History of HMV Hammersmith Apollo

HMV Hammersmith Apollo is a major live entertainment venue in Hammersmith West London and is one of the UK's largest and best-preserved original theatres which attracts thousands of visitors' every year. The venue dates back to 1932 when it first opened on 28th March. At that time is was named Gaumont Palace cinema and seated 3,500 people. It was designed in the Art Deco style by architect Robert Cromie. It wasn't until 1962 that it was renamed Hammersmith Odeon with the HMV bit added in 2009.

The theatre has a large 35 foot deep stage, and is an excellent fan shaped auditorium which offers remarkable intimacy and excellent sightlines from all parts of the theatre. It houses twenty dressing rooms, a Compton4Manual/15 Ranks theatre organ and a restaurant located on the balcony area.

Over the years all of the top musical stars have performed there. In 1964 and early 1965 the Beatles played 38 shows over 21 nights. Other musicians that performed at the venue in the sixties are The Rolling Stones, Bob Marley, Johnny Cash, Tony Bennett and Louis Armstrong. The 70's saw Bruce Springsteen, Queen, Ziggy Stardust, David Bowie perform and Kiss made their first UK appearance as the venue in 1976. The 80's saw Blondie play one of her most famous shows. Most of the top musicians at the time played there including Culture Club, Tears for Fears, Marillion, Elton John, Public Enemy, Depeche Mode and Duran Duran to name just a few.

It is not just musicians that play there, by the 90's the venue played host to a number of stage productions including Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat which was a runaway success. American magicians and comedians Penn and Teller performed live there in 2010 as did Billy Connolly.

The venue has changed hands many times over the years and went through many name changes. Back in 2006 the owners of the venue were encouraged by Hammersmith & Fulham Council and the Cinema Theatre Association to reinstate the original Compton organ. The organ had been in storage since the 1990's but was sorely missed, so having it reinstated gives the theatre back its authenticity.

The most recent changes to the venue was when it was bought by MAMA Group which is a UK based entertainment company who own a number of other venues across the country. In 2009 MAMA group entered into a joint venue with HMV which is where is gets is name today of HMV Hammersmith Apollo.