They call Madison Square Garden the world’s most famous arena for a reason.
The current multi-purpose venue in midtown Manhattan is the fourth building to bear the famous name — the very first building to be called MSG opened in 1879, located in Madison Square at the intersection of 5th Avenue and Broadway at 23rd Street. Since 1968, present-day MSG has sat squarely above Pennsylvania Station, where it hosts hundreds of concerts, sporting events and various other experiences for New Yorkers and tourists alike. There is little that the Garden has not seen over the years and the schedule is tight — it’s not uncommon for a concert to take place one evening, the floor panels then swiftly removed revealing the ice for a New York Rangers hockey game the next night.
From an entertainment standpoint, MSG is the epicenter, and for many musical artists, appearing on its stage is the ultimate moment of arrival. When Brandi Carlile played her first headlining show there in 2019, it had been over a decade since she and her band first visited New York City, a trip that ended in their van being robbed of everything. In 2019, she knelt down and kissed the stage.
“There is not a nerdy outcast with a guitar out there who doesn’t dream of what I’m seeing right now,” she said then (via nj.com).
Hundreds upon hundreds of concerts and other culturally significant happenings have taken place under this venue’s roof, but we’ve narrowed it down to a list of 10 of the Most Memorable Moments in the History of Madison Square Garden.
1. Marilyn Monroe’s Infamous ‘Happy Birthday’ Performance for JFK (1962)
We understand that Marilyn Monroe really doesn’t have anything to do with rock ‘n’ roll specifically, but it cannot be overstated the magnitude of the moment below from a pop culture perspective. Long story short: in May of 1962, a huge gala was held at MSG in honor of President John F. Kennedy’s birthday. Monroe didn’t just appear at the event in a skin-tight gown, she also offered up a slinky rendition of “Happy Birthday” that continues to be a cultural reference point to date. Monroe died less than three months later.
2. George Harrison’s Concert for Bangladesh (1971)
These days, benefit concerts are pretty common, but there was a time when they were not and George Harrison is the man behind arguably the first ever big-time benefit show: The Concert for Bangladesh, held at MSG in August of 1971. A pair of concerts raised somewhere in the vicinity of $250,000 dollars for Bengali refugees fleeing war and famine, though subsequent sales of the event’s live album and film made millions more. It was such a successful project that it paved the way for a number of other iconic benefits to take place at MSG, which we’ll get to shortly…
3. Elvis Presley’s One and Only Headlining Appearance in NYC (1972)
Elvis Presley performed all over the world, but believe it or not, he only ever headlined in New York City one time, and that was at MSG in June of 1972. Presley played four sold-out shows over the course of three days, one of which was captured for a live album that was released just eight days later called As Recorded at Madison Square Garden. Among the purported attendees that weekend was George Harrison, David Bowie and Art Garfunkel.
4. Led Zeppelin’s ‘The Song Remains the Same’ Album and Film (1973)
In the summer of 1973, Led Zeppelin returned to MSG. The first time they’d appeared there was in 1970, but this time they came for a three-night engagement that resulted in both a concert film and a live album titled The Song Remains the Same.
Interestingly, the band didn’t really love the outcome. “The Song Remains the Same is not a great film, but there’s no point in making excuses,” Jimmy Page said not long after the movie’s release in 1976. “It’s just a reasonably honest statement of where we were at that particular time. It’s very difficult for me to watch it now, but I’d like to see it in a year’s time just to see how it stands up.” We think it’s still a pretty powerful piece of musical cinema.
5. Sly Stone Gets Married (1974)
Lots of people say they want a big wedding, but they probably don’t mean getting married on the stage of Madison Square Garden in front of over 20,000 people. But that’s precisely what Sly Stone and his girlfriend Kathy Silva did on June 5, 1974. “I could do a gig, get paid, and get married at the same time,” Stone recalled in his memoir.
READ MORE: UCR’s Favorite Local Venues: Roundtable
6. John Lennon’s Final Concert Performance (1974)
In August of 1972, MSG is where John Lennon played the last two full concerts he’d ever play. A little over two years later at the same venue, he made his very last concert appearance of any kind when he joined Elton John on stage. Together they played three songs: “Whatever Gets You Thru the Night,” “Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds” and “I Saw Her Standing There.” Four years later, Lennon would be murdered.
7. The ‘Night of the Hurricane’ Benefit Concert (1975)
Remember earlier when we said that The Concert for Bangladesh was the first large-scale charity show? Well Bob Dylan performed at that event and it clearly gave him some ideas of his own because in 1975 he also organized a benefit concert at MSG. His was called Night of the Hurricane and it was held in order to raise money and awareness around the imprisonment of boxer Rubin “Hurricane” Carter, who had been convicted of a triple murder in 1967 but had maintained his innocence ever since. (Carter ultimately spent close to 20 years in prison for a crime he did not commit.) In addition to Dylan, the likes of Joan Baez, Joni Mitchell, Stevie Wonder, Stephen Stills, Ringo Starr, Carlos Santana and more performed.
8. The Concert for New York City (2001)
Frankly, we could probably do a separate list just on benefit concerts that took place at MSG and there would be dozens of famous names involved. But there’s one more that we really feel deserves its own entry. In the aftermath of Sept. 11, a huge roster of artists came together to participate in The Concert for New York City, which honored first responders from that day and also raised millions of dollars for victims of the attack. Hosting the event at MSG made perfect sense — an iconic New York City space. Some of the biggest names in rock performed, including but not limited to David Bowie, Bon Jovi, Mick Jagger and Keith Richards, Bruce Springsteen, Billy Joel, Elton John, Eric Clapton and the Who.
9. Famous Farewell Performances
If you’re going to retire, making Madison Square Garden the very last stop of your journey is a pretty great idea. Way back in 2008, the Police wrapped up their reunion tour there. Then in 2023, New York City’s own Kiss concluded their End of the Road World Tour in the same place. “Fabulous, right?” Gene Simmons said to Classic Rock then. “To see this little band that you started in ten blocks away from Madison Square Garden suddenly own the city like this for a weekend is quite remarkable.”
10. Billy Joel: Record-Holder for Most Concerts at MSG
In January of 2025, it was announced that pop star Harry Styles would play a 30-date residency at the Garden beginning in late August. Sounds impressive, right? Well, it pales in comparison to Billy Joel, who has 150 MSG shows under his belt, making him the record-holder for most concerts performed at the venue. No one comes close to Joel, but some other bands have really pounded the MSG pavement. Elton John has been there over 70 times, Phish over 90, the Grateful Dead over 50 and the Who over 30.
