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Alice Cooper performs at Rupp Arena, 1978
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Bruce Springsteen plays Rupp, 1984
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Jared Lorenzen in Boys’ Sweet Sixteen, 1999
Highlands guard Jared Lorenzen called a play during an opening round game in the Boys’ Sweet Sixteen on March 11, 1999 in Rupp Arena. Henderson County rallied to stun Highlands, 62-60, ending Lorenzen’s high school basketball career. He later went on to play quarterback for the University of Kentucky football team and in the NFL. Lorenzen, with fellow star and UK football signee Derek Smith, led Highlands to an undefeated season and a second Class 3A football title in three years during his senior year in high school. In basketball, the Bluebirds made their third consecutive appearance in the Sweet Sixteen. Lorenzen, who was listed as a 6-4, 240-pound forward, contributed 14 points, 8.6 rebounds and five assists a game that year. Photo by Charles Bertram | Staff
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Rolling Stones perform at Rupp Arena, 1978
The Rolling Stones performed in Rupp Arena on June 29, 1978, during their Some Girls Tour. At left, Ron Wood played guitar as Mick Jagger worked the crowd. The U.S. tour was 25 shows, and Lexington was the 11th stop. It was one of the first big concerts in the young history of Rupp Arena, which opened in 1976. The band played 19 songs for the sold-out crowd. Photo by Ron Garrison | Staff
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Garth Brooks ticket lottery, 1998
Della Mitchell of Richmond, left, talked with her mother, Helen Rogers of Lexington, about the rules for the wristbands they received in the lottery for Garth Brooks concert tickets at Rupp Arena on April 15, 1998. Brooks’ first of three Lexington shows was May 15 at Rupp. The singer is coming back to Rupp Oct. 31 and Nov. 1. Photo by Michelle Patterson | Staff
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Garth Brooks and Trisha Yearwood, 1998
Country music stars Garth Brooks and Trisha Yearwood spoke at a news conference on May 15, 1998, before their sold-out show at Rupp Arena in Lexington. Sixteen years later, Brooks and Yearwood played four shows at Rupp Arena in two nights. Concert Review. Photo by Mark Cornelison | Staff
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Willie Nelson at Rupp Arena, 1979
Country music singer Willie Nelson performed at Rupp Arena on May 13, 1979. The concert that night included Waylon Jennings, Emmy Lou Harris and Leon Russell. Nelson has played Rupp Arena seven times, including four years in a row from 1977 to 1980. His last appearence at Rupp was in 2000 with the Dixie Chicks, Patty Griffin, Ricky Skaggs and Vida & Joe Ely. Photo by Christy Porter | Staff
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New Kids on the Block fans at Rupp Arena, 1990
From left, Laurie Beaven, 12, Amy Lanham, 12, and Melissa Gordon, 13, waited for the begining of the New Kids on the Block concert on Jan. 13, 1990, at Rupp Arena. The trio came from Spingfield and brought the homemade banner with them. With parents in tow, young girls wearing New Kids on the Block T-shirts, jackets, buttons, hats and bandannas flooded the Lexington Civic Center to see the popular singing group. They paid at least $18.50 apiece for the opportunity. At the time of the nearly sold-out show of 21,000, the group had vaulted to teen stardom with three hits: This One’s for the Children, Cover Girl and Didn’t I (Blow Your Mind). The first two numbers of the New Kids’ 90-minute concert — My Favorite Girl and the beat-crazy What’cha Gonna Do About It — were almost totally drowned out by the crowd, which shrieked and shrilled at every move the group made. Just how loud was the crowd? Earplugs were being sold at the concession stands. Photo by James D. VanHoose | Staff
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Nolan Richardson, 1996
Arkansas coach Nolan Richardson reacted to an official’s call during Kentucky’s 88-73 win over the Razorbacks on Feb. 11, 1996, in Rupp Arena. The second-ranked Wildcats improved to 20-1 overall and 10-0 in the Southeastern Conference. Richardson, whose Arkansas team won the NCAA title two years earlier, was known for coaching teams that played a fast-paced game with pressure defense — a style that was known as “40 minutes of hell.” Photo by Frank Anderson | Staff
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UK basketball Senior Day, 1998
Kentucky basketball player Cameron Mills, right, hugged fellow senior Allen Edwards after the Senior Day ceremony before the team’s last home game on Feb. 22, 1998, at Rupp Arena. UK beat Georgia, 85-74, and Edwards was one of five Wildcats in double figures. Edwards finished his career with 819 points. Mills wrapped up his UK career with 365. Photo by Michelle Patterson-Thomas
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UK wins SEC Tournament, 1986
Kentucky basketball coach Eddie Sutton was carried off the court by Richard Madison, left, and Winston Bennett after the Cats’ March 8, 1986 victory over Alabama, 83-72 in the finals of the SEC Tournament at Rupp Arena in Lexington. Rupp Arena has hosted the conference tournament three times; 1982, 1986 and 1993. The Wildcats won two of those tournaments, losing in the 1982 tourney finals by two points to Alabama. Photo by Charles Bertram | Staff
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Boys’ Sweet Sixteen, 1985
Mike Mitchell, left, and Danny Johnson reacted after a 68-66 loss to Mason County in the first round of the Boys’ Sweet Sixteen state basketball tournament on March 20, 1985, in Rupp Arena. Today, Johnson keeps his Sweet Sixteen experience close to his heart even though the Knights lost the heartbreaker. “It was such a big part of my life, I still look back on it fondly,” he said. Johnson went on to play at Centre College and helped the Colonels reach the Division III national semifinals in 1989. “I’ve gotten to do a lot of cool things in sports, like getting to that final four,” Johnson said. “But playing in Rupp Arena in the Sweet Sixteen is still probably at the top of my basketball list.” Johnson and Trey Griffin, who also played for the Knights in 1985, will mark the 30th anniversary of their Sweet Sixteen experience in the best way imaginable: watching their sons take the Rupp Arena court for Lexington Catholic in the 2015 Whitaker Bank/KHSAA Sweet Sixteen. Photo by Ron Garrison | Staff
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Henry Clay wins Sweet Sixteen, 1983
Greg Bates’ put-back at the buzzer gave the Henry Clay Blue Devils a 35-33 triple-overtime victory on March 19, 1983, over Carlisle County in the finals of the Boys’ Sweet Sixteen Tournament at Rupp Arena. It was Henry Clay’s sixth state title in boys basketball; the team has not won another crown since. Bates scored nine points for Henry Clay and was named to the All-Tournament team. Herald-Leader Archive Photo
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Charlie Daniels, 1981
Charlie Daniels performed Jan. 4, 1981, at Rupp Arena in Lexington. The singer and songwriter, known for his contributions to country, bluegrass and Southern rock music, has played Rupp Arena six times (1976, ’77, ’79, ’81, ’82 and 2003). Daniels’ best-known hit was The Devil Went Down to Georgia, which reached No. 3 on the Hot 100 in September 1979 and won a Grammy Award that year for best country vocal performance. In 1980, Devil became a major crossover success on rock radio stations when it was included on the soundtrack for the movie Urban Cowboy, starring John Travolta. Daniels appeared in the movie as himself. Photo by Ron Garrison | Staff
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Rupp Arena construction, 1974
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The Who in concert, 1980
At 6:20 p.m. July 11, 1980, the Rupp Arena gates opened for a concert by The Who. It was the British rock group’s first show in the area since a December 1979 performance in Cincinnati, where 11 young people died while trying to get into Riverfront Coliseum. A first-come, first-seated policy, or festival seating, was blamed as a factor in the deaths. Rupp Arena sells concerts on a reserved-seating basis, but officials wanted to make sure safety was a priority. Ten Lexington fire officials, at least four undercover police narcotics officers and an estimated 150 off-duty police and private security officers watched for trouble from the 21,000 fans in attendance. No injuries were reported, but 40 people were arrested on a variety of drug charges. Tickets for the show cost $8 to $12. Photo by Christy Porter | Staff
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Kentucky basketball’s first starting five in Rupp Arena, 1976
The starting five for the University of Kentucky basketball team’s first game in Rupp Arena on Nov. 27, 1976. From left, Rick Robey, Larry Johnson, Jay Shidler, Jack Givens and Mike Phillips. Phillips, one of the “twin towers” on UK’s 1978 national championship team, died April 25, 2015. Photo by E. Martin Jessee | Staff
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Downtown Lexington, 1974
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John Pelphrey, 1990
University of Kentucky basketball forward John Pelphrey launched a jump shot against Eastern Kentucky on Dec. 27, 1990 at Rupp Arena. Pelphrey had 12 points in the 74-60 UK win. In 2015, Pelfrey is the focus of a column by Mark Story: With an ‘amazing run’ at Florida over, John Pelphrey plots a return to college coaching. Photo by Tim Sharp | Staff
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Van Halen concert at Rupp Arena, 1988
Sammy Hagar, lead singer for Van Halen, during a Sept. 30, 1988 concert at Rupp Arena. Hagar took over lead vocal chores for Van Halen after David Lee Roth left the band in late 1985. At the time of the concert, the group’s single, When It’s Love, was among the top 10 songs on the Billboard magazine charts. The Rupp concert was the opening show of Van Halen’s fall concert tour, and tickets were $16.50. During the show, Hagar wasn’t above dissing the band’s road crew, including at the end of Where Eagles Fly, a track from Hagar’s 1987 self-titled solo album. What do you do when you’ve just performed an entire song with an out-of-tune guitar? Simple: You get the entire audience of 13,000 to boo the roadie who tuned it, which is what Hagar did. Photo by Michael Malone | Staff
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