The 4,000-capacity Palladium has been best known for the past 40 years or so as one of Los Angeles' most enduring concert halls. Led Zeppelin, James Brown and the Clash played there. So have the Stones, the Who, the Police and Metallica.

 

It has never lacked for superstar bookings. The Palladium opened 68 years ago this week with a concert by the Tommy Dorsey Orchestra, which featured a rising young singer named Frank Sinatra. The band was flying high on the long-running No. 1 single "I'll Never Smile Again."

Click ahead seven decades, and one of this generation's most iconic stars will rechristen the hall October 15. Rapper Jay-Z happens to be riding a chart-busting single of his own in "Swagga Like Us" -- and he'll be backed by a big 12-piece band.