MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. – The Led Zeppelin classic "Whole Lotta Love" throbs from the 1,200-watt sound system as the slick silver and white roller coaster nears the top of its serpentine track.

Lead singer Robert Plant shrieks, "Woman. You need. Loooooooove..." And as he does, riders scream as the car falls from a height of 155 feet, reaching speeds of 65 mph.This is Hard Rock Park, America's newest theme park. The theme isn't movies, fairy tales or water shows. It's that American invention, rock 'n' roll.

The $400 million park in the heart of South Carolina's $16 billion tourism industry had a soft opening in April that it called a "sound check." The grand opening is scheduled for June 2-3, with concerts by the Eagles and the Moody Blues.

Photos by MARY ANN CHASTAIN/Associated Press

Visitors walk past the entrance to the Nights in White Satin building at the new Hard Rock theme park.

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As has Led Zeppelin, both groups have lent their names to key attractions at the 55-acre park built around a lake dominated by 70-foot-tall replica of a Les Paul guitar.

The Eagles' "Life in the Fast Lane" roller coaster spins through what appears to be an abandoned sawmill as the hit song plays. "Nights in White Satin, the Trip" winds through the dark amid psychedelic lights and images set to the 1960s Moody Blues hit.

Nearby stands a reproduction of the Statue of Liberty wearing sunglasses and holding not a torch, but a Zippo cigarette lighter. Engraved on the pedestal is a quote from Neil Young: "Keep on Rockin' in the Free World."

The park hosts nightly fireworks shows choreographed to "Bohemian Rhapsody," and one of its eateries is called Alice's Restaurant, after the Arlo Guthrie song.

The park is the first foray by Hard Rock, best known for its cafes, into the amusement park business.

"We realized everybody had done movie parks," says Steven Goodwin, the park's chief executive officer. "Why do something everyone else has done in Orlando and Paramount parks around the country? We just thought rock 'n' roll was a natural."

Building a theme park around music guarantees an audience from children to seniors.

The 55-acre park is built around a lake dominated by a 70-foot replica of a Les Paul guitar.

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"Music is one of those things that connects emotionally with us," he says. "You hear a song and you immediately have a memory or a related emotional experience. That's what we're trying to create here."

The park is divided into areas such as British Invasion, which features the bus the Beatles used in the film Magical Mystery Tour.

Among the other areas are Cool Country, Born in the USA and even Rock and Roll Heaven, where the names of 350 musicians playing in that big concert hall in the sky are engraved in bricks and stone.

Visitors can see swimmers and divers perform in a show called "Malibu Beach Party," play arcade games such as Whack-a-Boys-Band – similar to Whac-a-Mole – and catch musical performances throughout the park.

All the while, rock music from different eras plays through the park's elaborate sound system.

"You can layer rock 'n' roll over a theme park," says Jon Binkowski, the park's chief creative officer. "Music makes a connection that a movie doesn't."

Hard Rock is the first park built in the nation in a decade, according to the International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions. There are about 400 amusement parks in the United States.

Hard Rock hopes to attract 30,000 visitors a day and about 3 million a year. But industry consultant Dennis Speigel wonders if Hard Rock can make those numbers in a troubled economy.

"Very few theme parks, with the exception of a handful, and primarily the Disney and the Universal parks, have ever opened exceeding 2 million people in the first year," he says.

There's a theme park within a 2 ½-hour drive of most major metropolitan areas, added Mr. Speigel, president of International Theme Park Services based in Cincinnati. (Six Flags Over Texas is in Arlington, about 17 miles from downtown Dallas.)

"The people coming to Myrtle Beach probably have a major theme park close to them, whether they are coming from Canada or coming from Charlotte," he says. "I don't know if there is anything there that absolutely tips the scales in favor of somebody saying. 'I can't leave Myrtle Beach without going there.' "

But for Chad Frisbie, of Rumford, Maine, who visited recently, Hard Rock was the reason for flying to Myrtle Beach.

"We looked online and saw this was a new theme park, and that's what we based the vacation on," he says as he gets off the Led Zeppelin coaster. "This was the one thing I wanted to check out, and I'm glad I did."

Hard Rock opens about a year and a half after Myrtle Beach's oceanfront Pavilion amusement park closed. The roller coasters and arcades there were part of the fabric of this beach community for more than half a century.

Unlike the Pavilion, which usually closed around Labor Day, Hard Rock plans to open its gates during the spring and fall shoulder seasons.

"We'll do Rocktoberfest, we'll do Halloween and we're looking to do Christmas," Mr. Goodwin says.

Hard Rock Park is at 211 George Bishop Parkway in Myrtle Beach, S.C. Hours: 10 a.m. to 1 a.m. daily. Tickets: $50 per person (free for younger than 3). For grand opening June 2, park will close at 6 p.m. and reopen at 7 p.m. for a 9 p.m. Eagles concert, for which separate tickets must be purchased at $284.88. Contact: 843-236-7625; www.hardrockpark.com