, Dio, Y&T, Guns N' Roses, Slayer and Poison.

The Monsters of Rock festival continued on as the premier hard rock and heavy metal event in Great Britain in the 1990s but started to fall upon hard times as heavy metal became less popular, with another cancellation in 1993 due to being unable to find a strong enough headliner. In 1995 the festival found itself in a similar situation until Metallica agreed to play with the condition of the band having control over the event and naming it "Escape from the Studio". In 1996 Ozzy Osbourne and Kiss co-headlined the festival and although there were plans to extend the festival into a two-day event in 1997, the promoters once again found themselves in a struggle for headliners and the event was cancelled and discontinued.

Donington Park remained event-less until 2001 when the Rock and Blues Festival and Stereophonics held events at the site. In 2002 the Ozzfest tour returned to the UK using Donington Park as their only British event and the following year Live Nation picked up the reins as Monsters of Rock's successor in the name of Download Festival. An outstanding success from the offset, the festival continues to this day having increased to a three-day event with five stages, though as of 2008 the event has been relegated outside of the track.

On the 16th of November, 2002, Monsters of Rock was held in Wembley Arena as a one-day 'festival' and featured The Quireboys, The Dogs D'Amour, Alice Cooper, and Thunder.

In 2006, the Monsters of Rock name was revived and held at the National Bowl in Milton Keynes, England, for a one-off event headlined by Deep Purple and with Alice Cooper as a special guest.

In 2012 Harlan Hendrickson & Monsters of Rock Worldwide partnered with Larry Morand and Mike London to launch the inaugural Monsters Of Rock Cruise.

Line-ups

(Note: Line-ups in this section are for the events held in the United Kingdom. They are listed with the headlining band first, followed by the reverse order of appearance by the other bands.)

1980

16 August 1980 (attendance: 35,000)

Rainbow

Judas Priest

Scorpions

April Wine

Saxon (released as the semi-official live album Donington: The Live Tracks. "I still meet people," noted Biff Byford, "that come up and tell me about their own little twist on the day: 'Just as you started 747 (Strangers In The Night), a plane came over.' Of course, we wrote a song about [the event]: And the Bands Played On.")

Riot

Touch

Neal Kay (DJ)

1981

22 August 1981 (attendance: 65,000)

AC/DC

Whitesnake

Blue Öyster Cult

Slade

Blackfoot

More

Tommy Vance (DJ)

1982

21 August 1982 (attendance: 35,000)

Status Quo

Gillan

Saxon (the first band to appear twice)

Hawkwind

Uriah Heep

Anvil

Tommy Vance (DJ)

1983

20 August 1983 (attendance: 35,000)

Whitesnake

Meat Loaf

ZZ Top

Twisted Sister (Police asked Dee Snider to limit his F-word usage to sixteen. Asked subsequently why he exceeded that limit, he explained he "hadn't realised that 'motherfuckers' would be included".)

Dio

Diamond Head

Tommy Vance (DJ)

1984

18 August 1984 (attendance: 65,000)

AC/DC (first band to headline twice)

Van Halen (David Lee Roth's final appearance with Van Halen in the UK)

Ozzy Osbourne

Gary Moore

Y&T (not at Karlsruhe)

Accept

Mötley Crüe

Tommy Vance (DJ)

1985

17 August 1985 (attendance: 50,000)

ZZ Top

Marillion

Bon Jovi

Metallica

Ratt

Magnum

Tommy Vance (DJ)

1986

16 August 1986 (attendance: 40,000)

Ozzy Osbourne

Scorpions

Def Leppard (drummer Rick Allen's first major concert appearance after the 1984 car accident that resulted in the loss of his arm.)

Motörhead

Bad News

Warlock (first time a woman performed at the festival)

1987

22 August 1987 (attendance: 65,000)

Bon Jovi

Dio

Metallica

Anthrax

W.A.S.P.

Cinderella

The Bailey Brothers (DJs)

1988

20 August 1988 (attendance: 107,000)

Iron Maiden (Released as part of Eddie's Archive, this was the loudest set in the festival's history.)

Kiss ("It wasn't Kiss at its very best," recalled Paul Stanley. "We were on during the day, and we didn't even have our standard show at that point when we were out of makeup. But, in some ways, Donington is a great type of boot camp, because you can't depend upon anything other than guts and glory to make something work.")

David Lee Roth

Megadeth

Guns N' Roses (Two fans were trampled to death during "It's So Easy", hence giving them the title of "The Most Dangerous Band In The World.")

Helloween

1990

18 August 1990 (attendance: 72,000)

The entire 1990 festival was simultaneously broadcast live on BBC Radio 1, which had previously recorded festivals for later broadcast.

Whitesnake (recorded as Live at Donington 1990)

Aerosmith (Jimmy Page performed Train Kept a-Rollin' with Aerosmith)

Poison

Quireboys

Thunder

1991

17 August 1991 (attendance: 65,000)

AC/DC (their portion released as Live at Donington)

Metallica

Mötley Crüe

Queensrÿche

The Black Crowes

Attendance: 65,000

1992

22 August 1992 (this was also broadcast live on Radio 1) (attendance: 56,000)

Iron Maiden (recorded as Live at Donington)

Skid Row

Thunder

Slayer

W.A.S.P.

The Almighty (recorded as a bonus disk on Powertrippin')

1994

4 June 1994 (another festival broadcast live; highlights were transmitted in 1995 and 1996) (attendance: 56,000).

This was the first year that two stages were used. Readers of Kerrang! magazine were invited to vote on bands to appear at the festival. Extreme easily won their place on the bill but were bottled for much of their set.

Main stage:

Aerosmith

Extreme

Pantera

Sepultura

Therapy?

Pride & Glory

Second Stage:

The Wildhearts

Terrorvision

Skin

Biohazard

Cry of Love

Headswim

1995

26 August 1995 (attendance: 60,000)

1995 was not billed as 'Monsters of Rock' but as 'Escape from the Studio', owing to Metallica headlining on a break from recording the Load album – making them the first band to play the festival four times (while Therapy? became the first to play in consecutive years). Prior to the show, reverend Brian Whitehead held a special service at the Castle Donington village's St Edward church, to combat the "occult forces" that he feared would be unleashed by the event, especially White Zombie.

Metallica (Their fourth appearance and only appearance as headliner)

Therapy?

Skid Row

Slayer

Slash's Snakepit

White Zombie

Machine Head

Warrior Soul

Corrosion of Conformity

1996

17 August 1996. Ozzy Osbourne and Kiss co-headlined, with Kiss being the final band on stage. (attendance: 50,000)

Main stage:

Kiss and Ozzy Osbourne

Sepultura performed as a three-piece; frontman Max Cavalera was absent owing to the death of his stepson.

Biohazard

Dog Eat Dog

Paradise Lost

Fear Factory

Kerrang! Stage:

Korn

Type O Negative

Everclear

3 Colours Red

Honeycrack

Cecil

2006

3 June 2006 – Milton Keynes Bowl

Deep Purple

Alice Cooper

Thunder

Queensrÿche

Journey

Ted Nugent

Roadstar

International events

1983 West Germany Tour

West Germany: Dortmund, Westfalenhallen – 2 September 1983 Kaiserslautern, Waldstadion am Erbsenberg – 3 September 1983

Nürnberg, Zeppelinfeld – 4 September 1983

Whitesnake

Blue Öyster Cult

Thin Lizzy

Saxon

Meat Loaf

Motörhead

Twisted Sister

1984 North European Tour

Sweden: Stockholm, Råsunda Stadium – 25 August 1984

AC/DC

Van Halen

Mötley Crüe

West Germany: Karlsruhe, Wildparkstadion – 1 September 1984

West Germany: Nuremberg, Zeppelinfeld – 2 September 1984

AC/DC

Van Halen

Ozzy Osbourne

Dio

Gary Moore

Accept

Mötley Crüe

1986 North European Tour

Sweden Stockholm, Råsunda Stadium – 23 August 1986

Scorpions

Ozzy Osbourne

Def Leppard

Zero Nine

West Germany: Nuremberg, Zeppelinfeld – 30 August 1986

West Germany: Mannheim, Maimarktgelände – 31 August 1986

Scorpions

Ozzy Osbourne

M.S.G. (McAuley Schenker Group)

Def Leppard

Bon Jovi

Warlock

1987 European Tour

Italy: Reggio Emilia, Aeroporto di Reggio Emilia – 26 August 1987

Dio

Helloween

Skanners

Black Swan

Gow

West Germany: Nuremberg, Messegelände – 29 August 1987

West Germany: Pforzheim, Stadion im Brötzinger Tal – 30 August 1987

Deep Purple

Dio

Metallica

Ratt

Cinderella

Helloween

Pretty Maids (Due to technical reasons, their show in Pforzheim was cancelled)

1988 USA & Europe Tour

USA: 23 May – 30 July

Van Halen

Scorpions

Dokken

Metallica

Kingdom Come

West Germany: Schweinfurt, Mainwiesen Gelände – 27 August 1988

West Germany: Bochum, Ruhrland Stadion – 28 August 1988

Iron Maiden

Kiss

David Lee Roth

Anthrax

Testament (Megadeth cancelled)

Great White

Treat (did not play in Bochum)

Netherlands: Tilburg, Willem II Stadion – 4 September 1988

Iron Maiden

David Lee Roth

Kiss

Anthrax

Helloween

Great White

Italy: Modena, Festa de l'Unità – 10 September 1988

Iron Maiden

Kiss

Anthrax

Helloween

Kings of the Sun

R.A.F.

Spain: Pamplona, Plaza de Toros – 17 September 1988

Spain: Madrid, Casa de Campo – 18 September 1988

Spain: Barcelona, Plaza de Toros – 22 September 1988

Iron Maiden

Metallica

Anthrax

Helloween

Manzano

France: Paris, Palais Omnisports de Paris-Bercy – 24 & 25 September 1988

Iron Maiden

Trust – The live album Paris by night was recorded on 25 September

Anthrax

Helloween

1990 European Tour

Sweden: Stockholm, Stockholm Globe Arena – 21 August 1990

Whitesnake

Poison

The Quireboys

West Germany: West Berlin, Waldbühne – 23 August 1990

Whitesnake

Aerosmith

Poison

West Germany: Dortmund, Westfalenhallen – 25 August 1990

Whitesnake

Aerosmith

Dio

Poison

Vixen

The Front

Netherlands: Utrecht, Stadion Galgenwaard – 26 August 1990

Whitesnake

Aerosmith

Poison

Quireboys

Italy: Bologna, Arena Parco Nord – 30 August 1990

Whitesnake

Aerosmith

Poison

The Quireboys

Faith No More

Vixen

The Front

West Germany: Mannheim, Maimarktgelände – 1 September 1990

Whitesnake

Aerosmith

Dio

Poison

Vixen

The Front

Cold Sweat (band)

Note: This particular show was promoted as "Super Rock 1990".

France: Paris, Hippodrome de Vincennes – 3 September 1990

Whitesnake

Aerosmith

Poison

The Front

Faith No More

Face to Face

Quireboys

Note: Face to Face was a French band related to Trust. Faith No More was not on the ticket list but was present to the show.

1991 European Tour

Denmark: Copenhagen, Gentofte Stadion – 10 August 1991

AC/DC

Metallica

Queensrÿche

The Black Crowes

Poland: Chorzów, Śląski Stadion – 13 August 1991

AC/DC

Metallica

Queensrÿche

Hungary: Budapest, Népstadion – 22 August 1991

AC/DC

Metallica

Mötley Crüe

Queensrÿche

Source and attribution

Adapted from “Monsters of Rock” by English Wikipedia contributors. Main paragraphs and sections are retained; tables, reference markers and technical markup are omitted. This is an encyclopedic adaptation, not a personal review. Original revision and contributor history ↗. Text is shared under CC BY-SA 4.0 ↗. Check current visitor access, tickets and transport with the relevant operator.