Explore the Legendary and Tragic Hotel that Shaped Music History in New Documentary
There are few places across this nation that hold the status of cultural hallowed ground on the same level as The Lorraine Motel. The former Memphis hotel and now National Civil Rights Museum has one of the most fascinating histories of any place in the country, which is told with a masterful and sensitive eloquence in the new documentary, The Lorraine.
Premiering at the Tribeca Festival, the film chronicles the important and complicated history of one of the most important landmarks in the country, and the triumph that has fallen out of the public consciousness.
The hotel is more infamously known for being the place where Dr.Martin Luther King Jr. was tragically assassinated in 1968. An event of this magnitude was sure to overshadow much of the history of the place, but the film makes an amazing and concentrated effort to show why this place should be celebrated and remembered. There's a reason this was the hotel King chose to stay in, and it's a story worth telling.
An Epicenter of Culture and Music
During Jim Crow, segregation prevented black people from being able to travel with ease of mind or access. Between sundown towns and proportionally far less access to businesses, travelling across the country was a dangerous and difficult endeavor. To help aid black travelers, Victor Hugo Green created the Green Book, a travel guide for black folks that listed black owned and accepting businesses across the country. The Lorraine Motel was a prominently featured establishment in the book, and it was in a landmark of black culture: Memphis, TN.
Memphis was and remains a hotbed for music. Between Beale street and all the studios that called the city home, the city is an incredibly creative space, especially for black music from the '40s to the '70s. The Lorraine prided itself on being the nicest of the black hotels in the city, and because of this, it attracted some of the greatest American artists in history.
Musicians like Nat King Cole, Louis Armstrong, Aretha Franklin, and Otis Redding were frequent regulars of the establishment, and they formed a community there. It wasn't just a hotel, but a center of black cultural community that fostered so much incredible music.
Eddie Floyd was another iconic artist to frequent the hotel, with his chart topping hit "Knock On Wood" being written right there at the hotel.
For a time, the hotel was the epicenter of black music and culture in the city, thus making it one of the most important cultural centers in America's history. The film does an amazing job of showing that the immense tragedy that occurred here should not erase or overshadow the beauty and power of the place.
The Lorraine is one of my favorite documentaries of Tribeca. There's so much research put into it and the interviews that are collected feature so much warmth and reverence. It's a film that highlights so many traumatic events in this nation's history with a layer of love and optimism. It's a special and important film that is endlessly relevant and necessary.
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This story was originally published June 15, 2026 at 12:10 PM.