Delve into some of Los Angeles’ musical landmarks

A site can be a powerful sight: an enigmatic landmark that characterizes a city. The city of Los Angeles is flowered with countless markers, especially those of musical culture, that make it a fascinating metropolis to explore. This article will venture into these historical beacons that have colored Los Angeles as a musical epicenter.

From venues to museums to visual attractions, each journey is distinct and more importantly, accessible to the UCLA student. These are a few of the many tangible musical landmarks of Los Angeles, delivered through an adventure that makes these sites so recognizable, celebrated and admired.

RockWalk

Many love the exciting and glamorous Hollywood Walk of Fame, pacing down the street of stars and seeing if common hands can fit the molds of Will Smith – they don’t. But off in West Hollywood, there are hands in the ground of a different sort. In front of Guitar Center’s Hollywood location lies the RockWalk, full of handprints from some of the biggest names in music history.

It features hundreds of handprints commemorating decades of music, from the early rock ‘n’ roll guitarist B.B. King to the swift guitar-playing history of Eric Clapton, Jimmy Page and Jeff Beck. With handprints from all walks of music, the Rock Walk transforms a stop in Hollywood into a grand lesson in music.

Troubador

Out of all the music venues neighboring the university in West Hollywood, none comes closer to furthering the music of Los Angeles than the Santa Monica Boulevard club, the Troubadour. Serving the world with some of music’s most famous breakout stars since 1957, the club has continued throughout the years to display some of the best rising talent. From Buffalo Springfield and Joni Mitchell to Fiona Apple and Fleet Foxes, the Troubadour continues to showcase new talent inside a small nightclub setting. If there’s one club that breeds as much musical history as Los Angeles can hold, it’s the Troubadour.

Sunset Tower

When music culture met the city of Los Angeles, scandal and mystery ensued. And the center for the starlight singers of the 20th century was none other than Sunset Tower, an Art Deco high-rise that was the lavish hotel of the music, film and literary elite. Led by the likes of Frank Sinatra, bandleader Tommy Dorsey, Marilyn Monroe and Truman Capote, Sunset Tower became a center for the glamour of Los Angeles.

A short distance from UCLA, the Sunset Tower stands tall above its neighboring shops and nightclubs, as it has for more than 80 years. The architecture is reminiscent of the singers, actors and writers who helped perpetuate the mysterious excitement that transformed Sunset Tower into a Hollywood landmark.

Beverly Hills Hotel

On a dark desert highway also known as Sunset Boulevard, there stands a towering mission, a “Pink Palace,” that accommodates its celebrity guests with unmeasurable amenities. But when the night approaches, the Beverly Hills Hotel assumes the appearance of its place in musical history: “Hotel California.”

In 1976, the Eagles’ fifth studio album, “Hotel California,” featured an album cover that came to be well-known in rock ‘n’ roll. In search of a cover photo for the album, the band was drawn to the ominous Beverly Hills Hotel. Within a single track of rock ‘n’ roll, the Eagles managed to solidify the nature of Los Angeles. And within the cover, the band characterized the dichotomy that surrounds the entertainment industry of Los Angeles, an at-once welcoming entity and mesmerizing enigma.

Grammy Museum

A celebration and recognition of music recording and performance since 1959, the Grammy Awards have drawn on the ears of American listeners. Opened in December 2008 to celebrate the award’s 50th anniversary, the Grammy Museum in the L.A. Live District has set out to commemorate the Grammys and its permanent location in Los Angeles.

Visitors can walk through hallways of music history, celebrating everything from rhythm and blues to rock ‘n’ roll and everywhere in between. As a place for discussion and critical thinking about the history of American music, the Grammy Museum is an interactive point of interest for the American music lover, with exhibits highlighting the careers of Bob Dylan, The Beach Boys and Michael Jackson.