The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum
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| Established | 1983 |
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| Location |
1100 Rock and Roll Boulevard (East Ninth Street at Lake Erie) Cleveland, Ohio 44114 United States |
| Coordinates | 41°30′30.2″N 81°41′43.8″W / 41.508389°N 81.695500°W |
| Visitors | 441,290 (2013) |
| President | Greg Harris |
| Public transit access |
North Coast station (RTA Rapid Transit) |
| Website | rockhall |
The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, located on the shore of Lake Erie in downtown Cleveland, Ohio, recognizes and archives the history of the best-known and most influential artists, producers, engineers, and other notable figures who have had some major influence on the development of rock and roll. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Foundation was established on April 20, 1983, by Atlantic Records founder and chairman Ahmet Ertegun. In 1986, Cleveland was chosen as the Hall of Fame's permanent home. Since opening in September 1995, the "Rock Hall" – part of the city's redeveloped North Coast Harbor – has hosted more than 10 million visitors and had a cumulative economic impact estimated at more than $1.8 billion.
Founder Ahmet Ertegun assembled a team that included attorney Suzan Evans, Rolling Stone magazine editor and publisher Jann S. Wenner, attorney Allen Grubman, and record executives Seymour Stein, Bob Krasnow, and Noreen Woods. The Foundation began inducting artists in 1986, but the Hall of Fame still had no home. The search committee considered several cities, including Philadelphia (home of Bill Haley and American Bandstand), Memphis (home of Sun Studios and Stax Records), Detroit (home of Motown Records), Cincinnati (home of King Records), New York City, and Cleveland.
Cleveland lobbied for the museum, citing that WJW disc jockey Alan Freed both coined the term "rock and roll" and heavily promoted the new genre—and that Cleveland was the location of Freed's Moondog Coronation Ball, the first major rock and roll concert. In addition, Cleveland cited radio station WMMS, which played a key role in breaking several major acts in the U.S. during the 1970s and 80s, including artist David Bowie, who began his first U.S. tour in the city, Bruce Springsteen, Roxy Music, and Rush among many others. Cleveland was also one of the premier tour stops for most rock bands.
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