Cavern Club Hits 50

Liverpool’s world-famous Cavern Club celebrates its 50th birthday January 16.

The club opened in 1957 as a jazz club, but in the early ’60s it became known around the world as the place to catch The Beatles and other acts emerging from the Liverpool scene.

Legend has it that Beatles’ manager Brian Epstein first met the band there in 1961. From 1961 to 1963, The Beatles honed their skills by doing 292 shows at the club.

Other international acts to have played the venue early in their careers include The Rolling Stones, The Kinks, Elton John, The Who, and The Hollies.

Before she became a solo artist and then a TV presenter, Cilla Black worked at the Cavern Club as a hat-check girl.

The first band to play the Club was The Merseysippi Jazz Band and, remarkably, five of the original members are still playing 50 years on.

The band will start the entertainment January 16, when there’ll also be a press conference to detail the diary of events that has been set up to celebrate the club’s historic birthday.

There will be an unveiling of historically significant commemorative artwork, which is intended to turn the Mathew Street venue into an even more popular tourist attraction.