DIARIO LAS AMÉRICAS talked to Chase McCue, Director of Memorabilia & Design for Hard Rock International, about the exhibition and how the famous Hard Rock Hotels and Resorts acquired such a magnificent collection.
“We put together some significant items from Latin artists, from our memorabilia collection in The Vault, to celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month,” Director of Memorabilia & Design announced.
Significant items like “the red Hugo Boss jumpsuit Maluma worn during the inaugural Formula 1 Miami Grand Prix at Hard Rock Stadium in May 2022”.
“We also have a dress that Celia Cruz wore during the Tenerife Carnival in 1999. It´s a beautiful kind of green silk cloak that she wore in a performance in the Canary Islands,” he emphasized.
Also on display, Peso Pluma’s iconic boxing ring canvas used at his performance at Rubicon Live 2023 Billboard Music Awards.
“We have a jacket from Carlos Santana, the amazing guitar player. It's a brown leather jacket Carlos had during his stage performances, as well as Jennifer Lopez´ bodysuit that she wore for the photo shoot for People in Español magazine in 2016.
The Latin collection
Besides the dedicated display, Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Hollywood holds other objects from famous Latin musicians and singers, “like a microphone from Gloria Estefan, several stage costumes of Shakira in exchange for a contribution we made to her Fundacion Pies Descalzos charity that she works with, and an amazing anniversary Yamaha guitar of Carlos Santana”, Chase McCue explained.
In addition, “we had other items on display for a limited time: Selena, Marc Anthony and Enrique Iglesias and Julio Iglesias, and bands like Los Lobos from California.”
“It's a very significant collection,” he affirmed. “When I was going through it yesterday, I was reading off some of the names. We've collected a number of objects from the Latin Video Music Awards, MTV’s Video Music Awards in Latin America. Pitbull’s red suit and we have an amazing guitar from Juanes. Recently, there were some pieces that came in from Rosalia. We have a piece from her Motomami tour and the Coke campaign that she did. We have the motorcycle helmet with a big, long, pink ponytail.”
The great collection
Hard Rock Hotels and Resorts, as well as Hard Rock Cafes around the world, have earned fame for their eclectic collage of memorabilia throughout the years.
“We have a collection of some 89,000 pieces around the world, from great performers like The Beatles, Jimi Hendrix, Elton John, Elvis Presley, Madonna, and Led Zeppelin, among many others”, Director of Memorabilia & Design for Hard Rock International stated.
How did the idea of displaying these items begin: “When we started as a restaurant in London in the 1970´s, it was themed as an Americana-theme cafe. They had small metal toys, like toy trucks and things like that, and one of the regular customers to the restaurant was Eric Clapton, and he wanted to mark his favorite place at the bar by hanging one of his guitars (a red Fender Lead II to be exact) on the wall. So, he donated a guitar to hang it on the wall.”
A couple of weeks later, “a package showed up on the doorstep of Hard Rock Cafe. And when they opened it, it was a guitar. And it had a letter on it that said: ‘Mine's as good as his. Please hang it up too. Love, Pete.’ And it was from Pete Townsend of The Who. So, we started with two guitars, and now we have 89,000 guitars and clothing and cars and motorcycles and a bus on collection”, Chase McCue affirmed.
“Obviously, that's how we got our start. And through the years, we’ve been very fortunate to receive donated memorabilia from some of the biggest musical artists and bands in the world, as we’ve also collaborated directly with artists to contribute to their charity initiatives in exchange for memorabilia,” he said.
“Memorabilia is selected by the Hard Rock’s team who conduct extensive research into the rich musical history to find the pieces that are most relevant.”
Among the most significant items, one of Jimi Hendrix's guitars “is a Flying V that he played during the Isle of Wight Festival. That's a very, very iconic, famous guitar from him.”
Some of the items are on a rotational schedule. They refresh the display at given years for most Hard Rock venues.
Any weird or peculiar items? Yes, there are strange and quirky memorabilia in the collection, from unusual contracts to art. Even hair from artists: “There is hair from The Beatles and hair from Jerry Garcia from the Grateful Dead. There's a lot of very unusual items in Hard Rock's collection. And it's remarkably interesting.”
They even have the original handwritten song lyrics to Imagine by John Lennon, on display at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Atlantic City.
So, there is the Magical Mystery Tour bus. “It's not on display right now, but we've had it since the 1980s”.
More items
At Miami’s Hard Rock Café, you can grab a cocktail and marvel over music history icons like the red jacket worn by Michael Jackson in the music video for his 1983 hit Thriller.
Also, a white lace Cuban style dress worn by Celia Cruz during a concert at Madison Square Garden, as well as a yellow dress from Whitney Houston in one of her great performances, and John Lennon's iconic red Chinese style shirt.
Not too far from Miami, at Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Tampa, you can see Elvis Presley's piano from Graceland.
In Punta Cana’s, they display Elton John’s hand-painted piano, Tommy Lee’s Mötley Crüe silver spaceship outfit, and Gene Simmons’ custom axe base.
In Baltimore’s you will find a Vistalite drum from Led Zeppelin’s John Bonham's.
If you stop by Hard Rock Cafe London, there’s a red Gibson double-neck guitar signed by Led Zeppelin’s Jimmy Page.
And, if you want to see Madonna’s Like a virgin’s wedding dress, stop by the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Hollywood.
“There are costumes from some of the most iconic performances in the history of music. It’s not only rock, pop, and Latin music. It’s also jazz, and, to some degree, classical music and hip hop,” Director of Memorabilia & Design for Hard Rock International commented.
“It's just amazing to be able to share that with the fans of music that come in to visit us,” he pointed out.
How did the brand expand around the world?
The first Hard Rock Café opened in London in 1971 under the ownership of two Americans, Isaac Tigrett and Peter Morton. In 1978, a second location was opened in Toronto.
The chain began to expand worldwide in 1982 when it opened several outlets in the United States.
The first Hard Rock Hotel opened in Las Vegas in 1995, and there are now over 35 Hard Rock Hotels, including Madrid and Hamburg, as well as Penang and Shenzhen.
In August 2016, the Miami Dolphins' stadium was renamed Hard Rock Stadium. Major events, like football and soccer games, the Super Bowl, the Formula 1 Miami Grand Prix, and music concerts are being held there.
The hotel chain includes several all-inclusive resorts with properties in Cancun, Los Cabos, Riviera Maya and Vallarta, and Punta Cana.
The resorts are popular for various features like golf courses, spas, pools, family-friendly amenities as well as adults-only areas, and specialty dining.
Guests pay one price and have access to everything as part of the rate although certain activities like tours and spa services carry a fee. The music theme continues at the resorts with regular concerts and live music daily.
“While music is the heart of Hard Rock, philanthropy is its soul. Since opening in 1971, Hard Rock International is committed to making a difference through a wide variety of philanthropic causes and activities. Hard Rock’s guiding principle, ‘Love All – Serve All,’ encompasses the brand’s dedication to its core mantras ‘Save The Planet,’ ‘Take Time to Be Kind’ and ‘All is One,’ the hotel chain states in its website.
