In honor of what would have been Joe Strummer‘s 71st birthday on August 21, the Punk Rock Museum in Las Vegas, Nevada is running a weekend-long celebration. The festivities include an exhibit of some of the punk legend’s personal belongings, along with a limited edition vinyl, poster, and more honoring the late frontman of The Clash, who died in 2002 at the age of 50.
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Joe Strummer’s Birthday Weekend Extravaganza will kick off with a ribbon-cutting ceremony on Saturday (August 19) by museum co-founder, and lifelong fan of The Clash, Lisa Brownlee. The weekend-long exhibit will feature Strummer’s iconic 1966 Fender Telecaster guitar, along with original handwritten lyrics, and other personal artifacts on loan from the Joe Strummer Estate.
In partnership with Dark Horse Records, the museum will offer a limited edition of Strummer’s 2021 posthumous album Assembly in pink packaging. A limited poster illustrated by screen print artist Garageland and flash tattoos by artist Jared Gaines, administered at The Shop (tattoo parlor) located inside the museum will also be available.
“All The Young Punks!” is a special evening honoring Strummer at The Triple Down bar, located in the museum. The event will feature a DJ set by Jr Ska Boss and Selecta Scream and specialty drinks.
Brownlee, along with NOFX’s Fat Mike, co-founded the Punk Rock Museum, which officially opened its doors on March 10, 2023. The 12,000-square feet space, located between the Las Vegas Strip and Downtown, features a half-century worth of curated punk history and memorabilia.
The museum also features The Triple Down bar, an on-site tattoo parlor, a wedding chapel, and the Jam Room, where guests can play instruments originally owned by punk musicians.
“Listening to my favorite band, The Clash, in the mid-’80s, I felt I belonged to something bigger,” said Brownlee in a statement. “I knew I was devoting myself to music that was going to make the world a better place. It was at that time I became who I am today, thanks to Joe Strummer. Almost 40 years later, I am now the co-founder of The Punk Rock Museum in Las Vegas.”
Brownlee added, “Our collective is made up of prestigious punk historians committed to preserving the sanctity and rich history of all things punk. It is here that we will have the honor of exhibiting some of the most important pieces of history from the Joe Strummer Estate. Joe always said, ‘The Future is Unwritten’ and he was correct. The past however, is to be shared and experienced together and that’s just what we have the pleasure of doing here.”
Main Photo: Steve Rapport / Courtesy of the Punk Museum
