- This article is about the Harlem theatre. For the theatre in London, England, see Apollo Theatre.
The Apollo Theater is one of the most famous clubs for popular music in the United States, and certainly the most famous club associated almost exclusively with African-American performers.
Located in Harlem, the best-known black neighborhood in New York City and probably the country, the Apollo grew to prominence during the Harlem Renaissance of the pre-World War II years. In 1934, it introduced its regular Amateur Night shows. Billing itself as a place "where stars are born and legends are made," the Apollo became famous for launching the careers of artists like Ella Fitzgerald, James Brown, Gladys Knight and later Michael Jackson and Lauryn Hill.
The club fell into decline in the 1960s and 1970s, but was revived in 1983, when it obtained federal, state and city landmark status. It fully reopened in 1985, and was bought by the State of New York in 1991. It is now run by a nonprofit organization, the Apollo Theater Foundation Inc., and draws an estimated 1.3 million visitors annually.
It is the home of It's Showtime at the Apollo, a nationally syndicated variety show consisting of new talent.
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