A brief history of the Hard Rock Hall Of Fame

This is KSA. This is the legend of African music. This is a man who was the first Nigerian to be nominated for the Grammy. This is our history spanning over 50 years of stagecraft and dedication to indigenous music at the highest level. Sunny Ade has three Hollywood movie features, hundreds of recordings and international collaborations.

He is music royalty. And he just got inducted into the Hard Rock Hall of Fame. The Hall of Fame began in 1979, in London, with an un-signed Red Fender Lead II guitar from Eric Clapton, who was a regular at the first restaurant in London. Clapton wanted management to hang the guitar over his regular seat in order to lay claim to that spot, and they obliged. This prompted Pete Townshend of The Who to give one of his guitars, also un-signed with the note "Mine's as good as his! Love, Pete."

And that tradition quickly grew. HRC is known for its collection of rock and roll memorabilia. The cafes solicit donations of music memorabilia but also purchase a number of items at auctions around the world, including autographed guitars, costumes from world tours and rare photographs; these are often to be found mounted on cafe walls.

Hard Rock's archive includes over 77,000 items, and is the largest private collection of Rock and Roll memorabilia in the world. Marquee pieces from the collection were briefly displayed in a Hard Rock museum named "The Vault" in Orlando, Florida from January 2003 until September 2004. After the closure, items were disbursed to various restaurant locations. The London Vault remains open and free to visitors, located in the retail Rock Shop of the original cafe.

The Hard Rock Café is also in possession of a Bedford VAL 6 axle coach used in the 1967 film The Beatles Magical Mystery Tour. The vehicle was completely refurbished after filming. It is currently displayed in the US, but makes regular appearances in events in the UK, especially at the original Hard Rock Cafe in London. In 2001, a competition was run to win the actual bus, but it was never given away and remained with the Cafe.

Other greats who are on the Hard Rock showcase include, The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Jimi Hendrix, Michael Jackson, Elvis Presley, Brian Wilson and Elton John among others.

Sunny Ade is the first Nigerian artiste to have his memorabilia hanging from the Hard Rock Café. His is the first to happen in Lagos, and marks another milestone in a career of uncountable highs.

King Sunny Ade’s donated personal items will join more than 81,000 pieces of music memorabilia that Hard Rock has acquired over its 45-year history. Other iconic pieces include Madonna’s wedding dress from “Like a Virgin,” John Lennon’s wireframe tinted glasses, Jim Morrison’s famous brown leather pants, and many more.

The first-of-its-kind donation was brokered by leading talent agency and event management company, Temple Management Company who are also putting together the highly-publicised grand concert for King Sunny Ade tagged Sunny On Sunday scheduled for December 11th at Federal Palace Hotel, Lagos.

To commemorate the induction, Chivas also did present King Sunny Ade with a Chivas Regal 25 Year Original Blended Whisky; and created a signature drink for KSA, titled Ondo Regale, which was debuted, and served as cocktails at the induction.