One of the most storied venues in music is New York City’s Madison Square Garden (MSG). As it continues to be a popular stop for many of the biggest arena tours in the country, now is as good of a time as ever to dive into the history of Madison Square Garden.
Madison Square Garden is located in Manhattan and serves as an arena venue for a variety of events including concerts and sports games. At the epicenter of one of the biggest cities in the United States, it’s no surprise that Madison Square has been host to many important events.
The current MSG is actually the fourth building to hold the name. The first Madison Square Garden was built in 1874, with the most current building being erected in 1968, rather controversially on top of Pennsylvania Station.
Madison Square Garden serves as the home venue for the NBA’s New York Knicks and the NHL’s New York Rangers. MSG has also hosted notable events for other sports organizations, including the WWE’s first Wrestlemania and the first WNBA All-Star Game. It has also been the location of the Democratic National Convention three times, in 1976, 1980, and 1992 as well as the Republican National Convention in 2004.
In the same vein, a large number of famous concerts have been held at Madison Square Garden. Beatles member George Harrison played two charity concerts at Madison Square Garden to raise money for East Pakistani refugees amid a genocide. Fellow Beatle John Lennon made his final live appearance at an Elton John concert on Thanksgiving in 1974. Elton once held the record for “most times performed at Madison Square,” racking up over 70 performances before his retirement. He frequently has praised MSG as his favorite venue of all time.
Madison Square Garden also hosted “The Concert for New York City,” which took place as a response to the 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center and was organized by Paul McCartney. The show featured performances from legends including David Bowie, Jay-Z, and Billy Joel. Rock icon Led Zeppelin’s three-day stint in MSG in the summer of 1973 also served as the basis for their film, The Song Remains the Same.
Politics and music combined at MSG when the arena hosted the 45th birthday Gala for President John F Kennedy in 1962. Kennedy was sung “Happy Birthday” by Hollywood icon Marilyn Monroe, one of her final performances before her untimely passing. This added fuel to the fire of rumors that Monroe and The President were having an affair, although nothing has been confirmed.
More recently, Madison Square Garden has hosted major concerts from artists such as Charli XCX and Sabrina Carpenter, the latter of which played two nights. Later on this year, Madison Square Garden will host three nights of Billie Eilish’s “Hit Me Hard and Soft Tour” continuing to prove its relevance up to the modern era.
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