[photogallerylink id=41761 align=left] The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum’s first redesign in its 15-year history is nearly complete and includes several vibrant new exhibit spaces, state-of-the-art interactive technology and lighting, improved way-finding and hundreds of new artifacts, including the most comprehensive collection of [lastfm link_type="artist_info"]Beatles[/lastfm]‘ items; a number of which are on display to the public for the first time.
“The Rock Hall’s extensive redesign includes the most comprehensive, artifact-driven Beatles exhibit in the world,” said Jim Henke, the Museum’s Vice President of Exhibitions. “For many years now, we have been fortunate to have a great relationship with [lastfm link_type="artist_info"]Yoko Ono[/lastfm], which enabled us to have many [lastfm link_type="artist_info"]John Lennon [/lastfm]artifacts. This time around, we were able to work with [lastfm link_type="artist_info"]Ringo Starr[/lastfm] and with [lastfm link_type="artist_info"]George Harrison[/lastfm]‘s estate, so they are well-represented in the exhibit. We also worked with some collectors who had other key Beatles pieces, and before we knew it, we had an absolutely incredible collection.”
The new Beatles exhibit is the crown jewel of an extensive museum restructuring that has three primary goals: to improve the visitor experience via enhanced way-finding, to tell the story of rock and roll in a more chronological fashion and to upgrade all Museum exhibits to state-of-the-art technology.
BEATLES EXHIBIT HIGHLIGHTS
The exhibit includes nearly 70 artifacts, including a few that have not been exhibited before:
- George Harrison’s striped suit from the 1966 US tour
- Ringo Starr’s red military-style jacket from the “Strawberry Fields Forever” promo film
- John Lennon’s black wool coat worn in Help!
- [lastfm link_type="artist_info"]Paul McCartney[/lastfm]‘s handwritten arrangement for “Birthday”
Additional highlights include:
- John Lennon’s Gibson J-160E acoustic guitar. Lennon used this guitar to record “Norwegian Wood” and “Give Peace a Chance” and numerous other classics.
- George Harrison’s Rickenbacker 425 electric guitar. Harrison purchased the guitar in 1963 on his first visit to the U.S. He played it throughout the fall of 1963.
- Ringo Starr’s “drop-T” Beatles logo drum head from the kit he used on the Ed Sullivan Show in February 1964
- Paul McCartney’s jacket from Help!
- A page from Stuart Sutcliffe’s sketch pad that shows his self-portraits, his illustration of John Lennon and Lennon’s illustration of Sutcliffe.
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