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
67 Responses
I think only the 4 original members should get in because really all you have to look at is the first record through Destroyer. While Kiss has carried on since, i can only think of one killer record – Creatures of the Night. However, i don’t think just by that you can extend an induction to those players beyond Paul and Gene. The original members are the only ones that ever put out more than one great record.
Nirvana Thoughts:
They deserve to be in, Congratulations Nirvana.
As much as the obvious expected drama with what Kiss will deal with that night, equally could be said for Nirvana for drama.
It’s no secret that their is major unfriendliness between the surviving members of the band and the estate of Mr Cobain (Courtney Love). No one should expect this individual to make this about her and should expect a scene as she grasps at her last 30 seconds of her 15 min in life. It’s her last chance to have anyone care what she has to say and she knows it…which is a receipe for who knows what.
Kurt Cobain’s daughter will be there to represent him I assume…which is how it should be as it’s been in the past with departed inductees.
There will be a powderkeg of emotions that night more than usual with how things went down with Kurt and all the blame and anger pointed every direction. It’s going to be sad, with alcohol involved and years of pain and anger and being reminded of Kurt gone and how it happened, igniting that powderkeg.
I’m happy for all surving members. Mr Grohl has been one of the few in the mainstream public eye keeping rock and roll alive in a day and age when it’s essentially gone back underground.
Welcome gentlemen to the Hall and congratulations.
bahaha! They should’ve give a non-performer award to Ozzy as well :p
I do believe that all the members of the Rolling Stones are in the Hall of Fame. Can’t other members of bands be inducted at later dates? For example, couldn’t say Dio be inducted as a member of Black Sabbath, or say Eric Carr as a member of KISS?
Congratulations to Paul, Gene, Peter, and Ace. Kiss made their statement to the world of rock and roll with these founders, and before 1980. Sure , they put out some good material during the 80’s and 90’s, but this was not the essence of the band. The ‘support’ staff during these latters years deserve honorable mention but do not deserve induction. Finally, as a Kiss fan for 35 years, I am weary of hearing critics and ‘intellectual’ fans of popular music say that Kiss was not about music. and were all about the show. Unfortunately Simmons himself gives this crowd ammunition. Along with legendary producers in Bob Ezrin, Eddie Kramer, and Michael James Jackson this band issued great albums in Alive, Destroyer, Rock and Roll Over, Love Gun, and the understated Creatures of the Night. Other bands could only hope to put out the rock hooks that this band has. You don’t sell 100 million albums if the music isn’t good. People like Dave Marsh over think rock music as an art form. This music has always been about sex, drinking, and based upon three chord structures pioneered by our blues brethren of years past. It is Marsh who misses the point. Go read more of you college philosophy books Dave…