Cleveland rocks: 30 Years of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame
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Yoko Ono, Little Richard and more attend the grand opening of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. Photo: Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic, Inc.
Cleveland became the epicenter of rock 'n' roll 30 years ago Tuesday.
Why it matters: The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame opened on Sept. 2, 1995, giving Northeast Ohio one of its top tourist attractions and helping usher Cleveland out of its "Mistake on the Lake" phase as a national punchline.
- The museum has since generated an economic impact of more than $2 billion for the region, according to the Rock Hall.
Flashback: Cleveland was chosen as the future home of the museum in May 1986, just a few months after the Rock Hall held its inaugural induction ceremony in New York City.
- Local DJ Alan Freed coined the term "rock 'n' roll" in the early 1950s. The genre's first major concert, the Moondog Coronation Ball, was held at Cleveland Arena in 1952.
The intrigue: In campaigning for the Rock Hall, more than 600,000 residents signed petitions.
- Cleveland also won a USA Today poll, where residents from competing cities, which included Chicago, Philadelphia, San Francisco and others, phoned in.
What they're saying: "Everyone was fighting for it," local music historian Deanna Adams tells Axios.
- "Cleveland was such a national joke for a long time. People were tired of it."
Yes, but: Due to fundraising and bureaucracy, it took nine years to open.
- The final price tag was over $90 million, including more than $60 million in public funds.
State of play: The Rock Hall was dedicated on Sept. 1, 1995, with an outdoor ribbon-cutting ceremony in front of more than 10,000 people.
- Big names like Little Richard, Yoko Ono, Rolling Stone's Jann Wenner and architect I.M. Pei, who designed the museum, were all in attendance.
"There was a parade with a giant Madonna doll and papier-mache boulders to represent the Rolling Stones," Adams recalls.
- "There were even Elvis impersonators flying over the museum in parachutes."
What came next: The museum opened its doors to the public that weekend with exhibits featuring the Beatles' "Sgt. Pepper" costumes, Chuck Berry's sheet music, Roger Waters' "The Wall" stage set and more.
The centerpiece of the weekend was the Concert for the Hall of Fame, the final show held at Cleveland Municipal Stadium featuring a who's who of rock legends.
State of play: Set for Sept. 2, 1995, the concert featured everyone from Bruce Springsteen and James Brown to Jerry Lee Lewis and Little Richard.
- The event drew around 65,000 fans, ran from 7:30pm to 2am, and aired live on HBO. You can still view most of the performances on YouTube.
What happened: Chuck Berry kicked off the festivities with a performance of "Johnny B. Goode" alongside Springsteen and the E Street Band.
- Other highlights included Bon Jovi covering the Beatles, Aretha Franklin duetting with Al Green, Johnny Cash performing with John Mellencamp, and Bob Dylan making a surprise appearance.
Zoom in: One of the big local moments involved Akron native Chrissie Hynde turning The Pretenders' hit "My City Was Gone" — about the decline of Northeast Ohio — into an anthem of praise.
The bottom line: More than 30 musicians took the stage that night. The overwhelming majority of them are now Hall of Famers.