This Day in History: 2024-11-30

NOVEMBER 30th

Pink Floyd release “The Wall.”   The ‘concept album’ tops the U.S. Billboard 200 chart for 15 weeks.  1979

Michael Jackson releases “Thriller,” which features Eddie Van Halen (the “Beat It” guitar solo). Paul McCartney (duets with Jackson on “The Girl Is Mine”) and Toto’s Steve Lukather. The album establishes Jackson as “The King of Pop.” 1982

Creed’s power ballad “With Arms Wide Open,” off the band’s ‘99 album “Human Clay,” is certified a double-platinum single by the RIAA with over a 2-million certified unit sales.  2020

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.

Evanescence‘s ’04 album “Fallen” is certified diamond by the Recording Industry Association Of America (RIAA) 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.”  2022

KISS light up the New York’s Empire State Building marking their final live concerts days later at Madison Square Garden.  2023

MORE TODAY IN ROCK…

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

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

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

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

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.” 1968

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. 1972

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

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.”  1977

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. 1994

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. 2003.

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 collectable sauce bottles are available for purchase. Anthony also visits select Hard Rock eateries to sign autographs and greet fans. 2005

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. 2009

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). 2010

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. 2011

Metallica announce 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. 2012

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.” 2016

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.  2018

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.  2021

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.”  2022

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