I'm a Hard Rock collector and the person behind this website. I've personally visited more than 225 Hard Rock locations across 40+ countries, from the original London Cafe to small outposts in places most people have never heard of.

Hard Rock has been part of my life since 2009. For me it has never just been about collecting objects. It is about travelling, discovering new places, meeting people along the way and coming home with memories that stay with you much longer than anything you can put on a shelf.

My Hard Rock journey began in 2009 during a family road trip through Florida. In Miami I visited my first Hard Rock Cafe and bought my first classic white T-shirt. In Orlando I picked up the grey T-shirt that is still special to me today.

What started as a small souvenir tradition slowly grew into a global passion. Today I collect a pin from every Hard Rock I visit. But the real value of the hobby has never been the objects themselves. It is the travelling, the discovery of new cities, the people you meet along the way and the excitement of finding a Hard Rock in a place you did not expect.

Along the way I also met my fiancée Vicky at the Hard Rock Hotel Cancun, which makes that particular location a very special one for both of us.

The more locations I visited, the more I realised how scattered the information about Hard Rock was. Some of it lived in personal lists, some in maps, some on old websites or inside individual collectors' archives. There were already many useful resources out there, but there was no single place where everything came together in the form I wanted.

I wanted one structured and comprehensive place where I could explore Hard Rock locations around the world. A place where locations are organised by country and region, where each one has detailed information, where I can search and filter, and where I can browse through open, closed and coming soon locations in an easy and enjoyable way.

I did not build this database because there was absolutely no information available. I built it because the information was fragmented, and I wanted to bring it together into one central place that is genuinely pleasant to explore.

The database is built by bringing information together from many different sources and turning it into one structured system. Every Hard Rock location has its own page, and all the information about that location is stored in a consistent structure.

Behind the scenes, custom code connects the different parts of the website with that structure. This means I can update the underlying information for a location in one central place, and the relevant parts of the website will automatically reflect that change.

For example, when a location opens, closes, or is announced as Coming Soon, I can update the location information and the rest of the website picks that up. The same goes for smaller changes, like a correction to a name, a date or a location detail.

This central structure is a big reason why I can keep the database current and react quickly when something changes in the Hard Rock world. It also makes it possible to keep hundreds of locations consistent with each other without having to update each page by hand.

This database was not built alone. It grew out of information, knowledge and resources that many different people were generous enough to share.

Kay has been one of my most important sources of knowledge throughout this project. He is one of the people I turn to when it comes to Hard Rock topics and has an incredible amount of knowledge about locations, history and everything in between. His map with location coordinates has also been extremely helpful in building the geographic side of the database.

Ricky has a fantastic list of Hard Rock locations, which I have used repeatedly, especially for opening and closing dates. His research has helped me fill many gaps and saved me an enormous amount of time along the way.

Andreas gave me access to a huge collection of his Hard Rock photos. I am adding these to the database step by step, since going through and integrating such a large collection takes time.

Alessio, an Italian collector, uses the website very frequently and has given me extensive feedback. Whether it was features he would like to see, display issues he discovered, or thoughts about usability and design, his input has helped improve the site in many different areas. His Collection

Lou has supported the project in several ways, from giving feedback and helping me improve the website to sharing and promoting the project with others.

The knowledge, resources and feedback from these collectors, and from many others who have reached out over the years, have all played a part in making this database what it is today.

This site brings information about Hard Rock locations around the world together in one place. It currently tracks 729 locations across 98 countries, and you can explore them in several ways:

• Open locations, every Hard Rock Cafe, Hotel, Rock Shop and Live venue that is currently active.
• Closed locations, the history of Hard Rock locations that no longer exist, preserved in detail.
• Coming Soon locations, new Hard Rock openings that have been announced but are not yet open.

You can browse by country and region, search for a specific location, filter the results, and discover Hard Rock locations you might never have known about. The goal is to make it easy and enjoyable to explore the Hard Rock world, whether you are planning a trip, looking for a specific location or simply curious.