The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Museum is located in Cleveland, Ohio. The museum is an institution devoted to rock music and the many talented people that helped shape rock as a genre of music. Honorees include musicians, producers, disc jockeys, and the many other people who contributed to the popularity of rock. The informative museum documents the history of rock, from its beginning in the form off blues, gospel, country and other genres of music that had a large impact on the creation of rock and other music forms we know today.
The start of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Museum began in 1983 by a group of recording executives that established the nonprofit Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Foundation in New York City. Elvis, Chuck Berry, Buddy Holly and Little Richard were among the first inductees of the honorable fame organization. The first honorees were inducted in 1986. Although the museum is now permently established in Cleveland, the administration is still located in New York City. Musicians become eligible for the honor 25 years after the person’s first album is released. Rock historians decide the musician’s importance to rock and roll, and the historians and experts then make a decision whether to induct the musician or not.
The museum was moved from New York City to Cleveland because Cleveland is the city where disc jockey Alan Freed introduced and popularized the term Rock and Roll in the early 1950s. The permanent exhibit location opened in 1995. Chinese American architect I.M. Pei designed the building. The museum helps the many curious viewers understand the history and importance rock had on the world with a collection of articles that include stage costumes, instruments, original song and lyric manuscripts, music videos, and footage of performances and interviews with musicians. There are also several music databases that can assist visitors in learning more about the forces that shaped rock music. Temporary exhibits add to the interest in the museum featuring subjects like careers of artists, the psychedelic era in the late 1960s, and rock’s early history. Eventually, the museum will allow serious studiers of rock music an archive and research center to better the research of musicality.