RockWalk – The Walk of Fame for Rock Stars

If you’re a fan of rock music, particularly the legends that created the classics, then you’ll want to skip the Hollywood Walk of Fame during your LA vacation and pay a visit to the Rock Walk instead.

It’s been called a smaller version of the Hollywood Walk of Fame, but I wouldn’t call it smaller. It’s certainly compressed into a smaller area, but the handprint of the rock legends that appear on the RockWalk are of such magnitude that it seems to take much more space.  Note that the actual spelling is RockWalk as one word, not Rock Walk.  We have used both spellings to help people find it.

Unlike the forecourt of Grauman’s Chinese Theatre which has both the hand and footprints of the stars, the Rock Walk only contains handprints.  The concrete blocks are more uniform and honestly the whole thing seems more upscale to me than the Walk of Fame.  You also won’t become exhausted walking it.

The RockWalk is in the forecourt of the Guitar Center on Sunset Blvd.  On either side of the entrance to the forecourt are busts of the truly great musicians.  Among them are Jimi Hendrix, Muddy Waters, Waylon Jennings, Miles Davis and more.  As you can see from the names, were not just talking rock stars here.  Though the plaque placed on the RockWalk on its inception (pictured below) states it is dedicated to the rock icons that caused rock music to become a universally accept art form it has clearly expanded to immortalize the legends in blues and country as well.

Lining the side walls of the forecourt are glass cases that contain the guitars used by the legends as well.

The Guitar Center Rock Walk was founded in 1985 and it’s an industry recognized landmark.  Per the Guitar Center website: “The RockWalk is dedicated to honoring musicians and musical pioneers who have made a significant and lasting creative contribution to the growth and evolution of music through their exceptional level of talent, outstanding innovation or creative ingenuity with their chosen instrument(s).”  

The RockWalk honors more than 150 music gear pioneers and music icons. These include:  Jim Marshall, Robert Moog and Les Paul for gear contributions and Eddie Van Halen, Stevie Wonder, BB King, Brian Wilson, Carole King, Herbie Hancock, Queen, Run DMC, Emerson Lake and Palmer, the Moody Blues, Frank Zappa and many more for their music contributions.

A musician’s or music lover’s visit to Los Angeles isn’t complete without taking in the RockWalk.  The Guitar Center RockWalk is located at 7325 Sunset Blvd on the Sunset Strip in Los Angeles.

More RockWalk photos after the break…

 

 

 

 

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