1960s and 1970s On the site of a former golf course, the "fabulous" Forum (as it was colloquially known to locals) was built in 1967 by
Jack Kent Cooke (owner of the Lakers and founding owner of the Kings). The Canadian Cooke, who enjoyed ice hockey, was determined to bring the
National Hockey League (NHL) to Los Angeles. In 1966, the NHL announced that it was
adding six new franchises for 1967, and Cooke prepared a bid. The Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Commission, which operated the
Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena, supported a competing bid headed by
Los Angeles Rams owner
Dan Reeves—who already had a hockey team at the Arena, the
Western Hockey League's
Los Angeles Blades. The Commission told Cooke that if he won the franchise, he would not be allowed to use the facility. In response, Cooke planned to build a new arena in the Los Angeles suburb of
Inglewood. Nearly 30 years later, Cooke told
Los Angeles Times sportswriter Steve Springer that he remembered "one official representing the commission laughing at him" when Cooke said he would build in Inglewood. Cooke won the franchise, paying $2 million for the Los Angeles club, which he called the Kings. According to Springer, "Cooke went to Inglewood and built the Forum. Goodbye, Lakers. Goodbye, Kings." The round, $16 million building was designed by Los Angeles architect
Charles Luckman to be "reminiscent of Roman coliseums." The arena seats 17,505 for basketball, 16,005 for hockey and up to 18,000 for musical concerts; although it has no luxury suites, it had 2,400
club seats for events. More than 70% of the seats are between the goals, and no seat is more than from the playing surface. The first Kings game at the arena took place on December 30, 1967 as an 0–2 loss to the
Philadelphia Flyers. The first Lakers game at the arena took place on December 31, 1967 as a 147–118 victory against the
San Diego Rockets. During the Cooke era, the Forum hosted five NBA Finals in its first six years (1967–73). The
Boston Celtics celebrated both the and championships in the arena, the latter of which marked the final games
Bill Russell ever played. The Lakers won the
1972 NBA Finals at the Forum in Game 5, while the
New York Knicks' second and most recent championship was also clinched in a Game 5 at the same venue
the following season.
Cream played two shows during the band's farewell tour, on October 18–19, 1968, with
Deep Purple as the opening act. The band's show of October 19 produced the live tracks on their farewell LP,
Goodbye. Deep Purple also recorded their part of the show, which was later released as a live album entitled
Inglewood – Live in California.
The Jimi Hendrix Experience performed at the Forum for the first time on April 26, 1969. A soundboard recording of this concert has been officially released:
Los Angeles Forum: April 26, 1969 (Live). Opening acts for this sold-out concert were
Cat Mother and
Chicago. The Experience later performed there again the following year on April 25, 1970, as part of their final U.S. tour. The concert has been widely circulated thanks to 3 available bootleg audience recordings. Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young recorded shows in June and July 1970, including at the Forum. Some of them ended up on their 1971 live album,
4 Way Street.
The Rolling Stones performed at the Forum during their 1969, 1972 and 1975 North American tours.
Steppenwolf played there during their
At Your Birthday Party tour on July 14, 1969, with
Three Dog Night as the opening act. Three Dog Night recorded their set, which was later released as a live album entitled
Captured Live at the Forum.
Queen played a total of 12 concerts from 1977 to 1982, including their final U.S. concert with
Freddie Mercury on September 15, 1982.
David Bowie played concerts here on April 3, 4, and 6, 1978.
Chicago played two long sets in front of nearly 18,000 people as the headline act on April 24, 1971. This performance was two weeks after their historic week-long sellout at
Carnegie Hall where they played eight shows in six days from April 5 to 10, 1971. The
Grateful Dead performed at the Forum during their vaunted Spring 1977 tour, as well as three-night runs in February and December 1989. Between 1970 and 1977,
Led Zeppelin performed 16 times at the Forum, including a run of six sold-out dates in 1977. Part of their live album,
How the West Was Won, was recorded at the arena. The band's first 1977 show is the source of the
bootleg Listen to This Eddie. Another bootleg from the Forum shows,
For Badgeholders Only, contains one of the last live performances by
Keith Moon on drums, with his surprise performance there.
The Jackson 5 performed numerous times at the Forum between 1970 and 1981. The 1970 show broke attendance records, with 18,675 paid admissions and a gross income of $105,000 (when the Jackson 5 had released two albums and three singles). By 1972, they had released seven albums on
Motown, in addition to
Michael and
Jermaine Jackson's solo albums. Both shows were recorded and released as
Live at the Forum. On November 14, 1970,
Elvis Presley played afternoon and evening shows, with 18,700 and 18,698 paid admissions. He returned for two more sold-out shows on May 11, 1974, with 18,500 paid admissions each.
The Osmonds performed two shows on December 4, 1971, which were recorded and released as
The Osmonds Live.
Barbra Streisand performed on April 15, 1972, during
Four for McGovern, a fundraiser for
George McGovern's presidential campaign. Although ticket prices ranged from $5.50 to $100 and the event grossed $300,000, after expenses were deducted McGovern's campaign received only $18,000. During her set, Streisand asked the audience to choose between "Second Hand Rose" and "
Stoney End" for her next song; the latter was the overwhelming choice. Her performance was recorded and released as
Live Concert at the Forum.
Bob Dylan's live album
Before the Flood with
The Band was compiled from songs performed at the Forum over the course of three shows on February 13 and 14, 1974. The only song on the album not recorded at the Forum was "
Knockin' on Heaven's Door", which was recorded in New York City.
Jethro Tull played five sold-out shows in a seven-day stretch in 1975, here at The Forum. The dates were February 3+4, 8–10.
Kiss had their debut there in 1976 on February 23 for two consecutive nights, three days after getting their footprints outside
Grauman's Chinese Theatre in
Hollywood and played three more consecutive nights shows the following year, 1977, on August 26–28 (the first of these shows sold out), with live tracks from these 1977 shows included on their second live album,
Alive II, released in October of that same year. On June 21, 1976,
Paul McCartney and
Wings began a three-night stand at the Forum during their
Wings Over the World tour. The shows were McCartney's first live performances in Los Angeles since he played at the Hollywood Bowl in 1964 and 1965 with
the Beatles. Some songs played at the Forum appeared on the
Wings Over America live LP released later that year and re-released in 2013. The
Eagles performed three shows during their
Hotel California tour on October 20–22, 1976. The shows were recorded, with some songs appearing on
Eagles Live. The
Bee Gees appeared at the Forum during their
Children of the World tour on December 20, 1976; the show was recorded and released as
Here at Last... Bee Gees... Live.
Parliament-Funkadelic recorded half of their live album,
Live: P-Funk Earth Tour, at the arena on January 19, 1977.
Alice Cooper brought his big productions of
Billion Dollar Babies,
Welcome To My Nightmare and
Mad House Rock to the Forum. The
Los Angeles Strings of the
World Team Tennis league played home matches at the Forum from 1975 to 1978, led on the court by
Chris Evert. The team was owned by Los Angeles businessman
Jerry Buss. The Forum hosted several boxing fights, most notably the second
Muhammad Ali vs. Ken Norton on September 10, 1973. Several events featured Latin American fighters like
José Nápoles,
Chucho Castillo,
Rubén Olivares,
Carlos Zárate Serna and
Alfonso Zamora. In 1979, Cooke sold the Forum, the Lakers and the Kings to Buss for a then-record $67.5 million.
1980s The Lakers were successful during the 1980s with their
Showtime era, winning five NBA championships and making the
NBA Finals every year except
1981 and
1986. They won the , and championships at the Forum. The
Philadelphia 76ers and
Detroit Pistons were the only visiting teams to win a championship at the Forum during this period; both teams clinched the title in a Game 4 sweep in and respectively. The Lakers' owner, Jerry Buss, also purchased the
Los Angeles Strings expansion franchise of the second incarnation of TeamTennis (the original team and league having folded in 1978) and appointed his 19-year-old daughter
Jeanie Buss as the tennis team's general manager, with all home matches played at the Forum. In 1981,
Diana Ross filmed the concert portion of her
Diana television special at the Forum, entering the arena through the audience and singing her 1980 Billboard top-five hit "
I'm Coming Out". Guests included
Quincy Jones (who conducted a performance of "Home" from
The Wiz) and
Michael Jackson, who joined Ross onstage for a performance of her 1980 number-one song "
Upside Down". The special began with Ross in a photo session atop the Forum in a silver
lamé bodysuit with large, silver-lamé wings. On December 10, 1981,
Devo performed at the Forum during their
New Traditionalists tour. In April 1982, the Forum was the site of the "
Miracle on Manchester", in which the Kings overcame a 5–0 deficit in a first-round
Stanley Cup playoff game against the
Edmonton Oilers to win 6–5 in overtime. With additional upset wins in Games 1 and 5 of the five-game series, the Kings eliminated the heavily favored Oilers to reach the second round. In September 1982, on their
Hot Space Tour,
Queen played their final U.S. concert ever at the Forum.
Fleetwood Mac played two shows during its
Mirage tour on October 21–22, 1982, with
Dave Mason opening. The shows, originally scheduled for October 4–5, were postponed when
Stevie Nicks developed
walking pneumonia. They were recorded for the band's tour video, which was televised in 1983. In 1984, the Forum hosted the
basketball tournaments and the men's
handball finals of the
1984 Summer Olympics. The arena hosted
Amnesty International's June 6, 1986
A Conspiracy of Hope benefit concert, headlined by
U2 and
Sting and featuring
Bryan Adams,
Jackson Browne,
Peter Gabriel,
Lou Reed,
Joan Baez and
the Neville Brothers.
Sting played the Dream of the Blue Turtles Tour on June 6, 1986, and the Nothing Like the Sun Tour on March 21 and 22, 1988.
Genesis played five consecutive sold out concerts at the Forum from October 13 to 17, 1986, during the first leg of their
Invisible Touch Tour. On September 30, 1987, former
Pink Floyd member
Roger Waters played the Forum on the US leg of his
Radio K.A.O.S (tour).
Iron Maiden performed on July 12, 1988. Rock bands
AC/DC and
Cinderella performed on November 13, 1988. Mexican boxer
Julio César Chávez fought at the venue against
Ruben Castillo in 1995, Vernon Buchanan in 1988 and
Roger Mayweather in 1989. In 1989,
Neil Diamond set the all-time attendance record at the Forum by surpassing his already leading record of seven sold-out shows (in 1983) with 10 sold-out shows. For doing so, Diamond was presented with a gold plaque, stating his accomplishment(s).
Great Western era On December 5, 1988, it was announced that Jerry Buss sold the arena's
naming rights to
Great Western Savings & Loan, coinciding with the arrival in Los Angeles of hockey star
Wayne Gretzky. The building exterior was repainted blue, replacing its original "California sunset red." It was renamed the Great Western Forum; the name was retained for several years, even after Great Western was acquired by
Washington Mutual (now
Chase) and ceased to exist. Although naming-rights agreements are now commonplace in major American sports, they were rare at the time of Buss's deal with Great Western. There was some initial criticism of the name change, and local residents continued to call the arena "the Forum." Adverse reaction was eventually muted as the Great Western Forum monicker proved to be a natural fit for the venue, which was at the time the highest-profile arena in the
western United States's largest population center.
1990s Before the 1991–92 NBA and NHL seasons, a new scoreboard was installed, replacing the one in use since the building opened in 1967. The original scoreboard, designed by All American Scoreboards in
Pardeeville, Wisconsin, had a two-line message board on each side (the third electronic message board in the NHL, and the second in the NBA). The new scoreboard, designed by
Daktronics, kept the two-line message boards and added a
Sony Jumbotron scoreboard on each side. The Forum hosted the
1991 NBA Finals and was the site of the
Chicago Bulls' first NBA championship victory. It also hosted games three and four of the
1993 Stanley Cup Final between the Kings and
Montreal Canadiens, the only time the
Stanley Cup Final was held at the arena. Coincidentally, Montreal's home rink at the time was also called
the Forum. By the middle of the decade, the Great Western Forum was considered too small; it lacked
luxury boxes and had insufficient retail and commercial space. Los Angeles officials, seeking to redevelop the city center, began planning a new downtown sports arena and entertainment complex and hoped to attract the Lakers and Kings from Inglewood. The Kings' owners, who were real-estate developers, agreed to develop the complex; Buss agreed to move the Lakers into the new arena as co-tenants with the Kings and a third tenant, the NBA's
Clippers, who would move there from the
Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena. The new Staples Center (now
Crypto.com Arena) opened on October 17, 1999; as part of the deal, Buss sold the Great Western Forum to the L. A. Arena Company (which was controlled by the Kings' owners).
Final games The Kings' final postseason game at the Forum, a 2–1 loss to the
St. Louis Blues, was played on April 29, 1998. The Kings played their final regular season NHL game at the Forum, a 3–2 loss to the St. Louis Blues, on April 18, 1999. Coincidentally,
Wayne Gretzky, who had previously played for both teams, played his final NHL game (as a member of the
New York Rangers) on the same day. The Kings' final game at the Forum was an 8–1 preseason win over the
Mighty Ducks of Anaheim on September 20, 1999. As the Staples Center had not yet opened, the Kings played their remaining preseason home games at the
San Diego Sports Arena and the
MGM Grand Garden Arena in
Las Vegas. The Lakers played their last regular season NBA game at the Forum, 119–91 victory against the
Portland Trail Blazers, on May 5, 1999. The Lakers' 118–107 playoff loss to the NBA champion
San Antonio Spurs on May 23, 1999, was their last postseason game played at the Forum. The Lakers played two preseason games at the Forum before the 1999–2000 season before moving to the Staples Center.
2000s The
Los Angeles Sparks played their 2000 season at the arena before following the Lakers and Clippers to Staples Center. The Great Western Forum hosted live events, offices and training facilities for the 2000–2001
Women of Wrestling season. Faithful Central Bible Church, with a congregation of over 12,000, purchased the Great Western Forum at the end of 2000 and began holding
church services there on Sunday mornings. Unlike
Houston's
Lakewood Church, which converted the former
Summit into their church, Faithful Central representatives said that they never intended to convert the arena for religious purposes; in 2009, the church discontinued their regular use of the Forum for services. During the Faithful Central ownership, the arena was available for concerts, sporting events and other activities requiring a large venue. It was owned by the church's for-profit entity, Forum Enterprises, which accommodated secular and pop-music artists. The church influenced the approval of performers, however; in 2005 and 2009 the Forum refused to allow performances by
heavy metal band
Lamb of God, whose former name was Burn the Priest. On February 14, 2003,
Phish began their first post-hiatus tour at the Forum. A fan jumped onstage during "AC/DC Bag", and they performed a cover of
Dr. Hook & the Medicine Show's "
The Cover of Rolling Stone" after appearing on the magazine's cover. In 2003,
Great Western's naming-rights contract on the building expired (despite being bought by Washington Mutual in 1997, their name had been retained in the interim), and Forum Enterprises changed the venue's name back to "the Forum". The Great Western corporate logo and the words "Great Western" remained on portions of the exterior, including the roof (with a logo visible to planes landing at LAX), and were slowly removed over time. The roof, which was the last part of the building to contain the "GW" logo and "Great Western Forum" name, would not be repainted until the MSG remodeling, when it was overlaid with the new "Forum Presented by Chase" logo. In 2004,
Madonna premiered the
Re-Invention World Tour at the Forum, which was filmed for the documentary ''
I'm Going To Tell You A Secret''. The Forum was made available for film use, including interior shots for the 2002 film
Like Mike. The
Foo Fighters used the building as a setting for the music video for "
All My Life" in 2003, featuring the building's exterior in its opening and closing shots. In 2008, a scene for the 2009 film
Hannah Montana: The Movie and the video for
Weezer's "
Troublemaker" (from their 2008
Red Album) were filmed outside the Forum.
Iron Maiden appeared during their
Somewhere Back in Time World Tour on February 19, 2008, with
Lauren Harris their opening act. Their live version of "
The Number of the Beast" was included on the documentary
Iron Maiden: Flight 666. In May and June 2009, Michael Jackson rehearsed at the Forum for his
This Is It concert series in London. After Jackson died on
June 25, 2009, footage of these rehearsals and those at Staples Center became part of ''
Michael Jackson's This Is It''. On October 9, 2009, the Lakers returned to the Forum for a preseason game against the
Golden State Warriors to celebrate the team's 50th season in Los Angeles; the Lakers lost, 110–91.
2010s: MSG era In 2011,
Prince began a 21-show run at the Forum. After acquiring the arena in June 2012,
the Madison Square Garden Company announced plans for a $50 million renovation. The City of Inglewood made an $18 million commercial-rehabilitation loan, contingent on MSG's $50 million investment. The arena was renamed "The Forum, presented by Chase" to reflect its sponsor,
Chase Bank (which had incidentally purchased Great Western's legal successor, Washington Mutual, a few years earlier), and its exterior returned to the original red. New features also included new lighting, new seating, LED video systems and HD screen and new retail.
Events after reopening The Forum reopened with six concerts by the
Eagles during their
History of the Eagles – Live in Concert tour on January 15, 17, 18, 22, 24 and 25, 2014. On March 15–16, the Forum hosted the
men's freestyle wrestling World Cup. On May 17, 2014, the Forum hosted its first boxing card since 2001. Mexican
Juan Manuel Márquez defeated
Mike Alvarado for the WBO international welterweight championship, for the right to challenge world champion
Manny Pacquiao. The event was broadcast by
HBO's
Boxing After Dark, the first time since its 1996 premiere that the series presented a card from the Forum. On May 16, 2015,
Gennady Golovkin defeated Willie Monroe Jr. during a live broadcast on HBO Boxing. Golovkin returned the following year on April 23, 2016, to battle Dominic Wade, which resulted in a second-round KO. On August 24, 2014, the arena hosted the
2014 MTV Video Music Awards, the first major awards show at the Forum. The arena was added to the
National Register of Historic Places on September 24, 2014. The Foo Fighters performed on January 10, 2015, to celebrate singer Dave Grohl's 46th birthday. Paul Stanley from Kiss, Tenacious D, Slash, Alice Cooper, Zakk Wylde, Perry Farrell, Trombone Shorty, David Lee Roth, and Motörhead's Lemmy all got up and performed with the band. On August 1, 2015, to complete their
R40 Live Tour, Canadian rock band
Rush performed their final concert at the Forum. On March 27, 2016, former
Pink Floyd member
David Gilmour played his first ever concert at the Forum as the third show on the US leg of his
Rattle That Lock Tour. On June 4, 2016, the
UFC 199 mixed martial arts event was held at The Forum.
The Chicks (then known as the Dixie Chicks) played at the Forum on October 8, 2016, as part of their
DCX MMXVI World Tour. The performance was filmed and later released on DVD. The Forum was the venue of the
2015,
2016 and
2018 Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards. In addition, the Forum hosted the 2016, 2017, and 2018
iHeartRadio Music Awards, 2016
American Country Countdown Awards and the
2016 and
2018 Teen Choice Awards.
Juan Gabriel performed the final concert of his career on August 26, 2016, dying two days later.
Kanye West performed six sold-out shows on October 25–27 and November 1–3, 2016 as a part of his
Saint Pablo Tour. It hosted the
2017 MTV Video Music Awards on August 27, 2017. On February 24, 2018, the Forum hosted the world championship Super Flyweight boxing match between
Juan Francisco Estrada and
Srisaket Sor Rungvisai. The Forum has also hosted the
KROQ Almost Acoustic Christmas since 2014. On December 29, 2018, the
UFC 232 mixed martial arts event was held at the Forum as part of a short notice decision. On April 4, 2019, the Mexican promotion
Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide announced that its second event named AAA Invading LA in the United States with the event being its professional wrestling event in the venue. On April 6, 2019, Iranian singer Hamed Homayoun held a concert for 14,000 people at the venue, a record for all Iranian singers who have performed here, including
Mohammad-Reza Shajarian and
Ebi. Forum management mentioned this performance as one of the venue's most memorable, and prepared a cake with Homayoun's image to commemorate the event. On October 11, 2019, Japanese
kawaii metal band
Babymetal performed at The Forum, making them the first Japanese band to headline the arena. The show is part of the Metal Galaxy World Tour 2019, a promotional tour for the group's third album
Metal Galaxy, which released on October 11, 2019; simultaneously with the show. On November 29 and 30, 2019, American
thrash metal band
Slayer performed at the Forum, this event being their final show as the band headlined the arena on the
Slayer Farewell Tour.
2020s: Acquisition by Steve Ballmer On March 24, 2020, Clippers owner
Steve Ballmer announced that he had agreed to acquire the Forum from MSG for $400 million. The acquisition was needed in order to enable the construction of the Clippers' new
Intuit Dome in Inglewood; the Clippers accused MSG of using litigation to block construction of the new arena, which they feared would cannibalize the Forum's live events business. The venue was closed from March 2020 to July 31, 2021, due to
COVID-19. The Forum reopened on July 31, 2021, hosting
Bellator 263. A concert by the
Foo Fighters on July 17, 2021, was originally scheduled to be its first event, but it was postponed due to COVID-19 cases within the band's staff. In August 2023, it was announced that AEW would host
Full Gear at the Forum on November 18, 2023. The event would be preceded by special episodes of its weekly shows
Rampage and
Collision (the latter being a special Friday-night edition due to the PPV being on a Saturday) on November 17. On March 22 and 23,
Dua Lipa performed two sold-out shows as part of her
Future Nostalgia Tour. On April 4, 2022,
Kia Motors, whose American headquarters are located in
Irvine, acquired the
naming rights to the facility, renaming it Kia Forum. In October 2022,
My Chemical Romance performed five sold-out shows at The Forum as part of their
Reunion Tour.
Harry Styles performed a 15-night residency at The Forum in October and November 2022 as part of his
Love On Tour. K-pop singer
SUGA (aka
AgustD) of
BTS took over The Forum for 3 sold-out nights, May 10–11 and 14, 2023, as part of his
D-Day Tour. The Forum hosted the concluding matches of the
2023 Valorant Champions, the world championship for the
tactical FPS video game
Valorant, from August 24 to 26, 2023. On June 19,
Kendrick Lamar hosted
The Pop Out: Ken & Friends at The Forum for
Juneteenth and as a victory lap from
his feud with
Drake. K-pop singer-songwriter
IU performed a sold-out show at The Forum on August 2, 2024, as part of her
HEREH World Tour.
Olivia Rodrigo hosted four sold-out concerts as part of her
Guts World Tour on August 13–14 and 16–17, 2024, with
The Breeders serving as the opening act. On September 11, 2024,
Linkin Park performed a sold-out show at the venue. This marked the first show of the
From Zero World Tour promoting their eighth studio album,
From Zero. Billie Eilish hosted a series of five concerts on December 15, 16, 17, 20, and 21, 2024 as part of her
Hit Me Hard and Soft tour. The Forum co-hosted
FireAid on January 30, 2025, to help relief efforts for
the wildfires affecting Southern California. On June 7, 2025, the arena hosted
Worlds Collide, a cross-promotional wrestling event between
WWE NXT and
Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide. It was held as a support event for
Money in the Bank 2025 at Intuit Dome.
Rush, who played their final concert at the Forum 11 years earlier, will kick off their comeback tour (titled the
Fifty Something Tour) at the same venue on June 7 and 9, 2026. ==In popular culture==