11 Places for Music Fans to Visit

1.  The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame & Museum, Cleveland. You could spend days here watching films, exploring the archives, and viewing the permanent and special exhibits.

2.  Museum of Pop Culture, Seattle. Microsoft cofounder Paul Allen launched this facility, which houses huge collections devoted to rockers Jimi Hendrix and Nirvana, both from Seattle.

3.  Nashville, Tennessee. Attend a broadcast of the Grand Ol’ Opry radio show, which has aired weekly since 1925, and stop by the Johnny Cash Museum.

4.  The Museum at Bethel Woods, Bethel, New York. Exhibits, programs, and events celebrate the 1969 Woodstock music festival “and the entire decade that it came to represent.” 

5.  Asbury Park, New Jersey. Visit the boardwalk Springsteen sang about and the Stone Pony club where he has often played, then drive to nearby Monmouth University, which houses 20,000 Springsteen-related books, recordings, and posters.

6.  Memphis, Tennessee. Get a double dose of rock history with stops at Elvis Presley’s Graceland home and Sun Studios, where Presley, Johnny Cash, and Jerry Lee Lewis made early records.

7.  Liverpool, England. A Magical Mystery Tour takes you to the Beatles’ birthplaces, the place where Lennon and McCartney first met, the Cavern Club, and the locations that inspired such songs as “Penny Lane” and “Strawberry Fields Forever.” 

8.  Hibbing, Minnesota. See Bob Dylan’s childhood home, elementary school, and high school; the site of his father’s business; the place where he had his bar mitzvah; and the town library’s extensive collection of Dylan books, articles, and memorabilia. 

9.  Bob Marley Museum, Kingston, Jamaica. The reggae giant’s home—the site of a failed assassination attempt—is now a museum that includes a 3D hologram of Marley and his recording studio.

10.  Pere-Lachaise Cemetery, Paris. You’ll find graves here for everyone from Oscar Wilde to Edith Piaf, but it’s the graffiti-covered tombstone of the Doors’ Jim Morrison that draws crowds. 

11.  Buddy Holly Center, Lubbock, Texas. The center preserves and promotes music of this seminal rocker and other early West Texas artists and seeks to discover and promote new performers.