Hard Rock memorabilia

After he joined the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino team, he decided to use his creative talents to acquire and showcase rock 'n' roll memorabilia which has become synonymous with the brand over the years.

"Along the way I decided that the best part of the job that I ever did was the memorabilia curation," he said. "I'm doing that because I chose to. It's the fun job."

The first Hard Rock Cafe opened in London in 1971 as an American roadhouse diner. Rock 'n' roll was the music of the time, but it didn't influence the restaurant beyond a jukebox, according to Stone, who recalls the waitresses wearing white uniforms.

"When we brought it back to America in 1982 as the Hard Rock Cafe in Los Angeles, it wasn't such a standout. A lot of people didn't believe that there was any validity to the brand," he said. "It was originally pretty much along the lines of a lot of restaurant chains that you'd find in Texas that have a lot of moose heads on the walls and old signs."

The rock 'n' roll theme eventually took hold with guitars, which fit well with the staff and customers who, Stone said, were rockers.

"It was just purely natural. The best things in life come that way. They just happen," he said.

Stone's Las Vegas studio, he said, looks like a "mannequin factory."

On a Thursday morning, he was standing among mannequins dressed in costumes worn by Elvis Presley, Kid Rock, Mick Jagger, Jimi Hendrix and Katy Perry. He was busy deconstructing some of the mini exhibits, boxing and labeling them for shipment. Their final destination: Sioux City, where they will be displayed in secure glass cases and frames.

"They're all staring at me," Stone laughed. "Each exhibit we set up here in the studio. Even if it's just a costume on a mannequin, we make sure we have a photograph to go with it and the video it came from."

Stone does his best to chose some items that relate to the history of each location. When he learned a Hard Rock Hotel & Casino would be built in Sioux City, he admitted he was a bit puzzled.

"I don't know anything about Iowa except that Buddy Holly died there," he said.

A pair of Holly's cowboy boots and western leather pieces he made will join a suit worn by the late Tommy Bolin, a Sioux City native and guitarist who played with the hard rock band Deep Purple in the mid 1970s. Stone said Bolin's suit is among his favorite pieces of the moment, because it's something new and exciting.

The Sioux City location will also have memorabilia from The Ramones, The Beatles and Michael Jackson. Costumes, photographs and guitars from a collection of hundreds, Stone said, will adorn all the space he can get his hands on.

He's also partial to an embroidered jumpsuit worn by singer and former teen idol David Cassidy when he performed at Wembley Arena in London in 1972. Cassidy, Stone said, sold the jumpsuit to raise money for Alzheimer's charities. His mother died from the disease.

"He sold it out three nights in a row. He was the biggest thing in the world, so I'm really proud to have this jumpsuit that he wore at his concerts," he said. "It was money well spent."

Stone acquires costumes, instruments and other memorabilia from musicians such as Motley Crue and Def Leppard when they perform at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas. Some items are on loan, while others are gifts. Vintage pieces, he said, are bought at the wealthiest auctions in the world.

In June, Stone said Sotheby's held its first rock 'n' roll auction in years. A 5-page set of Bob Dylan's handwritten lyrics sold for $2.4 million.

The most expensive item in the entire Hard Rock Hotel & Casino collection, according to Stone, is a caped stage suit worn by none other than the King of Rock 'n' Roll himself, Elvis Presley. A similar outfit, he said, recently sold for $247,000. The suit isn't being shown in Sioux City right now, but Stone said it could be in the future. He rotates items in and out of the exhibits each year to keep them fresh.

"I'll be there working away," he said.