Site of Martin Luther King Assassination has Significant Musical History

The Lorraine Motel, the location of Martin Luther King's assassination in Memphis in 1968, also goes down in history as the location where some of the most iconic tunes of the last 50 years were written.

Three years before the assassination of Martin Luther King, legendary artists Steve Cropper and Wilson Pickett composed the tune "In the Midnight Hour" at the Lorraine Motel. The tune became Pickett's first hit with Atlantic Records, and reached #1 on the R&B charts, and ultimately reached #21 on the Pop charts.

"In The Midnight Hour" went on to make Rolling Stone's list of the top 500 songs of all time. It also made the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's list of the "500 Songs That Shaped Rock N' Roll." The song is currently ranked as the 100th greatest song of all time, as well as the seventh best song of 1965, by Acclaimed Music.

Another famous Steve Cropper tune, "Knock on Wood," is a 1966 hit  co-written by Eddie Floyd. "Knock On Wood" peaked at #28 on the Hot 100 and spent one week at #1 on the Soul Singles chart.