Music Meccas

Rock 'n' roll, country and rockabilly artists, including Johnny Cash, Elvis Presley, Carl Perkins, Roy Orbison, Charlie Feathers, Ray Harris, Warren Smith, Charlie Rich and Jerry Lee Lewis, recorded at Memphis' legendary Sun Studios.

Liverpool's legendary Cavern Club helped launch the world's greatest rock group -- The Beatles -- who made 292 appearances there from 1961 to 1963. In this photo, a pre-stardom George Harrison relaxes between sets at the Cavern.

The graffitied bathroom walls of legendary punk rock club CBGB. In its heyday in the 1970s and `80s the club helped define the punk and new wave sound. The Ramones, Misfits, Television, Patti Smith, Mink DeVille, The Fleshtones, The Voidoids, The Cramps, Blondie and Talking Heads started their careers at the club.

The Seattle-based grunge music scene fused heavy metal, punk and alternative rock to produce a unique sound in the early 1990s. In this photo Kurt Cobain (1967-1994) performs on stage with Nirvana at the MTV Video Music Awards, September 10, 1992.

Cafe Wha? in Greenwich Village, New York City, launched many young musicians to stardom. Bob Dylan, Jimi Hendrix, Bruce Springsteen, The Velvet Underground, Kool and the Gang, and Peter Paul & Mary, among others, performed at this club in their formative years.

The Cotton Club was a famous jazz club in Harlem, New York City, during the 1920s and `30s. The club featured many of the greatest African-American entertainers of the era, such as Duke Ellington, Count Basie, Bessie Smith, Cab Calloway, Ella Fitzgerald, Fats Waller, Louis Armstrong, Dizzy Gillespie, Nat King Cole and Billie Holiday.

American country music singer and guitarist Loretta Lynn performs on stage at the Grand Ole Opry in the 1960s. The Grand Ole Opry is a weekly country music stage concert in Nashville, TN, that has presented the biggest stars of the genre since 1925.

Stax Records of Memphis, TN, was a major force in the creation of soul and funk music. Otis Redding, Isaac Hayes, Wilson Pickett, Sam & Dave, Booker T. & the MG's and the Staple Singers recorded for the label in the 1960s and '70s.

Austin, TX, has a vibrant live music scene with more venues per capita than any other US city. The city hosts the annual South by Southwest (SXSW) music festival which features over 2,000 acts in 4 days. In this photo, Wayne Coyne of The Flaming Lips performs at the Austin City Limits Music Festival at Zilker Park on September 17, 2006.

Fans pay their respects to pop star Michael Jackson at the Motown Historical Museum 'Hitsville USA' on June 25, 2009, in Detroit, MI. The legendary Motown sound produced dozens of mega hits for artists such as The Four Tops, Marvin Gaye, Smokey Robinson, The Supremes, The Temptations, Stevie Wonder and Michael Jackson.

Perry Farrell, Slash and Robby Krieger of The Doors perform in the The Doors 40th Anniversary Celebration at the Whisky a Go Go on November 8, 2006, in West Hollywood, CA. The Byrds, Alice Cooper, Buffalo Springfield, Love and The Doors were regulars at the club in the 1960s, and in the '70s and '80s it spawned many punk, new wave and heavy metal bands.

Smoke comes from a fire at the Georgia Theatre June 19, 2009, in Athens, Georgia. The Georgia Theatre has been host to numerous bands including REM, the B-52's, Ghostface Killah and Widespread Panic.

Hillary Clinton talks with recording artist Bo Diddley (L) and Shirley Dixon-Nelson (C), daughter of blues great Willie Dixon, during a visit to Chess Records in Chicago, October 27, 1999. Chess Records specialized in blues and R&B in the 1950s and `60s. Famous Chess artists include Bo Diddley, Muddy Waters, Howlin' Wolf, Chuck Berry, Etta James, John Lee Hooker and Sonny Boy Williamson II.