Hard Rock Plans Memorabilia Tour to Celebrate Anniversary

Items such as Michael Jackson’s red leather jacket, Ray Charles’ Braille Playboy magazine and the white wedding dress worn by Madonna in her “Like a Virgin” music video are among the 40 pieces that will embark on a U.S. tour starting May 18 in NYC and ending Aug. 17 in Hollywood, Fla. The touring items will be displayed at Hard Rock locations in a big rig truck.

Hard Rock International, now a subsidiary of Seminole Gaming, has an estimated 73,000 pieces of rock memorabilia, the largest collection in the world. The collection began with Eric Clapton’s donation of a red Fender guitar in 1979 to the original Hard Rock Cafe in London.

The collection has grown through artists’ donations, as well as Hard Rock employees purchasing memorabilia from local bands. An item only leaves the Hard Rock collection if the artist has second thoughts about a donation.

“If an artist gives us memorabilia, they assume we’re going to take care of it and we’re never going to sell it. We have a responsibility,” said John Galloway, Hard Rock’s chief marketing officer.

Most of the pieces can be found in the company’s 171 restaurants, hotels and casinos, but the rest is kept in storage in Orlando, Fla.

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