ambassador hotel (former)

Shortly after midnight on June 5, 1968, Robert F. Kennedy was walking through the kitchen of the Ambassador Hotel when he was assassinated by Sirhan Sirhan. RFK had just won the California and South Dakota primary elections for the Democratic nomination.

Robert F. Kennedy remains one of only two sitting United States Senators to be assassinated (the other being Huey Long).

On September 30, 1987 at the Ambassador Hotel's Cocoanut Grove nightclub, Cinemax filmed the special "Roy Orbison and Friends, A Black and White Night."

Put together by musical director T-Bone Burnett, the band consisted of Elvis's backing band from 1969 to 1977: Glen D. Hardin on piano, James Burton on lead guitar, Jerry Scheff on bass, and Ronnie Tutt on drums.

Other performers included Bruce Springsteen, Tom Waits, Elvis Costello, Jackson Browne, J.D. Souther, and Steven Soles. The female background vocalists were k.d. lang, Jennifer Warnes, and Bonnie Raitt.

The special aired on January 3, 1988. Roy Orbison died on December 6, 1988 at the age of 52.