Andy Greene of Rolling Stone reports: The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame has officially announced next year’s inductees: Nirvana, KISS, Peter Gabriel, Hall and Oates, Cat Stevens and Linda Ronstadt will all join the class of 2014. The E Street Band will be given the Award for Musical Excellence and Beatles manager Brian Epstein and original Rolling Stones manager Andrew Loog Oldham will both receive the Ahmet Ertegun Award for non-performers.
The induction ceremony will be held at Brooklyn’s Barclays Center on April 10th, 2014. It’s the first time the general public will be able to attend the event in New York City. Tickets go on sale in January; HBO will air the event in May.
Artists are eligible for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame 25 years after the release of their first album or single. Nirvana, whose first single Love Buzz came out in 1988, are entering the institution their first year of eligibility. “That’s really no surprise to me,” says Rock and Roll Hall of Fame President and CEO Joel Peresman. “People see the relevancy of that band. We’re just getting into the creative of the show, so I don’t know what’s going to happen with that performance. They have to figure it out.”
KISS have been eligible for the last 15 years, but didn’t get the nod until now. “The Kiss Army has descended on Cleveland in recent years,” says Peresman. “And we’ve gotten thousands of letters. They also did extremely well in the public vote.” (In 2012, the band joked to Rolling Stone, “We’ve been thinking about it and the answer is simply, ‘We’ll just buy it and fire everybody.'”)
The annual induction ceremony has moved out of the tiny New York Waldorf Astoria Ballroom in recent years into larger venues in Cleveland and Los Angeles, where the public can attend along with music industry insiders.
This year’s event at Brooklyn’s Barclays Center is the first time the induction has been held in an arena, making it the largest ceremony in the history of the Hall of Fame. “Bringing in the fans adds an incredible energy to the event,” says Peresman. “The fans should have an opportunity to see the show. They are the reason these bands exist.”
Read more at Rolling Stone.
source: rollingstone.com
About time KISS made it…Deep Purple should’ve too..Nirvana? Much too soon… They have a legacy but so does Thin Lizzy.. Moody Blues…Elo…Def Leopard..Iron Maiden….more deserving bands.. Either way, at least got in… As for E street band…shouldn’t they got one when Bruce got his.? If that’s the case why don’t we include The Stooges without Iggy and the Revolution without Prince.. Congrats to 2014 nominees.
And how can you leave out everyone else who has played with KISS (Eric Carr, Vinnie Vincent, Mark St. John, Bruce Kulick, Eric Singer, Tommy Thayer)? I hope at the every least Gene and Paul mention them by name during their acceptance speeches, and invite them to the induction ceremony (or representatives in the case of Eric Carr and Mark). Do it right like Metallica did.
I really hope the founding members give props to the others that participated in the making of KISS records……Mark St. John was a TRUE Guitar Hero!!!! May his Soul continue to play on…….Miss ya Man!!!
Glad Kiss Army made their statement…. Hall of Fame Didnt seem to be in any rush doing anything to induct a rock band with four decades of history behind them..yet they had no problem getting Madonna in her first year or eligibility… Or Donna Summer R.I.p years months after she past away…
I have actually been a KISS fan longer than Deep Purple and I love both of them, but I still feel Deep Purple should have been inducted instead. Hell both should have been inducted years ago but like Eddie say’s… the rock n roll hall of shame. I have also read that Deep Purple could care less. Real fans know what’s up.
viva la Ace and Peter!