November 25, 1976 – The Band film their final performance on Thanksgiving Day at Winterland Ballroom in San Francisco. Director Martin Scorsese makes it a documentary called The Last Waltz. The show also features guest stars Bob Dylan, Paul Butterfield, Neil Young, Emmylou Harris, Ringo Starr, Ronnie Hawkins, Dr. John, Joni Mitchell, Van Morrison, Muddy Waters, Ronnie Wood, Neil Diamond, Bobby Charles, The Staple Singers, and Eric Clapton. It is generally hailed as one of the greatest rock concerts ever.
November 25, 1984 – Band Aid is founded by Bob Geldof and Midge Ure to raise money for anti-poverty efforts in Ethiopia. They record the song “Do They Know It’s Christmas?” in Notting Hill, London, and release it four days later. Paul McCartney, Phil Collins, Sting and U2 are among the 40 artists who participate. At the time, the single sells over three million copies and becomes the biggest-selling single of all time in the UK.
November 25, 2000 – A burglar breaks into Alice Cooper‘s home in Paradise Valley, AZ and takes an estimated $6,500 of merchandise including several of Cooper’s gold records, and clothes and shoes belonging to one of his daughters. Cooper was out of town at the time of the burglary, but his mother and three of his children were present, although no one was harmed.
10 Things You Might Not Know About Alice Cooper
Classic Rock Birthdays
November 25, 1959 – Steve Rothery, guitar (Marillion)
November 25, 1964 – Mark Lanegan, vocals, guitar (Screaming Trees, Queens of the Stone Age) (d. 2022)
November 25, 1944 – Bev Bevan, drums (The Move, Electric Light Orchestra)
Rock Remembrances
November 25, 1974 – Nick Drake dies in his sleep of an overdose of amitriptyline, an anti-depressant drug. He was 26. Drake released only three albums in his lifetime, and never achieved commercial success while he was alive. In 2000, Volkswagen featured the title track from his album Pink Moon in a TV commercial, and within a month Drake had sold more records than he had in the previous thirty years. Later, musicians such as R.E.M.’s Peter Buck and Robert Smith of The Cure would cite him as a major influence.
