The GRAMMY Museum

FOURTH FLOOR

The moment the elevator doors open, you are fully immersed in the GRAMMY experience. A hallway of music welcomes you. The passageway opens up to an exciting gallery space filled with content-rich interactives, films, and artifacts. These can be explored in any order you choose. Both on their own and taken as a whole, they reveal the legacy of recorded music and the many ways in which it intertwines with social and cultural history.

Crossroads

The large and colorful Crossroads table spreads out before you, inviting you to explore nearly one-hundred and sixty genres of music. Grab the ones that interest you; they open up to reveal photos, songs, and stories that describe the music and its impact. In turn, each genre reveals connections to others, inviting you to experience familiar sounds in new ways, and new sounds in exciting ways.

Enduring Traditions

Four Enduring Traditions pods, lined with unique artifacts and oversize imagery, beckon you to explore the history of some of America's most significant musical traditions: pop, folk, sacred, classical, and jazz. Inside, vintage footage and interviews with a broad spectrum of musical artists capture the essence of the music.

Music Epicenters

Spread across a curved wall, a map of the continental United States flashes, drawing your attention to Music Epicenters. Using dynamic touch screens, you explore the times and places where the sounds of American music have changed, and learn about the nation's rich and varied musical legacies. On an adjacent wall, one city's story is illustrated with artifacts and compelling imagery. This spotlight city exhibit is changed on a consistent basis, allowing even more stories to be told.

Culture Shock

Against a backdrop of some of modern music's most revolutionary figures, an audiovisual timeline reveals the past half-century. As you explore Culture Shock, the frequently heated intersection of music and the broader culture is revealed, telling some of society's most compelling stories, and spurring critical thinking.

Michael Jackson: A Musical Legacy

Michael Jackson: A Musical Legacy, the Museum's newest special exhibit serves as a follow-up to the earlier Michael Jackson: HIStyle exhibit, which opened in February 2009, and the temporary memorial display, erected just after the King of Pop's passing. Featuring never-before-seen artifacts, video, and a "Billie Jean" interactive dance booth, the exhibit will remain on display through summer 2010. Learn more and view images of this exhibit.

Songs of Conscience, Sounds of Freedom

A musical timeline from the Museum's first special exhibit, Songs of Conscience, Sounds of Freedom, illustrates the great impact music has had on American politics over the past two hundred years.

ARTIST VOICES: THE CREATIVE WORLD

In the sit-down Inspiration and Influence theater, you connect with artists from a broad range of genres, eras, and musical perspectives. A series of engaging films reveal the influences that shape and inspire the lives and work of artists. In their own words, they tell you about how music history directly impacts them, their creative process, and their music.

Spanning the back wall of the theater, Influential Instruments contains artifacts from some of music's most legendary figures. Making the mythical personal, this exhibit reveals unique details that help you connect to the person behind the music.

As you make your way from the theater to the stairs that will take you down to the third floor, you arrive at the It Starts With A Song. Against a backdrop of historical imagery and oversized lyrics, interactive kiosks allow you to hear some of the most significant songwriters describe their creative process and tell the stories behind the creation of their legendary songs.

Third Floor Exhibits >>