Hard Rock Cafe The first Hard Rock Cafe (HRC) opened on 14 June 1971 at Old Park Lane, Mayfair, London, under the ownership of young Americans Isaac Tigrett and Peter Morton. Hard Rock initially had an eclectic decor, but it later started to display memorabilia. The chain began to expand worldwide in 1982 with locations in (among others) Toronto, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago, Paris, and Berlin. Hard Rock Cafe locations in the United States vary from smaller, more tourist driven markets (Biloxi, Pigeon Forge, Key West, etc.) to large metropolises (Houston, Philadelphia, New York City, Chicago, Boston, Washington DC, etc.). Hard Rock
Hard rock heavy metal sound. The same month, Steppenwolf released its self-titled debut album, including "Born to Be Wild", which contained the first lyrical reference to heavy metal and helped popularise the style when it was used in the film "Easy Rider" (1969). Iron Butterfly's "In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida" (1968), with its 17-minute-long title track, using organs and with a lengthy drum solo, also prefigured later elements of the sound. By the end of the decade a distinct genre of hard rock was emerging with bands like Led Zeppelin, who mixed the music of early rock bands with a more hard-edged form of blues rock