New York Music Attractions - For Music Lovers

New York ain’t short of a good music venue or six, and there’s plenty to keep you up all night in the city that never sleeps. Just choose your poison, from dive-bar open-mic nights all the way up to world-class classical music recitals at the historic Carnegie Hall. This renaissance-style Midtown icon has hosted a veritable who’s who of performers down the years. We’re talking giants of classical music like Elgar, Dvořák and Rachmaninoff, plus jazz greats Billie Holiday, Miles Davies and Nina Simone, and some band going by the name of The Beatles. Catch a pitch-perfect performance in the hallowed auditorium, or take a guided tour to discover the history of this cultural colossus.

Top tip: the tour of Carnegie Hall is included with a New York Pass®, which can save you up to 50% on access to the hottest NYC tours, activities and attractions. Click to find out more.

And, as if one world-famous performance space wasn’t enough, there’s also the nearby Radio City Music Hall. Perhaps best known for its traditional Christmas show featuring precision dance troupe the Rockettes, this art deco icon has also played host to Liberace, Adele, America’s Got Talent live shows and more. As with Carnegie Hall, guided tours are available for those who fail to snag a ticket for the live shows.

Over on the Upper West Side, the Lincoln Center is where it's at for performances from New York’s finest, among them the resident New York Philharmonic, Metropolitan Opera and New York City Ballet.

Go big or go home at Madison Square Garden; the 20,000-capacity arena has quite the pedigree, having hosted Elvis, Bowie, Madonna, Michael Jackson, Billy Joel and Taylor Swift down the years. Or keep it (relatively) low-key at the Apollo in Harlem. If there’s a better place to catch America’s future black superstars, we’ve yet to find it: the century-old venue’s feted Amateur Night is where Ella Fitzgerald, Dionne Warwick and Jay-Z all caught their big break. Not intimate enough for ya? Try the highly popular free jazz shows held every Sunday afternoon in Harlem heroine Marjorie Eliot’s living room at 555 Edgecombe Avenue. Shows kick off around 3PM – be sure to get there in plenty of time to beat the queues.

New York’s rich musical heritage is writ large at a number of iconic locations. You can book a room at the notorious Chelsea Hotel, the 19th-century Victorian gothic edifice immortalised in song by Leonard Cohen. The hotel’s list of former residents reads like a who’s who of rock: Joni Mitchell, Jim Morrison, Bob Dylan, Patti Smith and Frank Zappa, to name just a few. The Chelsea Hotel is also, of course, where Sex Pistol Sid Vicious allegedly stabbed his girlfriend Nancy Spungen to death in 1978. 

Alternatively, bunk down at the Hard Rock Hotel in Times Square, an experience that’s sure to fulfil all your rock’n’roll fantasies. You can rent a guitar if you fancy wigging out like Hendrix in the privacy of your room, as well as ogling classic music memorabilia from Springsteen, Led Zep, Alica Keys, Gwen Stefani and many others. But be warned: music-themed signature cocktails in the rooftop bar could well leave you facing a difficult Sunday mornin’ comin’ down.

There are several other music-related locations worth checking out, including Caffe Dante in Greenwich Village, a favorite hangout of Dylan, Hendrix and Patti Smith back in the day (not to mention Al Pacino, Ernest Hemingway and notorious New York mobster Vincent ‘Chin’ Gigante). Alas, the East Village’s near-mythical CBGB club – where bands including Blondie, Television and the Ramones cut their teeth – is now a high-end fashion store, but music heads can still pop by to eyeball old concert playbills, and original graffiti on the vague pretext of purchasing a comically overpriced pair of socks. 

Last but not least, the Strawberry Fields garden in Central Park is a must for John Lennon fans, who make regular pilgrimages here to pay respects and leave floral tributes at the ‘Imagine’ mosaic shrine.

It would be remiss not to mention Broadway in a guide to New York’s premier music attractions. The 40-or-so venues that comprise NYC’s epic theater district include the Shubert, the Richard Rodgers and the Winter Garden. And it’s in high-caliber theaters like these that you can catch some of Broadway’s longest-running musicals. Go wild for The Lion King, defy gravity at Wicked and sing along to ‘All That Jazz’ at Chicago.

Did you know hip-hop was born in New York? Well of course you did! Pioneered by DJ Kool Herc at a Bronx house party back in 1973, the genre blew up and spawned local heroes including LL Cool J, the Notorious B.I.G., Nicki Minaj, 50 Cent, the Wu-Tang Clan and, well, the list goes on. The unassuming Sedgwick Avenue apartment block where it all began is a fitting starting point for the excellent Hush hip-hop tours. These immersive experiences are led by scene figureheads and take in a number of hip-hop landmarks around Harlem, Spanish Harlem and the Bronx. Play your cards right and your guide might even treat you to an impromptu spot of freestyling. Dope.

To conclude our tour of New York attractions for music lovers, a couple of fine museums for your consideration. First up, the beloved Metropolitan Museum of Art has several galleries dedicated to the weirdest and most wonderful musical instruments ever made by humans (and indeed animals). We’re talking some 5,000 pieces from six continents, spanning hundreds – even thousands – of years. Check out pipe organs, tribal drums, medieval hurdy-gurdys and more, and ask for the chance to hear Met staff members play the conch shell at the heart of the gallery’s brass section. 

Speaking of hornblowers, the wonderful world of Satchmo is explored in detail over at the Louis Armstrong House Museum in Queens. Step inside the pioneering jazzer’s former home for a tantalizing glimpse into his life and works. Exhibits include trumpets, photographs, awards and even a mouthpiece gifted by King George V of England!