Expand / Collapse search
☰

New LBJ Library exhibit to feature items owned by Taylor Swift, Elvis, and more

By FOX 7 Austin Digital Team
Published  January 25, 2024 12:55pm CST
Entertainment
FOX 7 Austin
Image 1 of 6
▼

Stevie Ray Vaughn's Fender Stratocaster that he dubbed "Number One" and "First Wife." (The Bullock Museum)

AUSTIN, Texas - A new upcoming exhibit at the LBJ Presidential Library will give music fans the opportunity to see personal memorabilia from artists who have shaped American music.

Music America: Iconic Objects from America's Music History will run from Feb. 17 through Aug. 11 and will feature more than one hundred objects spanning decades and genres of American music.

Visitors will get to see items owned by some of the nation's most iconic musicians, including Taylor Swift, Elvis Presley, B.B. King, Billie Holiday, Bruce Springsteen, Prince, Willie Nelson, and more.

Some of the objects included in the collection are:

  • Leonard Bernstein's baton
  • John Coltrane's saxophone
  • Chuck D's handwritten lyrics to "Fight the Power"
  • Gloria Estefan's sequined dress from her 1996 tour
  • Woody Guthrie's signed "This Land is Your Land" lyrics
  • Billie Holiday's fox fur stole
  • B.B. King's guitar "Lucille"
  • Madonna's wedding dress from the "Like a Virgin" video
  • Willie Nelson's cowboy boots given to him by Gene Autry's widow
  • Elvis Presley's 1956 Tupelo, Mississippi, concert shirt
  • Prince's "Purple Rain" shirt and "Cloud" guitar
  • Bruce Springsteen's outfit worn on the "Born in the USA" album cover
  • Taylor Swift's guitar and costume from the Taylor Swift reputation Stadium Tour 
  • Stevie Ray Vaughan's "Number One" guitar

The exhibit is curated by the Bruce Springsteen Archives & Center for American Music in association with the New Orleans Jazz Museum and Hard Rock International, along with dozens of prominent collectors of American music ephemera.

MORE ENTERTAINMENT NEWS

Visitors can also enjoy an interactive "Song Bar," where they can hear performances by some of the artists highlighted in the exhibit, along with additional melodies that demonstrate the depth, breadth, and great productivity of American musicians, says the LBJ Library.

The LBJ Presidential Library is located on the University of Texas at Austin campus and is open daily from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. The last visitor is admitted at 4 p.m.

To learn more about the library, click here.