An upcoming documentary is set to tell the untold story of the Sunset Marquis Hotel and will include testimonies from a wild lineup of legendary rockers who frequented the West Hollywood refuge throughout the last six decades including Bruce Springsteen,
Ringo Starr, Slash, Cyndi Lauper, Morrissey, Sheryl Crow, Darius Rucker, Nancy Wilson, Dave Grohl and more.
Directed by Tyler Measom and Craig A. Williams, If These Walls Could Rock will delve into the all-suite hotel founded by George Rosenthal that became a playground for rock stars in the 1960s. A synopsis for the upcoming doc, out Aug. 14, touts the Sunset Marquis as a “hideaway where rock stars checked in, passed out, and made history.” The film’s trailer, guided by the unofficial Mayor of the Marquis, Billy Bob Thornton, hints at the tales of wild nights, impromptu poolside concerts, and a clandestine stairway excursion.
In a statement to Rolling Stone, Cyndi Lauper called the Sunset Marquis “my home away from home.” “Sure, it’s the ‘rock n roll hotel!’ but more than that, it’s a place of serenity and beauty,” said the Rock & Roll Hall of Famer. “So after the craziness of a gig or an awards show, or being in a studio all day and night, you know you have a place where you can relax and recharge,” Lauper said, adding that “it’s the people who work there” who make worth coming back: “They understand us!”
Fellow Hall of Fame inductees Nancy Wilson and Slash also looked back at their time at the Marquis. “At the Marquis I remember how many towels we ruined with various wild hair colors and they never complained once. It was a LOT of towels,” recalled Wilson.
Slash said, “After all these years I still have my meetings there. It actually transcended the whole destination for debauchery. But it’s hard to go to the bathroom and not have flashbacks of what I used to do in that bathroom.”
The music doc is also set to depict the journey of Rosenthal and his son Mark, who saved the hotel from ruin as the music landscape evolved and the Marquis fell into disrepair.
“We couldn’t tell the story of the Sunset Marquis without telling the story of George and Mark,” directors Measom and Williams said. “George founded the hotel, and Mark saved it. As soon as we met George, we realized he was a rock star in his own right—and that this complicated, deeply human father-son relationship would become the emotional spine of the film.”
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