Hard Rock celebrates Woodstock Festival

Hard Rock International today announced that to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the legendary Woodstock Festival, rare pieces of music memorabilia from this historic event are to be flown over from the USA for a special display at London’s Hard Rock Calling festival, which takes place 26-28 June 2009.

Key items from Hard Rock’s Woodstock Collection will be the Gibson SG Special Guitar that was played and then smashed on stage by Pete Townshend during The Who’s electric performance on the Woodstock stage, an original Graham Nash (Crosby, Nash, Stills & Young) t-shirt that he bought for himself at the concert as a souvenir, and an original Woodstock 1969 t-shirt from the series given to personal assistants by the promoters on site.

These items have never been seen in the UK, and will be on display in the Hard Rock Backstage VIP Tent at Hard Rock Calling, before moving into Hard Rock Cafe London for a limited run of two weeks.

In addition to these original Woodstock items, Hard Rock will enhance the collection by including pieces of memorabilia from artists from the Woodstock bill and era. A vest worn by Jimi Hendrix – whose stunning rendition of the “Star Spangled Banner” is widely considered THE performance of the festival, a Neil Young guitar, Joe Cocker jacket, Sly Stone shirt, plus many more pieces of rare memorabilia will all be displayed around the VIP Tent all weekend.

In addition to Hard Rock’s Woodstock Collection, will be pieces of music memorabilia from the vaults of Hard Rock International world-famous collection, which is currently at 70,000 items and counting!

“It’s an honor to have preserved these icons of music history and a privilege to bring them to music fans in London at Hard Rock Calling,” said Sean Dee, Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer, Hard Rock International.

Woodstock took place from 15-18 August 1969 in Bethel, New York. The festival exemplified the counter culture and ‘hippie era’ of the late 1960s and over half a million festival goers witnessed seminal performances from Jimi Hendrix, The Who, Joe Cocker, Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young plus many more. The event was captured in a 1970 film documentary and accompanying soundtrack album, and is widely considered one of the greatest moments in popular music history.

Hard Rock Calling, the three-day musical celebration taking place from Friday, 26 June through Sunday 28 June, has established itself as one of the most important London events on the UK musical calendar. Headlining this year’s event will be The Killers, Bruce Springsteen and Neil Young, with further performances from Dave Matthews Band, The Pretenders, The Kooks, Ben Harper, Starsailor and Fleet Foxes. Past acts have included Aerosmith, Eric Clapton, Roger Waters, The Police and The Who.

Additional artists for the 2009 line-up will be announced leading up to the event and tickets for the festival are available at hardrockcalling.com.

In addition to renowned bands and an on-site Hard Rock Cafe, the festival will include a market area, performance art, a healing area and a “chill out” zone.

As Hard Rock Calling acts as the global launch for Ambassadors of Rock 2009, consumers can also register to win trips to other exciting Ambassador of Rock stops around the world, by entering the global sweepstakes on hardrock.com.

Overall, Ambassadors of Rock 2009 will include shows featuring top artists in New York; Biloxi; Las Vegas, Dubai; Orlando and Hollywood, Florida; Buenos Aires, Singapore and Tokyo.

And as with all Hard Rock International ventures, philanthropy will be an important part of Hard Rock’s global tour, with each Ambassador of Rock event benefiting a local charity. Various fundraising efforts at Hard Rock Calling 2009 will benefit Nordoff-Robbins Music Therapy, an organization which promotes health, well-being and social inclusion through the skilled use of music with individuals, groups and communities who are challenged by disability, illness or injustice.