The roots of Marquee go all the way back to the famous Marquee Club, which first opened in London in April 1958. The Marquee Club became the heart of the jazz and rhythm & blues scenes in London, where legends like Sonny Boy Williamson, Alexis Korner’s Blues Incorporated, and harmonica player Cyril Davies regularly played. During the 60′s a new generation of British rhythm and blues bands, including the Rolling Stones, John Mayall and the Bluesbreakers, the Yardbirds, and the Animals forged the coming of a new musical era at the Marquee. The Marquee became a focus venue for the emerging British scene and witnessed the birth and rise of some of the most significant artists in the 60′s and 70′s, such as Jimi Hendrix, David Bowie, Cream, Pink Floyd, The Who, Yes, Led Zeppelin, Jethro Tull, King Crimson, Genesis the Moody Blues and many others. The club also saw the birth of the different music genres born during the last decades of the 20th century, including acid rock, progressive rock, hard rock, and folk rock. During the late 70′s and early 80′s the Marquee saw the development of the British punk, new wave, synth pop, heavy rock and neo progressive music scenes, with bands such as the Clash, Ultravox, the Pretenders, the Police, the Cure, Joy Division, the Damned, Generation X, Siouxsie and the Banshees and the Sex Pistols.
