The Troubadour

The Troubadour on Santa Monica Boulevard has been the launchpad for more careers than almost any other venue in America. Opened by Doug Weston in 1957, it became the epicentre of the Laurel Canyon singer-songwriter scene in the late 1960s and has reinvented itself with every new wave of music since. The room holds around 400 people, and its intimate layout — a balcony overlooking a small stage — has made it the place where artists are discovered, not just heard.

In August 1970, a virtually unknown Elton John played a week-long residency at the Troubadour that changed his life. The shows were so electrifying that by the end of the run, every major music industry figure in Los Angeles had seen him. He went from obscurity to superstardom in a matter of days. He later said it was the most important week of his career, and he returned to the venue for emotional shows in 2007 marking the anniversary.

The Troubadour was home base for the Laurel Canyon scene. Joni Mitchell, James Taylor, Carole King, Jackson Browne, and the Eagles all played early shows here. The bar upstairs was where deals were struck and bands were formed — Glenn Frey and Don Henley met at the Troubadour and went on to form the Eagles. Linda Ronstadt was a regular. The venue's open mic nights and hootenannies of the late 1960s incubated the entire California singer-songwriter movement.

On June 6, 1986, Guns N' Roses played the Troubadour in a show that drew every major label A&R representative in town. The band was already notorious on the Sunset Strip, but this gig — raw, dangerous, and electrifying — sealed the deal. Geffen Records signed them shortly after. The Troubadour gave GN'R the same thing it had given Elton John sixteen years earlier: the right room, the right audience, at exactly the right moment.

Tom Waits was practically a fixture at the Troubadour in the early 1970s, playing regular sets and drinking at the bar. The venue's late-night atmosphere — smoky, boozy, unpredictable — suited his style perfectly. He was signed to Asylum Records after being spotted here, and the Troubadour's after-hours energy fed directly into his early albums. The bar upstairs has its own mythology, a place where John Lennon was famously ejected during his "lost weekend" in 1974.

The Troubadour is still open and still booking live music seven nights a week. The room looks much as it always has — the balcony, the low stage, the tight sightlines. It sits on Santa Monica Boulevard in West Hollywood, a short walk from the Sunset Strip. Unlike many historic venues that have been gutted or turned into restaurants, the Troubadour remains a working club. Any night of the week, someone might be playing the stage where Elton, Joni, and Axl all had their moment.