In January 1950, rock trailblazer Sam Phillips opened the doors to the Memphis Recording Service, the facility that would become Sun Studios and ‘the birthplace of rock ‘n’ roll’ (thanks in part to Phillips’s claim that the genre’s first single, Rocket 88 by Jackie Brenston And His Delta Cats, was recorded there in March 1951).

Regardless of the historic correctness of the status, the facility’s roster of recording artists rolls off the tongue like a countdown of the greatest rock ‘n’ roll stars of all-time, let alone of the ‘50s. BB King, Johnny Cash, Elvis Presley, Roy Orbison, Jerry Lee Lewis… we could go on.

To celebrate 60 years since birth, we’re paying tribute to Sun Studio’s legacy, in pictures. First up: BB King