Rock n Roll Hall of Fame

Housed in a building designed by I.M. Pei (of The Louvre, Paris fame) the Rock n Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland sits perilously on the shore of Lake Erie and is home to a comprehensive collection of the foremost in popular music over the last century and a half.

Several American cities vied for the honor of hosting such an attraction, but the reason Cleveland won (as opposed to some other cities with arguably richer musical histories — Memphis, Seattle, NYC) was because the city ponied up the most money, which came to a whopping $92 million dollars.

The doors opened in 1996, and the Hall of Fame features rotating exhibits highlighting the achievements of various artists through all facets of popular music, including a recent display of memorabilia from The Who, U2, James Brown, Otis Redding, the Backstreet Boys, Loretta Lynn, the Beatles and many more.

The museum, whose approach is akin to visiting an art gallery, also has a large gift shop/music store, a cafeteria and a theater that shows an hourly montage of all the artists who have been inducted into the Hall of Fame since the ceremonies began in 1986.