The Royal Albert Hall has hosted cultural luminaries from Einstein to Hendrix. This is its story.

The Beatles at the Great Pop Prom, 15 September 1963. The band played several concerts at the hall not he same bill as their rivals at the time, The Rolling Stones. 

‘Rat Pack’ members Sammy Davis Jr and Frank Sinatra perform with Liza Minnelli, 1989.

Britihs director Alfred Hitchcock filmed a portion of his 1955 film The Man Who Knew Too Much at the Royal Albert Hall.  

British psychedelic blues-rock band Cream – featuring Jack Bruce, Ginger Baker and Eric Clapton – had their farewell show at the Royal Albert Hall in November 1968. 

37 years later in May 2005 Cream reunited onstage again for one of the most acclaimed residencies in the Hall's history. Clapton (far right) has played at the hall over 200 times in his career, including one residency that lasted 24 nights.

The Hall hosted the Grand Sumo Tournament as part of the festival of Japan in 1991.

The Royal Albert Hall was the venue for The Queen's birthday party in 2018. 

Grime pioneer and rapper Kano onstage in 2019.

Sporting events such as the first indoor marathon in 1909 have been a part of the hall's repertoire for over a century. 

The Stonewall Equality Shows were a series of events that began in 1989 in protest to the Section 28 Amendment, designed to prevent 'promotion' of homosexuality in schools. 

The hall can seat 5,000, and many of the seats were sold in advance of the hall's building to help cover its cost.