This Day in Rock History: November 24

Breakthrough Hits and Milestones

• 1966: The Beatles began recording their Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band album at the EMI Studios (now called Abbey Road Studios). The album is widely seen as a musical masterpiece that transcends genres and has sold over 32 million copies worldwide.
• 1973: Ringo Starr's song, "Photograph," reached the top spot of the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart, where it spent a single week. Co-written with fellow Beatle George Harrison, it also hit No. 1 in several other countries, including Australia and Canada.

Cultural Milestones

• 1991: Queen frontman Freddie Mercury died from AIDS-related complications at age 45, one day after publicly announcing his disease. He joined Brian May, Roger Taylor, and John Deacon to form Queen in 1970 and is widely considered one of the most talented and charismatic singers in music history.
• 1991: On the same fateful day of the same year, KISS drummer Eric Carr died after a battle with cancer. He replaced Peter Criss as the band's drummer in 1980 and stayed with them until his death.
• 1993: Blues legend Albert Collins, also known as "The Master of the Telecaster," died of cancer at his home in Las Vegas. He's considered a pioneer of Texas blues and inspired many other legends, including Stevie Ray Vaughan and Robert Cray.
• 1994: The first edition of the MTV Europe Music Awards took place in Berlin, Germany. Aerosmith won the Best Rock category and also performed "Walk on Water" and "Cryin'."

Notable Recordings and Performances

• 1976: KISS started their Rock and Roll Over Tour in support of their similarly titled album. The tour opened at the Savannah Civic Center in Savannah, Georgia.
• 1998: Metallica released their Garage Inc. cover album through Elektra Records. It included songs by various bands and artists that influenced Metallica in their early days, and it reached 5x Platinum in the U.S.