30 OCTOBER
In Music History
1998 Original members of Black Sabbath reunite for a one-off performance on Late Show with David Letterman.
1997 At the Martin Beck Theatre, a play revival titled The Cherry Orchard opens.
1997 The Senate passes the music industry's "La Cienega" bill by a voice vote. The bill closes a loophole in the 1909 copyright Act that put into peril most pre-1978 music copyrights.
1992 George Michael sues his record label, Sony, calling his contract "professional slavery." Michael, who is seeking control of his masters and escape from his 8-album deal, loses the case and is ordered to pay court costs for both sides. In 1995, Virgin and Dreamworks SKG buy his contract from Sony, and Michael resumes his music career with the album Older the following year.
1984 Linda Ronstadt makes her operatic debut in La Boheme in New York.
1982 The Jam announce their breakup. Bandleader Paul Weller forms The Style Council with Mick Talbot shortly thereafter.
1972 Nine years after The Beatles did it, Elton John becomes the second rock act to play a Command Performance for Britain's royalty.
1971 Pink Floyd release their sixth album, Meddle, in the US.
1970 Black Sabbath play their first show in America: a gig at Glassboro State College in Glassboro, Pennsylvania.
1970 Hotlegs (later renamed 10cc) make their concert debut at London's Royal Festival Hall.
1968 Malcolm Hale (lead guitarist for Spanky & Our Gang) dies of pneumonia at age 27.
1967 Brian Jones of The Rolling Stones pleads guilty to drug possession and gets a nine-month prison sentence.
1965 Gavin Rossdale (Bush frontman) is born in London, England.
1954 Jeannie Kendall (of the country duo The Kendalls) is born in St. Louis, Missouri.
1947 Timothy B. Schmit (bass guitarist for Eagles, Poco) is born in Oakland, California.
Bob Dylan Plays For The People On Rolling Thunder Revue
1975Bob Dylan performs the first show of his Rolling Thunder Revue at the War Memorial Auditorium in Plymouth, Massachusetts. Later the subject of two documentaries, the unusual tour is no ordinary cash grab.
Read more30 OCTOBER
Featured Events
2016 With the Cubs in the World Series for the first time since 1945 (they haven't won since 1908), longtime fan Eddie Vedder leads the crowd in "Take Me Out To The Ballgame" during the seventh-inning stretch.More
2010 Yusuf Islam (Cat Stevens) makes a rare public appearance, performing "Peace Train" at the Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear, which is organized and hosted by Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert. Midway through the song, Colbert interrupts him and introduces Ozzy Osbourne, who starts performing "Crazy Train." Stevens and Osbourne go back and forth, resulting in a strange and hilarious train wreck.More
2004 Blink-182 drummer Travis Barker marries Playboy model Shanna Moakler in a Nightmare Before Christmas-inspired ceremony with his bandmates serving as his groomsmen. The couple's romantic connection to the classic Tim Burton film gets a nod in the blink single "I Miss You."More
1999 Santana's Supernatural album goes to #1 in America, giving the group their first chart-topping album in 28 years.
1999 It's an early attempt at video over the web, as Neil Young's annual Bridge School Benefit concert is "cybercast" to a few brave souls trying to get their modems to work. The Who, Pearl Jam, and Brian Wilson perform at the show.
1987 George Michael releases his first solo album, Faith. Packed with hits ("I Want Your Sex," "Father Figure," the title track), it goes to #1 in both the UK and US, and wins the Grammy Award for Album of the Year.
1984 Less than two years after its release, the RIAA certifies Michael Jackson's Thriller album with sales of 20 million copies in America, introducing a new designation, "Double Diamond." The stratospheric sales of Thriller are unprecedented, and keep climbing to well over 30 million. It isn't until 1994 when another album gets the Double Diamond designation, and that's a greatest hits package: Eagles - Their Greatest Hits 1971 - 1975.
1982 "Who Can It Be Now?," the first single from Men at Work, hits #1 in America.
1974 At the "Rumble In The Jungle" in Zaire, Africa, boxer Muhammad Ali knocks out George Foreman (unbeaten in 40 fights) in the eighth round in a stunning victory that earns him the heavyweight title he was stripped of for refusing induction into the US Army in 1967. The fight is recounted in the 1975 hit "Black Superman" by Johnny Wakelin & the Kinshasa Band.More
©2026 Songfacts®, LLC