J&R has been a New York City institution for over 30 years. People from around the world know to shop at here for electronics, computers, music and more when they are in the Big Apple. Celebrities, of course, are no exception. Through the years, some of the biggest names in show biz have moved through our stores.

The New York Daily News reported on March 19th 2007: "Spike Lee shopped for DVDs last week at J&R Music World. On his list: James Bond classics "Thunderball" and "Goldfinger," and war flicks like "Anzio," "Enemy of Women," "Go Tell the Spartans," "The Longest Day" and the Gregory Peck bomber adventure "Twelve O’Clock High."

On March 12, Public Enemy's Chuck D made a special guest appearance at our store to promote the "Definitive 200" album list. Public Enemy's "It Takes A Nation Of Millions To Hold Us Back" is listed at number 156.

On February 9th, Todd Oldham, the host of Bravo Network's "Top Design" TV show was spotted purchasing 2 Canon SD900 cameras and accessories.

The New York Daily News reported on January 10th 2007: "TV host Charlie Rose picked up a portable GPS navigator at J&R Music and Computer World in the financial district. It must have worked; he successfully navigated his way back to buy another."

On January 6th, Page Six of the New York Post also mentioned Artie Lange's January 9th appearance at J&R Music World to sign copies of his new DVD "Beer League." See a YouTube Video of Artie at J&R.

On September 27th, "Sopranos" star Michael Imperioli was spotted buying the "Godfather" Xbox game and the movie "Someone to Watch Over Me" in the DVD department.

On August 26th 2006, J&R's MusicFest 2006 became a "who's who" of hip hop. Show opener, Jean Grae and headliner, Talib Kweli were joined by a host of friends which included DJ Hi-Tek, Strong Arm Steady, will.i.am and Taboo of the Black Eyed Peas, Ras Kass and Common. Read more about it on our blog.

On August 23rd 2006, actor/comedian Steve Harvey attended the ribbon cutting ceremony for the opening of J&R Express in Macy's Herald Square in the midtown area of Manhattan. See the pictures at AOL Moviefone.

On March 28th 2006, actress Liv Tyler was at J&R's Park Row Stores where she picked up two of the new exclusive "J&R Blue" iPods, one for herself and one for her husband, rocker Royston Langdon. She bought the J&R Blue with a red dot for herself and the jet black scratch resistant iPod with a J&R Blue wheel for Royston. We salute their good taste!

Also spotted with the new "J&R Blue" iPod was Dr. Marc Lowenberg, "Dentist to the Stars". Dr. Lowenberg has whitened the smiles & straightened the teeth of celebrity A-listers such as Cindy Crawford, "Friends" star Courtney Cox Arquette, comic Chris Rock and Martha Stewart. Apparently, he has A-list taste in portable music devices as well.

In February, Natalie Hershlag (aka Portman), known for her roles in the Star Wars movies as well as Garden State and Closer, was spotted buying a Uniden phone and a multifunction printer. Actress Michelle Williams, nominated for an Oscar for her role in Brokeback Mountain, was in J&R's Video Store scoping out big screen TVs.

Meanwhile, blues legend B.B. King paid a visit to our 1 Park Row Store. Recently, actress Patricia Wettig-Olin bought a Panasonic TV. Randy Weston, famed jazz pianist, bought an HP desktop PC, with a monitor and a printer. At the same time, jazz drummer Kenny Washington (who plays with pianist Bill Charlap, among others) was in our Apple Store purchasing an iMac.

Jerry Lewis was sighted shopping for a Panasonic Lumix Digital Camera at the J&R Camera Store. Mike Piazza of the Mets was spotted taking advantage of the great prices at J&R's Columbus Day Sale on Monday Oct 10th. Mike purchased a state of the art V-TECH cordless phone.

Recently, the Hon. Nicholas Scoppetta, Fire Comm. City of New York, a regular at J&R, was spotted purchasing a Canon PowerShot A400 camera, a 5th year birthday gift for his grandson Luco.

On the 4th of July, both Naomi Watts and Liev Schreiber were spotted purchasing Sony T7 Cybershot cameras and accessories. Kevin Kline dropped $800 on a Canon PowerShot Pro 1 digital camera recently. On another day, Richard Simmons cut right to front of the line, purchasing a $350 Canon.

Opera Singer, Andrea Bocelli was recently seen shopping for goods at J&R Music and Computer World. Also spotted at J&R were actors Tom Conti loading up on PDA accessories and Robert Townsend. Jerry Springer was in J&R buying headphones. Also Duncan Sheik, who has a new musical, "Spring Awakening" was shopping at J&R.

Other musician-shoppers have included B.B. King, Ric Ocasek, Tito Puente, Harry Belafonte, Patti Smith, Peter Gabriel, Steve Earle, Isaac Hayes, Lou Reed, Barry Manilow, Stevie Wonder, Neil Young, Joe Perry, Michael Jackson, and Steve Miller.

Other actors and actresses frequenting J&R are Joaquin Phoenix, Harrison Ford, Jimmy Smits, Liv Tyler, Valerie Perrine, Macaulay Culkin, Lili Taylor, Kevin Spacey, Molly Ringwald, Glenn Close, Wesley Snipes, Anne Heche, Geena Davis, Willem Dafoe, Alan Alda, Ben Affleck, and Jean Stapleton.

Politician-shoppers have included Mayor Michael Bloomberg, former Mayor Rudolf Giuliani, Lech Walesa, former President of Poland and Ehud Barak, former Prime Minister of Israel.

Film directors Brian DePalma and Spike Lee have been seen shopping at J&R.

TV personalities Bill Cosby, John Tesh, Hugh Downs, Robert Klein, Robin Leach, have all purchased items at J&R.

Models buying computers and other electronics include Claudia Schiffer (with David Copperfield), and Paulina Porizkova (with Ric Ocasek).

J&R In The News: check it out!

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