The Troubadour
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- For other uses, see Troubadour (disambiguation).
The Troubadour is a nightclub located in West Hollywood, California, at 9081 Santa Monica Boulevard just east of Doheny Drive and the border of Beverly Hills.
The club opened in 1957. It was a major center for folk music in the 1960s, and subsequently singer-songwriters and rock.
The Troubadour played an important role in the careers of Neil Diamond and other performers, who played engagements there establishing their fame. On August 25, 1970, Diamond introduced Elton John, who performed his first show in the United States at the Troubadour. In 1974, John Lennon and his friend, Harry Nilsson, were ejected from the club for drunkenly heckling the Smothers Brothers. Randy Newman started out at the club and comics Cheech & Chong were discovered there. In 1975, Elton John returned to do a series of special anniversary concerts.
Other alumni include Damien Rice, Lenny Bruce, James Taylor, Bette Midler, Bruce Springsteen, the Pointer Sisters, Sheryl Crow, George Carlin, Tom Waits, Rickie Lee Jones and too many more to name. The Troubadour was also home to folk legends such as Bob Dylan, Ramblin' Jack Elliot and Arlo Guthrie.
The Troubadour would also feature New Wave and punk in the late 1970s and early 1980s, and became virtually synonymous with heavy metal bands like Mötley Crüe, Guns N' Roses and W.A.S.P. in the 1980s and 1990s. In fact Guns N' Roses played their first show at the Troubadour and they were also "discovered" by a Geffen A&R representative at the club. There are a variety of styles of music played at the Troubadour to the present day and it continues to be one of Hollywood's favorite and most respected places to see live music.
