This Day in Rock History: November 18

Breakthrough Hits and Milestones

• 1978: Billy Joel's sixth studio album, 52nd Street, topped the Billboard 200 album chart, where it stayed for eight weeks. Named after a street in Midtown Manhattan where jazz musicians used to meet and play, the album was a big commercial success, earning seven-times Platinum status in the U.S.
• 1994: The Rolling Stones became the first major band to stream a concert live on the internet during a show in Dallas, Texas. The first-ever band to do so was Severe Tire Damage a year earlier, and The Rolling Stones invited them to open the Dallas show in recognition of this groundbreaking achievement.

Notable Recordings and Performances

• 1991: U2 released their seventh studio album, Achtung Baby, through Island Records. It was a huge success with both critics and the general public, selling over 18 million copies worldwide and generating hits such as "One," "Mysterious Ways," and "Even Better Than The Real Thing."
• 1993: Nirvana recorded their MTV Unplugged performance at New York City's Sony Music Studios. It was released a year later and won a 1996 GRAMMY Award for Best Alternative Music Performance and has since been certified 7x Platinum.
• 1997: Metallica released their seventh studio album, Reload, through Elektra Records in the U.S. and Vertigo Records internationally. It was the follow-up to the previous year's "Load" and achieved strong commercial success, thanks to successful singles such as "The Memory Remains," "The Unforgiven II," and "Fuel."
• 1997: On the same day of the same year, AC/DC released a five-disc box set featuring multiple live recordings, previously unreleased material, and a remastered version of their biggest album, Back in Black. The release was timed to honor what would have been the 50th birthday of their original frontman, Bon Scott.