It doesn't get much more Cleveland than this! The Cavaliers' are connecting the city's music & sports culture by design of their new "City Edition" jerseys.
Below is a blurb from Cavs.com:
Cleveland’s rock and roll history began in the 1950’s when a new genre of music was introduced to a mainstream audience by Cleveland disc jockey Alan Freed.
On his WJW-AM radio show, Freed started to play the rhythmic and soulful songs that made the kids dance in the aisles at the local Record Rendezvous store, and with that, he popularized African American music called “rhythm and blues” to a new audience craving the urban vibe.
He coined it “rock and roll.”
Freed went on to organize the Moondog Coronation Ball featuring a lineup of R&B artists that drew an estimated 20,000 fans outside and inside the 11,000 seat Cleveland Arena on March 21,1952. Considered the first-ever rock and roll concert, it foreshadowed a city that was passionate about its music.
In the 1970’s Cleveland’s impact grew with the emergence of progressive rock station WMMS 100.7 FM and the Agora concert venue, both credited for shining the spotlight on little-known artists like Bruce Springsteen, David Bowie, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers and many others, solidifying the city’s reputation as a breakout destination for music’s rising stars.
Through the decades Cleveland’s music scene has continued to thrive and evolve. Fans fill local music halls to hear the artists that move them, and Northeast Ohio has remained a must-stop market for major tours hosted at concert venues such as Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse, one of the most active arenas in the world for touring acts.
Today, Cleveland is home to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, a shining glass pyramid that sits on the shores of Lake Erie where music lovers from around the globe come to celebrate the power of the music it represents— in the city where the story began.