This Day in Rock History: December 10

Breakthrough Hits and Milestones

• 1966: The Beach Boys' "Good Vibrations" reached the top spot on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 singles chart. It was the band's third No. 1 single in the U.S. but their first release to top both the U.S. and U.K. charts.
• 1983: Paul McCartney and Michael Jackson's "Say Say Say" got to the No. 1 spot on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100, where it spent six consecutive weeks. It was Jackson's seventh top-10 hit of the year and was also a huge success internationally.

Cultural Milestones

• 1967: Otis Redding died in a plane crash in Wisconsin on his way to a show, along with four members of his band. He was posthumously inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 1989, with Little Richard as the inductor.
• 1973: The legendary CBGB music club opened in New York City's East Village. Although its name was an acronym for "Country, Bluegrass, Blues," it gained its fame for helping launch the careers of many legendary punk groups, including the Ramones, Talking Heads, and Blondie.

Notable Recordings and Performances

• 1976: Paul McCartney's band Wings released the Wings Over America triple live album via Capitol Records. The record included live recordings from the 1975-76 North American leg of their world tour and went Platinum in both the U.S. and Canada.
• 1976: On the exact same day, Queen released their fifth studio album, A Day at the Races, via EMI Records in the U.K. and Elektra Records in the U.S. It was the follow-up to the hugely successful A Night at the Opera, with both albums borrowing their names from Marx Brothers movies.
• 2007: Led Zeppelin reunited for a final one-off performance at the Ahmet Ertegun Tribute Concert in London. It was their first full-length concert since they disbanded in 1980 after drummer John Bonham died, with Bonham's son Jason handling drumming duties.