Rock and Roll Music

As you explore our collections and videos below, don't miss Chuck Berry’s Cadillac. This Cadillac was driven on stage at the Fox Theater in St. Louis in the documentary, Hail! Hail! Rock and Roll! It was the same theater that turned him away as a child because he was Black. See An Exploration of Smithsonian Collections Featuring African American Music from Smithsonian Music; watch a webcast with rock icon Van Halen as he discusses his American journey; and more.

She started shakin' to that fine, fine music. You know her life was saved by rock 'n' roll.
—Lou Reed, The Velvet Underground, "Rock & Roll," Loaded, 1970