This Day in Rock History: December 12

Breakthrough Hits and Milestones

• 1966: Pink Floyd had their first major live performance at London's Royal Albert Hall. It was a benefit concert for the Oxfam charity foundation named You're Joking?, which also included other musical performances and comedic acts.
• 1970: The Doors played their final show with frontman Jim Morrison at The Warehouse, a club in New Orleans, Louisiana. Morrison passed away the following year and, despite the band initially wanting to continue without him, they disbanded a few years later.
• 1992: Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee Whitney Houston's The Bodyguard soundtrack reached the top of the Billboard 200 albums chart and spent 20 weeks there. Driven by the huge success of Houston's cover of Dolly Parton's song, "I Will Always Love You," the album sold over 45 million copies worldwide, making it the best-selling soundtrack ever.

Notable Recordings and Performances

• 1980: The Clash released their fourth studio album, Sandinista!, via Columbia Records. The triple album included 36 tracks and received better reviews in the U.S. than in the band's homeland, the U.K.
• 2012: A huge benefit concert was held for the victims of Hurricane Sandy, which devastated large parts of the Caribbean and the U.S. Mid-Atlantic region a few weeks earlier. The roster included many legendary performers, such as The Rolling Stones, Bruce Springsteen, The Who, Roger Waters, Billy Joel, and Paul McCartney, who performed alongside the surviving members of Nirvana.