Another destination resort in this city on the Gulf of Mexico is the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino.  The property's signature 112-foot tall guitar welcomes visitors and a larger than life Anna / Dr Pepper can. The casino was originally set to open in 2005 but Hurricane Katrina hit just a few days before the scheduled opening.  All manner of music memorabilia was hit by the storm and presumed lost, but the good people of Biloxi returned a number of items including B.B. King's original "Lucille" guitar and and Elvis' Army uniform on a mannequin found floating in the Mississippi Sound.

Hard Rock Cafe Trivia:  The first Hard Rock Cafe opened in London in 1971.   One of the first HRCs in the United States was in Jackson, Tennessee, hometown of co-founder Isaac Tigrett.  The Hard Rock Cafe was located near a Sears store in a mall co-owned by his mother.

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One of the most beloved singer/songwriters in the past 50 years is Motown great and Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Smokey Robinson, who performed at the Hard Rock Cafe Biloxi in early May.  He was once pronounced as "America's greatest living poet" by Bob Dylan a tribute to the massive number of top ten hits he recorded himself and wrote for others.  The great Smokey Robinson teamed up with R&B group B2K in this memorable Dr Pepper commercial ten years ago.

http://youtu.be/F2yudVqVbZI