10-03-2025
Expanded Rock ‘n' Soul Museum could open in 2027
MEMPHIS, Tenn. — A renovation and expansion project here in Memphis has the attention of some state lawmakers and it's all because of Priscilla Presley.
She's lending some of her star power to the Memphis Rock 'n' Soul Museum as it prepares to move to a bigger spot on Beale Street.
At the Tennessee State Capitol, Memphis' music royalty and music history took center stage.
Priscilla Presley, the former wife of Rock 'n Roll icon Elvis Presley, received the state's highest Tennessee Civilian honor, the Colonel, Aide de Camp Award.
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The recognition is the same honor Elvis was awarded back in March of 1961.
As part of her visit to Nashville, Priscilla Presley also lent her voice to the future of Memphis music, supporting the Memphis Rock 'n' Soul Museum's expansion and its quest for state funding.
'Memphis has an automatic asset bigger than most, and that's our Memphis history and that is Elvis Presley and that is Johnny Cash, and that's all the people who've come before us and got there start in Memphis,' Rep. John Gillespie said. 'It's only fitting that we have the best museum for music in the state in Memphis.'
The Rock 'n' Soul Museum plans to leave its current home at FedExForum and move into the building that once housed the city's Hard Rock Cafe.
The multi-million-dollar expansion is being called the largest single investment on Beale Street in the past decade.
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'This is the first time that we've come to the state. This is a big move,' said John Doyle, the Executive Director of the Memphis Rock 'n' Soul Museum. 'It's a big move for our museum to really elevate the Smithsonian building exhibit, but also to add a performance space, to add a recording studio to be able to offer opportunities for students to learn hands-on music.'
Organizers hope the move will double the number of visitors at the museum.
They said it could also drive tourists to other parts of downtown Memphis.
'With FedexForum, with the Memphis Grizzlies, the new Riverfront – for us to really be a cornerstone – the largest music entity in downtown Memphis,' Doyle said. 'There's a lot of responsibility there.'
Crews hope to wrap up the museum project within the next few years. If all goes according to plan, the doors to the new museum could open sometime in 2027.
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