November 30th

1979 Pink Floyd releases “The Wall.”

The ‘concept album’ tops the Billboard 200 chart for 15 weeks.

1982 Michael Jackson unleashes “Thriller.”

The classic effort features Eddie Van Halen (the “Beat It” guitar solo). Paul McCartney (duet with Jackson on “The Girl Is Mine”) and Toto’s Steve Lukather. The album establishes Jackson as “The King of Pop.”

2020 Creed’s power ballad “With Arms Wide Open” is certified a double-platinum.

The RIAA confirms over a 2-million certified unit sales.

Off the band’s ‘99 album “Human Clay,” the song was inspired by the pregnancy of frontman Scott Stapp’s then-wife Hillaree Burns with their first child.

The song reached #1 on the Billboard Hot 100.

2022 Evanescence‘s ’04 album “Fallen” is certified diamond.

The Recording Industry Association Of America (RIAA) certified the album for sales and streams of ten million units in the U.S. The set features the tracks “Bring Me To Life,” “Going Under,” “My Immortal” and “Everybody’s Fool.”

2023 KISS light up New York’s Empire State Building.

It marks the band’s final live concerts days later at Madison Square Garden.

MORE TODAY IN ROCK…

1945 Bassist Roger Glover is born. He leaves Deep Purple to produce but eventually joins his former Deep Purple bandmate, guitarist Ritchie Blackmore, in Rainbow.

1953 David Sancious (Bruce Springsteen’s E Street Band) has a birthday.

1955 With a rebel yell! Billy Idol begins life as William Michael Albert Broad.

1957 John Ashton (Psychedelic Furs) enters the world. The guitarist is born at Whips Cross Hospital, Forest Gate, East London.

1959 The Runaways lead vocalist, Cherrie Currie, is born in Encino, CA.

1968 Steppenwolf’s “Magic Carpet Ride” sits at #3 on the Billboard singles chart. The song is lodged behind Diana Ross & The Supremes’ “Love Child” and The Beatles’ former #1 hit “Hey Jude.”

1972 The BBC bans Wings’ “Hi, Hi, Hi” for “unsuitable lyrics” after just one play. Though group leader Paul McCartney tries to be subtle the sexual innuendo is just a bit too obvious for the broadcasters. Still, it hits the Top 10 in both the U.K. and U.S.

1973 John Moyer, bassist for Disturbed, is born in El Paso, TX.

1974 Elton John’s “Greatest Hits” is #1 on the Billboard 200.

1977 Crooner Bing Crosby’s 42nd and final Christmas special airs. The show features his odd duet with David Bowie on “Peace On Earth”/”Little Drummer Boy.”

1991 “Get A Leg Up” (John Mellencamp) returns to #1 on Billboard’s Mainstream Rock chart for a third time (exchanging the top spot with Van Halen’s “Top Of The World.”

1994 The Breeders guitarist Kelley Deal is arrested at her Ohio home after accepting a private courier package containing four grams of heroin. A heroin addict since her teens, Deal later enters rehab in Minnesota.

2003 The City of New York officially names the corner of Bowery and Second Street “Joey Ramone Place.” It is the neighborhood where Joey Ramone (Jeffrey Ross Hyman) once lived and is close to CBGBs, the club where the Ramones played their first shows. Ramone passed away two years earlier.

2005 Hot enough for teacher? Van Halen bassist Michael Anthony’s signature barbecue sauces are featured at all U.S. Hard Rock Cafe locations. The chain adds a steak dish made with Mad Anthony’s sauce to its menu while collectible sauce bottles are available for purchase. Anthony also visits select Hard Rock eateries to sign autographs and greet fans.

2009 The Smashing Pumpkins settle a pair of lawsuits against their former label, Virgin Records, over the use of their music. Legal papers were filed in ‘08 regarding the band’s music in promotions and commercials, as well as royalty payments owed to former members James Iha and D’arcy Wretzky-Brown.

2010 The Killers issue their Christmas song “Boots.” The band has released a holiday single every year since ’06. This one, like the others, supports World AIDS Day (the following day – 12/1).

2011 The French Government awards Lenny Kravitz the honor of Officer of the Order of Arts and Letters. “(Kravitz) freed (himself) of the barriers between black and white sound,” says French culture minister Frederic Mitterrand.

2012 Metallica announces the launch of their record label, Blackened Recordings. The label administers Metallica’s catalog which is now owned by the group under a provision in their contract with Warner Music Group. “We would like to thank everyone at the Warner Music Group for 28 years of a fantastic relationship,” says Metallica’s James Hetfield.

2012 Daughtry and 3 Doors Down donate $15,000 to the New Jersey Hurricane Sandy charity “Hometown Heroes” after a performance in Asbury Park, NJ. Chris Daughtry dedicates the song “We’re Not Gonna Fall” to the audience.

2016 Nightwish singer Floor Jansen calls Slayer “dreadful,” “unbelievably boring” and “terrible” in a Metal Hammer magazine article. Slayer fans “implode” and respond like the “angel of death.” Following a “season in the abyss,” Jansen states, “Thinking Slayer’s music is not my thing doesn’t mean I don’t respect the band for what they are and what they’ve done. I just won’t play it.”

2018 After calling for a more civil political discourse Kid Rock lashes out at The View co-host Joy Behar during a live interview on “Fox & Friends.” “People need to calm down, get a little less politically correct and I would say you know, love everybody. Except, screw that Joy Behar bitch,” states Rock. Behar and Rock are political opposites, especially when it comes to President Trump. FOX hosts apologize on-air for Rock’s comments while the singer claims he was just joking. But the fallout from the incident gets Rock ousted as the Grand Marshall of the Nashville Christmas Parade. He is replaced by James Shaw Jr. who thwarted a mass shooting at a Waffle House in Nashville earlier in the year.

2021 Mötley Crüe announce that BMG has acquired the band’s entire music catalog, spanning their 40-year career totaling nine studio albums plus several platinum-selling live albums and compilation sets, for a reported $150 million.

2021 Hours after announcing a 16-city tour, the Foo Fighters cancel a concert in Minneapolis because the venue, Huntington Bank Stadium, refuses to agree to the band’s COVID-19 safety measures. The concert is moved to U.S. Bank Stadium.

2022 Ghost’s “Mary On A Cross” is certified gold by the RIAA for accumulating 500,000 certified units (based on sales, on-demand audio, and/or video streams. The track originally appeared on the two-track EP/single “Seven Inches Of Satanic Panic.”

2022 A California judge rules that Lloyd’s Of London doesn’t cover Metallica for financial losses suffered when the band was forced to postpone six South American shows in ‘20 because of the pandemic. COVID-19-related travel restrictions were enacted in all parts of the world, giving Metallica no choice but to postpone the dates.

2022 Christine McVie, singer/keyboardist for Fleetwood Mac, passes away at the age of 79. Her classic songs with Fleetwood Mac include “Don’t Stop,” “Over My Head,” “Say You Love Me” and “Everywhere. She also had a solo hit with “Got A Hold On Me.”

2023 Shane MacGowan, frontman of the Celtic Punk band the Pogues, dies at age 65. He had been suffering from viral encephalitis.