Southern California’s Rose Bowl is home to an annual namesake college football bowl game and has also hosted events such as the FIFA World Cup, the Super Bowl, Summer Olympics events, and many memorable concerts. In 2009, the band U2 broke its own attendance record by performing to a sold-out crowd of 97,014 fans, the most for a single headliner at the time.

This compact club on the Lower East Side first opened as a shoe store in 1929, but in the 1990s, it was transformed into a 500-seat music club that quickly made a name for itself in the New York arts scene. The intimate venue — complete with original brass rails and exterior iron metalwork — was hailed as the best club in America by “Rolling Stone” magazine in 2013.

Army veteran Christopher B. Stubblefield opened Stubb’s Bar-B-Q in Lubbock, Texas, in 1968. It featured two of Stubb’s favorite things: a hickory pit for barbecue and a jukebox for blues music. The restaurant began hosting concerts in the 1970s, welcoming big names like Muddy Waters, John Lee Hooker, Willie Nelson, and Johnny Cash. Though the Lubbock location has since closed, the downtown Austin venue still hosts regular concerts.

The Roaring '20s marked a significant time for the Motor City, with its booming automobile industry and emerging club scene during Prohibition. Formerly known as State Theater, the Fillmore opened in 1925 in Detroit’s entertainment district. The historic venue was originally used as a movie house but was later transformed into a live concert hall, complete with its original chandeliers.

At the Caverns, music fans come to experience live performances in a beautiful mountain setting, but underneath the stage lies 8,000 feet of prehistoric underground caves that have been used by humans for over 25,000 years. Fans can catch a show at the above-ground Caverns Amphitheater, or a one-of-a-kind cave concert held underground with incredible natural acoustics.

Located in the trendy Belltown neighborhood of Seattle, the Crocodile was built on grunge music in the early 1990s, but today, music from all genres is performed there every week. This venue has hosted sold-out shows by the Beastie Boys, surprise performances by Nirvana, and Lizzo’s first-ever Seattle performance. The Crocodile was ranked in the top 10 music clubs in the U.S. by “Rolling Stone.”

Set against a picturesque backdrop of the Columbia River in Central Washington, the Gorge Amphitheatre has hosted many big-name acts, including Phish, the Dave Matthews Band, and Pearl Jam — the latter of which described playing at the venue as a “spiritual” experience. A doctor named Dr. Vincent Bryan opened the venue in 1986 to draw more attention to his family’s winery. It soon exploded in popularity and now regularly hosts summer concerts and festivals.

Whisky a Go Go opened in the 1960s on the world-famous Sunset Strip in Los Angeles and quickly became one of the top rock venues in the country. Several British bands have made their Southern California debut at the venue over the years, including the Kinks, the Who, Led Zeppelin, and Oasis. Artists such as Otis Redding have also recorded live albums there.

Named for its original address, the 9:30 Club opened in 1980 on 930 F Street NW in Washington, D.C. Bands like R.E.M., Red Hot Chili Peppers, and Nirvana have played on its intimate stage before making it big. In 1996, the 9:30 Club moved to a larger venue at 815 V Street NW, a building that once housed jazz pianist Duke Ellington’s music club.

Atlanta’s historic Tabernacle hall has gone through many transformations over the past century. In 1910, pastor and physician Dr. Leonard Boughton opened the Tabernacle as an infirmary and later a Baptist church. From the mid-1980s until the 1996 Olympic Games, the venue sat vacant. It became a House of Blues venue during the Olympics, and afterward was transformed into an independent music hall, where Elton John famously recorded a live album.

The Grand Ole Opry country music concert has been staged weekly since 1925, but in 1974, the Opry finally opened its own venue — Nashville’s Grand Ole Opry House. Its grand opening featured many musical guests, including President Nixon, who sang and played piano for the audience. Since then, acts such as Reba McEntire, Alan Jackson, Garth Brooks, and Carrie Underwood have performed at the venue.

L.A.’s Griffith Park is not only home to the Hollywood Sign and its namesake observatory but also an outdoor concert venue called the Greek Theatre. Big names like Sir Elton John, Aretha Franklin, Frank Sinatra, Bruce Springsteen, and Carlos Santana have performed under the stars at this famous L.A. venue since it first opened in 1930.

Located west of Denver in Morrison, Colorado, Red Rocks Amphitheatre was built between 300-foot sandstone walls that date back millions of years. The two largest rocks that flank the stadium on the north and south sides are called Ship Rock and Creation Rock, respectively. The venue opened in 1941, and since then, big names such as Stevie Nicks, the Eagles, and the Grateful Dead have all played the venue.

The House of Blues is one of the most popular concert venue chains in America, with 11 locations across the country. The oldest of these venues still in use today is located in the French Quarter of New Orleans, Louisiana. It opened in 1994 and continues to host daily concerts. The first House of Blues venue opened in Cambridge, Massachusetts, in 1992, but that club no longer exists.

The “Piano Man” has played a record-setting 65 shows at New York’s Madison Square Garden. Joel was also the first artist to hold a residency at the Garden. Since the storied venue opened its doors in 1879, it has been the location of many influential moments in pop culture, from “The Fight of the Century” between Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier in 1971, to Marilyn Monroe’s birthday song to JFK in 1962.

Opened in 1932, New York’s Radio City Music Hall is an art deco-style theater in midtown Manhattan, and its neon marquee is one of the neighborhood's most recognizable symbols. The venue is the world’s largest indoor theater — measuring 160 feet from the back to the stage and with a ceiling that reaches a height of 84 feet. Over 300 million people have attended events here, including the annual Christmas Spectacular with the Rockettes.

The Beatles released six live albums, and only one of them was recorded in America: “The Beatles at the Hollywood Bowl.” The album is a compilation from shows played at the historic venue in 1964 and 1965. Celebrating its 100th anniversary in 2022, the amphitheater has hosted many other big names in music, including Elton John, Louis Armstrong, Billie Holiday, Yo-Yo Ma, and Judy Garland.

First Avenue is a live concert venue on the corner of First Avenue and Seventh Street in downtown Minneapolis. Since opening in the 1970s, the historic venue has hosted a range of local and national acts, including Ike and Tina Turner and Rod Stewart. The venue’s popularity skyrocketed in the 1980s after Minneapolis native Prince made the club his regular venue. Prince also filmed his 1984 movie “Purple Rain” there.

The Bluebird Cafe has been at the heart of Nashville’s country music scene since the 1980s. The small venue seats fewer than 100 people, so when big names like Bonnie Raitt or Vince Gill drop by to sing, it offers an intimate concert experience like no other in the city. Other artists like Taylor Swift and Garth Brooks credit the Bluebird with their rise to fame — both signed record deals after playing there.

Carnegie Hall is named after steel magnate Andrew Carnegie, who was inspired to build the historic theater at the end of the 19th century. The first performance in the hall was held on May 5, 1891, featuring famed composer Pyotr Ilych Tchaikovsky in his U.S. debut. In the past 130 years, Carnegie Hall has hosted performances from all musical genres, as well as events from comedians, authors, world leaders, and other prominent figures.