The Stone Pony is a New Jersey music venue in Asbury Park, New Jersey known for launching the careers of many New Jersey music legends, including Bruce Springsteen, Jon Bon Jovi, and Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes. The club opened in 1973. History Prior to becoming a music venue, the building housed a restaurant named Mrs. Jay's, later named Mrs. Jay's Beer Garden, that was frequented by a polyglot community of tourists, high school and college students, and bikers. During the mid-1960s, Mrs. Jay's management began to allow bands to perform. After the restaurant and beer garden went out of business in 1968, allegedly over a waitress wearing a see-through blouse, Mrs. Jay's moved two doors south and reopened a short time thereafter. The second incarnation of Mrs. Jays became a notorious biker hangout in its later days before being demolished in the late 1980s. Harley-Davidsons lined entire blocks after cruising the circuit. The building that originally housed Mrs. Jay's reopened in Fall 1973 as The Stone Pony. Since The Stone Pony opened in 1973, many of the world's most popular musical artists have played on its stage. In 1991, The Stone Pony had to file for bankruptcy because of a series of drunk driving lawsuits. However, the nightclub reopened in 1992. Because of its importance to the music world, there was a national outcry when there was talk of closing the Pony during the late 1990s. The Stone Pony was repeatedly opened and closed as developers targeted Asbury Park through the beginning of the new millennium, and musicians and patrons organized and rallied in support of The Stone Pony. The annual Asbury Park Music Awards ceremony, founded in 1993 as "The Golden T-Bird Awards" and renamed "The Asbury Park Music Awards" in 1995, is usually held at The Stone Pony. The awards recognize excellence in the region's music community. The format for the ceremony is similar to that of the Grammy Awards. It features the presentation of awards between performances of live, original music and poetry. The event is jointly sponsored by The Stone Pony, The Saint, WBJB-FM, and The Aquarian. The club was renovated in 2000, preserving the character associated with its early years while adding a permanent exhibition of art and artifacts from the history of the city and the venue itself. State-of-the-art lighting and sound equipment were installed, and outside, facing the Atlantic Ocean, The