Today in music history: The Band made "The Last Waltz"

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November 25, 2015

Van Morrison Bob Dylan Robbie Robertson last waltz — Van Morrison, Bob Dylan and The Band's Robbie Robertson (from left to right) onstage in 1976. The performance was filmed for Martin Scorsese's 'The Last Waltz.'
United Artists/Getty Images

History Highlight:

Today in 1976, The Band made their final performance, "The Last Waltz", at Winterland Ballroom in San Francisco. The show, held on Thanksgiving Day, also featured Joni Mitchell, Neil Young, Van Morrison, Neil Diamond and Eric Clapton. Martin Scorsese filmed the event and made it into a documentary two years later.

Also, in:

1967 - The Who peaked at number nine on the Billboard Hot 100 Singles Chart with "I Can See for Miles" which was their first and only top ten single in the U.S.

1971 - Ray Manzarek, Robbie Krieger and John Densmore announced that The Doors would carry on after Jim Morrison's death earlier in the year. They would later split up in October of 1973.

1974 - Nick Drake died in his sleep due to overdose at age 26. Drake signed to Island Records when he was twenty years old and recorded the classic album Pink Moon in 1972. In 2000, Volkswagen featured the title track from Pink Moon in a T.V. ad, and within a month Drake had sold more records than he had in the previous thirty years.

1989 - Alice Cooper peaked at number seven on the Billboard Hot 100 Singles Chart with "Poison" which was Alice Cooper's final top ten single in the U.S.

1992 - The Bodyguard opened nation-wide featuring Whitney Houston and Kevin Costner. The soundtrack featuring Houston's "I Will Always Love You" is one of the best-selling soundtracks of all time, selling more than 42 million copies worldwide.

2005 - Madonna achieved her sixth number one on the U.S. album charts with "Confessions on a Dance Floor", her third consecutive U.S. album chart topper. The album went to No. 1 in 40 countries, setting a new record previously held by The Beatles when they went No. 1 in 36 countries in 2000.

2007 - Kevin Dubrow, the frontman of metal band Quiet Riot, was found dead in his Las Vegas home at the age of 52. Their 1983 release Metal Health was the first metal album to top the U.S. charts.

Birthdays:

Soul singer Percy Sledge, singer of No. 1 single "When A Man Loves A Woman", was born today in 1940.

Singer Bob Lind was born today in 1944.

Singer Jocelyn Brown was born today in 1950.

Amy Grant is 55 today.

Mark Lanegan of Screaming Trees and Queens of the Stone Age is 51 today.

Highlights for Today in Music History are gathered from This Day in Music, Paul Shaffer's Day in Rock, and Wikipedia.