A glowing interactive touch table allows Grammy Museum visitors to listen to almost any type of music, from classical to polka to rap, while a short history is projected on the screen. The museum tells the story of music making through the lens of the Grammy Awards, from songwriting through performance and recording.
Tonight's annual Grammy Awards show, broadcast live from the Staples Center in downtown Los Angeles, will pay emotional tribute to pop icon Michael Jackson. Long after the show, a more enduring and dazzling memorial to the late singer can be found at the Grammy Museum.
Barely a year old, the Grammy Museum has what it calls the largest collection of Jackson artifacts in North America, mostly contributed by Jackson himself. Yes, it includes his fedora.
After Jackson died June 25, the exhibit was a daily stop for international media workers who reported on the case for weeks. The spotlight faded after Jackson's memorial, yet public fascination with the star has exploded, said Museum Executive Director Robert Santelli.
"Michael Jackson was the first artist who officially reached out to us, and we will never forget it," Santelli said. "His manager called and said, 'Michael would love to work with you,' and a few weeks later he opened up a warehouse for us. We knew that we were the only place in Los Angeles or even the world with so many Michael artifacts."
"Because of the interest in Michael," he added, "we saw our attendance quadruple."
Now, the Grammy Museum, on Olympic Boulevard at Figueroa Street, enters its second year poised for growth.
The 30,000-square-foot building anchors a corner of the $2.5 billion entertainment and sports complex called L.A. Live, developed by AEG. It houses ESPN Sports, a plaza with giant outdoor screens and 16 new restaurants. Across the street is Staples, home of the Lakers, and next door is the Los Angeles Visitors and Convention Center.
L.A. Live is projected to draw 20 million visitors a year, officials there said. And in a matter of weeks, the museum will be flanked by 1,001 new rooms in the JW Marriott Hotel and the Ritz-Carlton Los Angeles.
Although the once-shabby downtown still has Skid Row and the country's largest homeless population, it would be unrecognizable to someone who visited five years ago. Its population has grown 35 percent since a 2006 study, to about 40,000. The Downtown Business Improvement District estimates total investment since 2000 at more than $15 billion.
With the cultural venues and the flush of new residents, downtown has become a more inviting, pedestrian-centric destination for visitors.
"I have lived in downtown L.A. for six years," said Carol Martinez, associate vice president of communications for the Visitor and Convention Bureau. "At the time I think people looked at me as a little odd for that. Now … they want to come visit me."
The Grammy Museum, she said, is an essential part of the downtown renaissance.
The museum's name reflects its heritage in the recording industry and decades of awards shows. It does not, however, reflect all that a visitor experiences.
The closest thing to museum exhibits are those like the denim duds of 1970s Neil Diamond, or the sequined costumes of Cher and other musical legends. There's a Gwen Stefani jumpsuit circa 2005 and a Martin Quintero outfit with Stetson from a 2007 concert.
Visitors listen, touch screens, strum guitars or belt out songs. They can hear themselves play on headsets.
"I think it's great here!" shouted Ian Gonzalez, 8, of South Gate, as he banged on a drum set, his brother Matthew, 5, fingering an electric guitar on a mock stage.
A typical visit takes 90 minutes, according to museum officials, but real music lovers may not get through half of it in one visit.
On the fourth floor, a glowing interactive touch table allows listeners to choose and hear almost any type of music, from classical to funk, polka to rap. While the music plays, a short history emerges on the table. On the same floor is "Michael Jackson: A Musical Legacy," an exhibit that ends this summer.
Through the lens of the Grammy Awards, the museum tells the story of music making, from songwriting through performance and recording. It features personal items such as handwritten lyrics by great singers. The floor with the stage costumes also holds soundproof booths where visitors can be video-coached by producers such as Jermaine Dupri before singing and taping songs. Santelli says the booths are unique.
Santelli would know, having been vice president of education and public programs at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland, and CEO and artistic director of Seattle's Experience Music Project. He guided the Grammy Museum's opening in December 2008.
One of the more important events at the Grammy, he said, is the new photo exhibit that captures a young Elvis Presley with riveting intimacy.
"It was meaningful for the Elvis traveling photo exhibit to launch at the Grammy Museum on Jan. 8, Elvis' 75th birthday," Santelli said of the display, which leaves at the end of March.
Photographer Alfred Wertheimer, hired by a record label, had access to an unguarded Elvis right before he "would soon be closed off to the world," said Santelli. "They are historically significant because he was soon to rise into a superstar that would help define popular music."
On display with the photographs are Elvis' first guitar, purchased by his mother and later taped together. It was found with a collector, as was his second guitar.
For another King, Jackson's area offers videos of old Grammy shows and a lighted danced floor on which recent visitors took turns attempting moonwalks to "Billy Jean."
Taking a crack was Richard Hussey of Manchester, England, on holiday with his fiancée, Gabby, with whom he had had tickets for Jackson's Feb. 18 London concert. The couple were on their way around the world on a special airplane ticket.
"We just stumbled upon this," Hussey said of the Grammy. "Quite the nice surprise."
Michael Jackson's single gloves – and his fedora – are among the star attractions at the Grammy Museum in downtown Los Angeles.
Visitors view displays at the Grammy Museum. Located across the street from Staples Center, it's projected to draw 20 million visitors a year and is seen as a key part of Los Angeles' downtown renaissance.
