Hard Rock Cafe Surfers Paradise: Giant guitar removed from Paradise Centre a year after closure
It’s the end of an era for a major Surfers Paradise landmark as the Hard Rock Cafe guitar comes down amid mystery over the business’ future on the Gold Coast.
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It’s the end of an era for a major Surfers Paradise landmark as the Hard Rock Cafe guitar comes down amid mystery over the business’ future on the Gold Coast.
The 17m-tall guitar, which was mounted on the Paradise Centre, was removed on Tuesday night, a year after the restaurant’s closure.
A sports bar is being installed to replace the venue, which first opened in 1996.
The Bulletin understands the guitar will be stored temporarily before being moved to a permanent location.
Resident Melanie Crompton shared photos of the famous guitar being taken down overnight.
“Just managed to capture the moment in part,” she said.
“End of an era.”
Other residents said it was sad to look at the site and not see the guitar looking over Surfers Paradise.
“It was sad to see it gone,” Yvonne Bentley said.
It closed nearly a year ago, after its 26th anniversary, after a rental dispute between the restaurant’s international arm and management of the Paradise Centre shopping complex came to a head, leaving more than 30 people out of work.
At the time, Hard Rock bosses said they were looking at a new location within Surfers Paradise.
The Bulletin was told in late 2022 that a deal was close to being signed.
The Hard Rock Cafe brand was lured to the Gold Coast in the mid-1990s in what was seen as a major coup for the city.
In March 1995, the Birdwatcher’s Bar on the corner of Cavill and Orchid Ave closed its doors.
Eight months later the Hard Rock Cafe was confirmed as the new tenant with features to include a 17m guitar on the roof of the Paradise Centre and a car called Pray for Surf that had room for 60 people.
Food and drink aside, the centrepiece of the cafe was the incredible collection of music memorabilia, including a black sequined suit owned by Elvis Presley and the suede jacket owned by The Beatles’ John Lennon and worn on the cover of the 1965 album Rubber Soul. There were also T-shirts and signed albums from the likes of Silverchair, INXS and Hootie and the Blowfish.
The Surfers Paradise Hard Rock Cafe was stuck by disaster on November 11, 2004 when the giant guitar burst into flames and was badly damaged.
Flames leapt 10m into the air as a large crowd of tourists gathered to watch the rock ‘n’ roll inferno, understood to have been caused by an electrical fault.
The sign was finally repaired by early 2006 just in time for the restaurant’s 10th anniversary.
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