Advert: date=January 2009

Hard Rock Cafe is a chain of bar-restaurants founded in 1971 by Isaac Tigrett and Peter Morton. The first Hard Rock Cafe opened near Hyde Park Corner in London. In 1979 the cafe started covering its walls with rock 'n' roll ephemera, a tradition now extended to the other establishments of the chain. The company was sold to the Seminole Tribe of Florida in 2006. There are currently over 140 Hard Rock Cafes in over 36 countries. There are also special ones in the Rogers Centre and Yankee Stadium.Fact: date=January 2009

History

The first Hard Rock Cafe (HRC), founded by Isaac Tigrett and Peter Morton, opened its doors to the public on June 14, 1971, in London, England. The cafe was initially decorated with an eye toward eclectic Americana before turning to rock 'n' roll memorabilia and HRC has ultimately become the world's leading collector and exhibitor of rock 'n' roll memorabilia.Fact: date=January 2009 Starting in 1982, Hard Rock Cafe began its expansion and opened restaurants in various parts of the globe. Morton opened HRCs in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago and Houston while Tigrett opened in New York, Dallas, Boston, Washington, D.C., Orlando, Paris and Berlin, eventually selling his interest to Mecca Leisure. In 1990, The Rank Group, Plc., a London-based leisure company, acquired Mecca and continued expansion of the concept in their geographic territory. Rank then acquired Hard Rock America from Peter Morton, and Hard Rock Canada from Nick Bitove. With these acquisitions, Rank consolidated worldwide control of the brand. In March 2007, the Seminole Tribe of Florida acquired Hard Rock International, Inc. and other related entities from The Rank Group, Plc. Fact: date=January 2009 In recent times the business has come in for some criticism because of its practice of paying its waiting staff less than half the official minimum wage, with the business allocating tips to staff to bring their salaries within the law. Most customers, it was argued, do not realise that they are subsidizing an illegal wage when they give the tip .

Restaurants

Casinos and hotels

In 1995 Peter Parker spent $80 million to open the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino off the Las Vegas strip. A subsequent $100 million expansion nearly doubled the hotel's capacity in 1999.Fact: date=January 2009

In May 2006 Morton sold the Las Vegas "Hard Rock Hotel" to New York-based Morgans Hotel Group for $770 million, including the rights to the "Hard Rock Hotel" brand west of the Mississippi River, including Texas, California, Australia and Vancouver, British Columbia. Edward Scheetz, a Morgans' executive, described the 11-story, 650-room "Hard Rock Hotel" as a "trophy property" that will never be replicated in Las Vegas because of land values. The "Hard Rock" pool alone occupies land valued at $50 million.Fact: date=January 2009 On September 1, 2007 the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino Las Vegas announced the sponsorship of the 2004 Indianapolis 500 champion, Buddy Rice for the final two races of the 2007 IndyCar Series Season.