Maeve Bidonde, Staff Writer
It’s that time of year when the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame announces its inductees for the year. According to USA Today, this year’s Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees are: Bad Company, Chubby Checker, Joe Cocker, Cyndi Lauper, Outkast, Sound Garden, and The White Stripes.
In order to choose who gets inducted, 14 nominees are voted on to bring the list down to 7. The 7 who garner the most votes become that year’s nominees. The 7 that didn’t make the cut this year were: The Black Crowes, Billy Idol, Maná, Phish, Mariah Carey, and Joy Division/New Order.
According to USA Today, Phish won the popular fan vote with 330,000 votes. However, winning the popular fan vote does not guarantee you a spot on the list of inductees. At the ceremony, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame not only honors the inductees, but they also honor other musicians with awards.
Salt N’ Pepa and Warren Zevon are to be honored with the Musical Influence Award. The Musical Excellence Award is going to be awarded to Thom Bell, Nicky Hopkins, and Carol Kaye. The Ahmet Ertegun award is being given to Dreamworks/Warner Bros. Record Executive Lenny Waronker.
To get into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, a person or group must have released their first commercial recording at least 25 years prior to their year of nomination. The inductees are recognized in four categories: performers whose music and cultural impact has changed the course of Rock and Roll, influential musicians whose innovative styles have created a cultural change, the musical excellence award, and the Ahmet Ertegun award.
According to BillBoard, each of the 7 inductees were in the performer category. They were announced on American Idol by host Ryan Seacrest on April 27th. Several of the inductees unfortunately did not live to see their inductions. Hopkins died in 1994 at age 50, Bell died in 2022 at age 79, Zevon died in 2003 at age 56, and Chris Cornell of Soundgarden died in 2017 at age 52.
According to NPR, the Chairman of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, John Sykes released a press statement about the inductees saying “Each of these inductees created their own sound and attitude that had a profound impact on culture and helped to change the course of Rock & Roll forever. Their music gave a voice to generations and influenced countless artists that followed in their footsteps.”
Carol Kaye is the oldest inductee in this year’s class at age 90 with Checker and Waronker close behind in age at age 83. Both will turn 84 by the ceremony in November. Each of the artists nominated in the performer category had albums that made the BillBoard 200 list and they cracked the top 5 spots.
The official induction ceremony is scheduled for November 8th at the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles, California. The ceremony will be live streamed on Disney+ with an ABC Special following it.
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