During the Hard Rock Cafe’s Memphis launch party in November 1997, there were more than 150 workers as well as local celebrities, A-listers and a performance by The Wallflowers. 

Now, before it’s almost 26-year run comes to a close officially on Sunday, July 30, the restaurant’s employees are coming together to say goodbye. 

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More than 200 current and former workers are expected to attend a farewell event for Hard Rock alums Sunday, July 23, beginning at 4 p.m. at the restaurant’s current location on Beale Street. 

One of the expected attendees is Wayne Whitten, who worked at the Hard Rock for 25 years and nine months — since it first opened in Memphis. Through his more than two decades with the restaurant, he’s been a cook, a kitchen supervisor and then, after suffering a hand injury, a host.

Whitten credits the friendships he developed at the Hard Rock as one of the reasons he stayed at the restaurant. 

Over his time with the restaurant, the company has given him pins, a vintage Rolex watch and a vacation to the Dominican Republic to honor his 25 years of service.

“It was a good company to work for,” Whitten said. “Over the years, I made a lot of friends there at that cafe, and that company, as a whole, really took care of me and its employees.” 

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At one point, Whitten said he feared his hand injury would jeopardize his career. Instead, the company’s response — keeping him on in a different role — became another factor in his loyalty.

“They put me on permanent light duty at the front of the cafe,” Whitten said. “The lady in (human resources), once I got hurt on the job, said, ‘We pay insurance companies to take care of matters like that.’ I really felt good about that, and that is why I stayed for so long.” 

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Other former employees were also key to the Hard Rock story in Memphis. 

Then-general manager Michael Benson and then-sales and marketing manager Julien Salley Jr. were part of the start of Beale Street’s instrument drop on New Year’s Eve. 

“It goes all the way back to when we first started,” Salley said. “I was the sales and marketing manager, and I was just working in my office when Michael Benson stuck his head in the door and said the Beale Street Merchants keep talking about dropping a ball on Beale Street. ... Why don’t we drop a piano?” 

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While the idea initially began as a piano drop, the proposal pivoted to a guitar instead. Salley leaned on his past relationships with Gibson Guitar Group to keep the project rolling, and it eventually led to the lending of a guitar for the massive event.

A 12-ton crane was used to conduct the first-ever televised guitar drop on Beale Street, and to this day, Salley considers it one of his crowning achievements. Now a general manager at Lafayette’s Music Room in Midtown, Salley proudly recalls the project’s doubters and his determination to prove them wrong. 

“It was kind of funny because a lot of people were telling us it wasn’t going to work, and we were wasting our time,” Salley said. “We didn’t listen to any of that.” 

The guitar drop was eventually copied in places such as Niagara Falls and Nashville. 

During the farewell party for staff, six of the 10 former general managers will take the stage, and the Downtown Memphis Commission and Beale Street Management will present a Beale Street Rock Star award. There will also be one last “all staff” photo taken on Beale Street to mirror a 1997 restaurant opening “all staff” photo. 

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As for Whitten, he doesn’t think this is the end for Memphis’ Hard Rock Cafe.

“I don’t think Hard Rock is through with Memphis,” Whitten said. “I really don’t believe it. I think they’re coming back.”