Bookable
An Apollonaut travel guide
Moments in a longer story.
Selected milestones in Memphis music and in the history of the museum.
On this page
Music, museum and hall of fame
These dates describe the place you can learn about here. They are not a company timeline for Apollonaut.
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1930s
Rural roots
Field hollers and the porch music of sharecroppers, where the museum’s story begins.
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1940s
Beale Street
Beale Street is at the heart of Memphis music.
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July 1954
Sun Records
Sam Phillips records Elvis Presley at Sun Records.
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1960s–1970s
Soul music
Stax and Hi Records make Memphis a home of soul.
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29 April 2000
The museum opens
The Smithsonian’s Birth of Rock ’n’ Soul exhibition opens in the Gibson building in Memphis.
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2004
A new home
The museum moves to the FedExForum plaza on Beale Street in the autumn.
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2012
A hall of fame
The Memphis Music Hall of Fame, administered by the museum, holds its first induction on 29 November.
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2015
Hall of fame museum
The Memphis Music Hall of Fame opens its museum on South 2nd Street on 1 August.
Follow the stories behind the dates
A timeline is a beginning. The longer history introduces the people and places; the sources below provide further context.
Read at the source
Sources & further reading
- Wikipedia: Memphis Rock ’n’ Soul Museum
- Wikipedia: Memphis Music Hall of Fame
- Memphis Rock ’n’ Soul Museum: Exhibits
Links lead to the original publishers.