Rock and Roll Hall of Fame

Rock and Roll Hall of Fame

Cleveland won the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in May 1986 on the strength of Alan Freed and the 1952 Moondog Coronation Ball. I. M. Pei's museum opened in September 1995.

At a glance

Fact	Value
Type	Museum
County	Cuyahoga
Established	1983 (foundation, April 20); museum dedicated September 1, 1995
Coordinates	41.5086 N, 81.6956 W
Estimated crowd at the Moondog Coronation Ball	20,000 to 25,000 (1952)
Calls for Cleveland in the 1986 USA Today phone poll (runner-up Memphis: 7,300)	more than 110,000 (1986)
Public money Cleveland pledged toward construction	$65 million (1993)
Construction cost of the building	$92 million (1993)
Height of the tower (cut from a planned 200 feet)	162 feet (1995)
Size of the expansion under construction	50,000 square feet (2023)
Annual visitors	more than 600,000 (museum expansion page, read 2026)

Overview

The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame is a music museum on the Lake Erie shore at the foot of East Ninth Street in downtown Cleveland, in the North Coast Harbor district. Its parent foundation was formed in New York in 1983 by Atlantic Records founder Ahmet Ertegun and other industry figures, and it began inducting artists in 1986 before it had a building. Cleveland won the museum in May 1986 on the strength of its early rock history: disc jockey Alan Freed, record-store owner Leo Mintz, and the Moondog Coronation Ball of March 21, 1952, often called the first rock and roll concert, plus a public campaign and a large pledge of public money. Architect I. M. Pei first designed a tall glass tower for a site beside Tower City Center, then reworked it into a shorter tower and glass pyramid when the site moved to the lakefront in 1990, partly because of nearby Burke Lakefront Airport. Ground was broken on June 7, 1993, and the museum opened on Labor Day weekend 1995; a 50,000-square-foot expansion broke ground in October 2023.

The name

The museum is named for the music, and Cleveland's claim to it rests partly on the name. Cleveland Historical says Alan Freed began using the name "rock and roll" for rhythm and blues records in the early 1950s, but that the phrase is about 70 years older than Freed: in 1881 comedian John W. Morton of Morton's Minstrels performed a song titled "Rock and Roll," referring most likely to swaying dance or the motion of boats. Blues singers later gave the phrase a more explicit meaning. Freed, it concludes, did not invent the term or the genre but gave it a voice. (source)

Native American history

Nothing is recorded about Native people at the exact museum site, which lies on the Lake Erie shore east of the mouth of the Cuyahoga River. The Encyclopedia of Cleveland History says the major Archaic sites of the Cleveland area probably lie under the city or were destroyed by industrial building in the Cuyahoga flats, and it records two finds in downtown Cleveland: a mound reported by Charles Whittlesey in the western part of the Eagle Street Cemetery, which appears to have been an Early Woodland (Adena) mound, and a small Late Woodland campsite found in 1988 on buried sands under the site of the Indians' ballpark (Jacobs Field). From about A.D. 1200 the people of the Cuyahoga valley belonged to what archaeologists call the Whittlesey Tradition; their last villages date to about 1640, after which the area had no permanent settlement until groups of Wyandot or Ottawa moved in from Detroit in the mid-1740s. Which later nation, if any, descended from the Whittlesey people is not known. Native title to the land east of the Cuyahoga, which includes this site, was given up in the Treaty of Greenville in 1795.

Mound in Eagle Street Cemetery: mound, Western part of the Eagle St. Cemetery, Cleveland, Early Woodland (Adena), 500 B.C.-A.D. 100
Late Woodland campsite under the Jacobs Field site: camp, Downtown Cleveland, on buried sands under the ballpark site, found 1988, Early Late Woodland
Treaty of Greenville cession east of the Cuyahoga: treaty, All Western Reserve land east of the Cuyahoga River, including downtown Cleveland's east bank, 1795

Stories

The Moondog Coronation Ball

On Friday night, March 21, 1952, Alan Freed, record-store owner Leo Mintz and promoter Lew Platt staged a five-act show at the Cleveland Arena on Euclid Avenue: Paul Williams and his Hucklebuckers, Tiny Grimes and the Rocking Highlanders (who played in kilts), the Dominoes, Varetta Dillard and Danny Cobb. The "coronation" was to be a midnight crowning of the most popular teenage boy and girl. Tickets for a later Moondog dance had been printed without a date, others were counterfeited, and an estimated 20,000 to 25,000 people came to a hall with 9,500 seats. Gate-crashers broke down doors and smashed glass, one person was reportedly stabbed, and the show was stopped well before midnight; accounts differ on whether police or fire officials called the halt. The crowd was overwhelmingly Black, and many were surprised to find the voice from the radio belonged to a white man. Freed apologized on the air, kept his job, and staged a trouble-free Moondog show at Public Hall two months later. (source)

Leo Mintz and the record store behind it all

Leo Mintz opened Record Rendezvous on Prospect Avenue in 1938 and was one of the first record sellers to put records in open bins where customers could browse. In the late 1940s, as jazz and big band sales fell, he noticed his young customers dancing around the store when a rhythm and blues record played, and he called the music "rock 'n' roll," borrowing a term from old blues lyrics. He talked Freed, then an Akron disc jockey, into playing such records, helped him get jobs in Cleveland, and paid for Freed's late-night WJW show. His store sponsored all of Freed's concerts, including the Moondog Coronation Ball. When Freed left for New York in 1954 he took the credit for starting rock 'n' roll with him; Mintz ran his store until six months before his death in 1976 and told customers for years that he had invented it. (source)

How Cleveland won the Hall

The foundation that Ahmet Ertegun formed in 1983 at first planned a museum in Manhattan. Cleveland club owner Hank LoConti and friends had their own idea for a rock museum, and Cleveland native Norm N. Nite, who knew the New York music business, carried the city's case to Ertegun. After a July 1985 visit the foundation opened a national contest. Cleveland, Memphis, New York, San Francisco, New Orleans and Philadelphia were early contenders, and the field later narrowed to Chicago, Philadelphia and Cleveland. Spurred by radio station WMMS, 120,000 listeners voted for Cleveland in a USA Today poll (a 1986 news report put the count at more than 110,000), backers gathered 600,000 signatures on a petition, and the city, the state and local foundations raised $26 million. The foundation chose Cleveland in May 1986. (source)

The tower that moved to the lake

I. M. Pei took the commission while admitting publicly that he knew little about rock music. His first design put an 18-story glass tower on Huron Road beside Tower City Center, overlooking the Cuyahoga River. Relations with the New York foundation soured by 1989, the construction estimate rose to about $100 million, and a record store opened inside Tower City in 1990, angering museum officials, who then called the Huron Road site too small. That fall the project moved to city-owned land at North Coast Harbor. The lakefront site sat too close to Burke Lakefront Airport for the tall tower, so Pei shortened it and added the slanted glass pyramid that echoes his pyramid at the Louvre. (source)

Freed's ashes come and go

Alan Freed died in 1965. In 2002 his family brought his ashes to the Rock Hall, where they were displayed in the museum. In 2014 the museum's director told the family that the museum world was moving away from showing human remains and asked them to collect the urn. Freed's son Lance said the museum was pushing out pioneers like his father to make room for newer stars. The family began looking for a Cleveland cemetery to serve as his final resting place. (source)

Timeline

1937: The Cleveland Arena, a 10,000-seat hall built by sports promoter Albert C. Sutphin at 3717 Euclid Avenue, opens on November 10. (source)
1938: Leo Mintz opens the Record Rendezvous store at 214 Prospect Avenue, moving to 300 Prospect in 1945. (source)
1951: WJW radio hires Alan Freed; sponsored by Mintz, he begins a late-night show of rhythm-and-blues records and calls himself "Moondog." (source)
1952: On March 21 the Moondog Coronation Ball at the Cleveland Arena is shut down in the middle after gate-crashing and dangerous overcrowding caused by ticket-printing errors and counterfeiting; it is generally considered the first rock and roll concert. (source)
1952: A second Moondog show at Public Hall, with Dinah Washington, Woody Herman and the Mills Brothers, goes off without trouble on May 25. (source)
1954: Freed leaves Cleveland for WINS radio in New York City. (source)
1965: Alan Freed dies on January 20 at age 43 and is later buried in Cleveland's Lake View Cemetery. (source)
1977: The Cleveland Arena, site of the Moondog Coronation Ball, is demolished; the site becomes part of the Red Cross complex. (source)
1979: The Wall Street Journal calls Cleveland the nation's "Rock and Roll Capital." (source)
1983: Ahmet Ertegun establishes the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Foundation on April 20, with Jann Wenner, Seymour Stein and others. (source)
1985: Foundation leaders visit Cleveland in July and then open a national competition among cities to host the museum. (source)
1986: The first induction is held in New York on January 23; Alan Freed is inducted in the first class as a non-performer. (source)
1986: In March, Cleveland marks the Moondog anniversary with parties, fireworks and appearances by Chuck Berry and Chubby Checker as part of its bid. (source)
1986: On May 5 the foundation announces that Cleveland has been chosen as the site of the Hall of Fame. (source)
1989: I. M. Pei's first design puts the museum on West Huron Road beside Tower City Center, overlooking the Cuyahoga River. (source)
1990: In the fall the site moves to the southeastern corner of North Coast Harbor, between the East 9th Street pier and Cleveland Municipal Stadium. (source)
1993: Ground is broken on June 7 with Pete Townshend, Chuck Berry, Billy Joel, Sam Phillips and Ruth Brown attending. (source)
1995: The museum is dedicated on September 1, with Yoko Ono and Little Richard among those cutting the ribbon. (source)
1995: The museum opens to the public on September 2 and holds a benefit concert at Cleveland Municipal Stadium next door. (source)
1997: The induction ceremony is held in Cleveland for the first time, on May 6. (source)
2002: Alan Freed's ashes are brought to the museum and placed on display at his family's suggestion. (source)
2008: A branch museum, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Annex NYC, opens November 18 at 76 Mercer Street in Manhattan; it closes January 3, 2010. (source)
2012: The Library and Archives opens on January 17 in a four-story, 22,500-square-foot space on Cuyahoga Community College's Metropolitan Campus. (source)
2014: The museum asks Freed's son to remove his father's ashes, and the urn is taken away in August. (source)
2016: On May 7 Freed's son Lance unveils a granite monument showing Freed on one side and a jukebox on the other at Lake View Cemetery, which becomes his permanent resting place. (source)
2023: Ground is broken in October for a 50,000-square-foot expansion. (source)

Sources

Towns and ZIP codes

Water, health, jobs and history for the places on the shores and just downstream.

Towns

Cleveland

ZIP codes

44114 Cleveland

Questions

Why is the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland?

The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame is in Cleveland because the city won a national contest in May 1986, building on its early rock history. Disc jockey Alan Freed and record-store owner Leo Mintz popularized rock and roll there, and the 1952 Moondog Coronation Ball is often called the first rock and roll concert. Between 110,000 and 120,000 people called in for Cleveland in a 1986 USA Today poll, depending on the account.

When did the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame open?

The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame museum was dedicated on September 1, 1995, with Yoko Ono and Little Richard among those cutting the ribbon, and opened to the public on September 2. Ground had been broken on June 7, 1993. The parent foundation was formed on April 20, 1983, and the first induction was held in New York on January 23, 1986.

What was the Moondog Coronation Ball?

The Moondog Coronation Ball was a five-act show staged by Alan Freed, Leo Mintz and Lew Platt at the Cleveland Arena on March 21, 1952, and is generally considered the first rock and roll concert. Ticket-printing errors and counterfeits drew an estimated 20,000 to 25,000 people to a hall with 9,500 seats. Gate-crashers broke down doors, and the show was stopped well before midnight.

Who designed the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame building?

Architect I. M. Pei designed the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, while admitting publicly that he knew little about rock music. His first design put an 18-story glass tower beside Tower City Center. When the site moved to North Coast Harbor in 1990, nearby Burke Lakefront Airport forced a shorter 162-foot tower, and he added a slanted glass pyramid echoing his pyramid at the Louvre.

Who coined the term rock and roll?

Alan Freed began using the name 'rock and roll' for rhythm and blues records in the early 1950s, but the phrase is about 70 years older. In 1881 comedian John W. Morton of Morton's Minstrels performed a song titled 'Rock and Roll.' Cleveland record-store owner Leo Mintz said he called the music 'rock 'n' roll' in the late 1940s, borrowing from old blues lyrics.

Where is Alan Freed buried?

Alan Freed, who died on January 20, 1965, is buried at Lake View Cemetery in Cleveland. His family brought his ashes to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2002, where they were displayed until the museum asked his son to remove them in 2014. On May 7, 2016, his son Lance unveiled a granite monument to him at Lake View Cemetery.

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