State Champ Radio Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
Page: 2
Foreigner’s Rock and Roll Hall of Fame nomination feels like the first time indeed for the veteran rock band.
The group’s appearance on this year’s ballot is its first ever, despite being eligible since 2002. With worldwide record sales of more than 80 million and nine top 10 hits on the Billboard Hot 100 (including “Feels Like the First Time,” Cold As Ice,” “Hot Blooded,” “Urgent” and “I Want to Know What Love Is”), Foreigner has long been considered one of the Rock Hall’s biggest snubs by critics and commentators as well as fans.
“I deeply appreciate the recognition from the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (nominating) committee,” Mick Jones, who founded Foreigner during 1976 in New York, tells Billboard via email. “It is wonderful that Foreigner has maintained its presence all these years and brought the music to our fans. Getting this news is an incredible endorsement of what we have achieved over time.” Jones and original Foreigner vocalist Lou Gramm were inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2013.
Explore
Explore
See latest videos, charts and news
See latest videos, charts and news
Phil Carson, an executive at Atlantic Records when it signed Foreigner and the band’s manager since 2004, calls the nomination “fabulous” — and overdue. “Oh, of course it’s been frustrating, and I do know that many of the nominating committee members have put Foreigner on the list, but we just never got in,” Carson says, noting that the late Rock Hall co-founder Seymour Stein was an ardent supporter. This year, Carson says, “the usual suspects who have always been in our court voted, and I guess there was just that little bit of extra credibility of people that surround Foreigner, surround Mick, helped.”
Since the release of the Foreigner debut in 1977, the group has logged six multi-platinum albums and 22 songs on the Billboard Hot 100, including one chart-topper in 1985 (“I Want to Know What Love Is”). The band, which has gone through lineup changes throughout its career, went on hiatus during the early 2000s but re-formed during 2004 with Kelly Hansen as frontman and former Dokken bassist Jeff Pilson. Several of the original and principal members have participated in sporadic reunions and guest appearances, while founding bassist Ed Gagliardi passed away in 2014 and multi-instrumentalist Ian McDonald died in 2022.
Jones has stopped touring with the group due to health reasons but continues to oversee and participate in its operations.
Foreigner fans have waged campaigns to get the band onto the Rock Hall ballot for many years, though Jones has stayed out of the fray while quietly lamenting the snub. He previously told Billboard that, “I’m not thinking about it much. I know we’re getting a lot of support from a lot of places; obviously the fans who are kind of, ‘Let’s induct Foreigner to the Hall of Fame’ and all those kinds of things. And lots of other people seem to think we should be in there. I think it’s down to the panel and whatever mood they happen to be in and whatever style of music they award…. But I’m quite happy with what I’ve achieved and the songs speak for themselves. Whether it happens or not, I’m still a happy man.”
Carson says Foreigner will promote the nomination via its website and social media to encourage fans to participate in the public vote. The current incarnation of Foreigner, meanwhile, launched a farewell tour last year that will resume with a second leg this year. It’s scheduled to finish in North America during the summer of 2025, but Carson says demand from other territories may push the end date into 2026.
The Bible tells us it’s more blessed to give than to receive, but when it comes to awards and honors, most artists would rather be the inductee than the inductor. Five of this year’s nominees for the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame have helped to induct other honorees at past ceremonies. Three did the […]
Here we go again. On Saturday (Feb. 10) morning, the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame announced this year’s nominees, unveiling 15 artists who are in contention to join the Rock Hall’s Class of 2024. Explore Explore See latest videos, charts and news See latest videos, charts and news The 2024 Rock Hall nominees are: […]
The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame‘s primetime airing on ABC was a hit on New Year’s Day, drawing 13 million total viewers and a 0.38 rating among people people aged 18 to 49, according to Nielsen data. The Jan. 1 airing, which was the ceremony’s first time on a broadcast network after decades on HBO, […]
Under the stellar leadership of John Sykes, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame has broadened its definition of what constitutes rock and roll to include, well, pretty much anything that has a young, contemporary, rule-breaking attitude and spirit.
Which makes us wonder why Cher has never even nominated for the Rock Hall. She has always had a young attitude, even today, at age 77. Telling the Rock Hall to “you-know-what themselves” as she did last week on national TV, is a pretty rock and roll thing to do.
Appearing on The Kelly Clarkson Show on Friday Dec. 15, Cher said “And I’m not in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame!.” After the studio audience let out a collective groan, Cher told them it was okay with her. “You know what, I wouldn’t be in it now if they gave me a million dollars. I’m not kidding you. I’m never going to change my mind. They can just you-know-what themselves,” Cher said to applause.
Who can really blame her for feeling that way after so many years of being bypassed? Sonny and Cher, as a duo, and Cher solo, have been eligible for the Rock Hall since 1990 – which was 25 years after their breakthrough hits, “I Got You Babe” and “All I Really Want to Do,” respectively.
Some of the female artists who Cher paved the way for, with her irreverence and artistic boldness, are already in the Hall – most notably Madonna. When Madonna was still in grade school, Cher became adept at turning controversy to her advantage. As Sonny Bono once said “She liked to do things for the shock they created. She still does. She’ll create some controversy and then tell her critics to stick it.” Sound familiar?
It’s a safe bet that the Rock Hall will embrace Miley Cyrus soon after she becomes eligible in 2031. Like Cher, Cyrus has had an unorthodox career, with some missteps and head-scratching moves, but also flashes of brilliance.
Beyoncé’s Renaissance Tour and accompanying film, with its focus on fashion and style, shows Cher’s influence. Lady Gaga’s entire career owes a debt to Cher.
The Rock Hall’s expansion of its definition of rock and roll was essential if the Hall was to avoid becoming a museum recognizing a niche genre; the sound of a previous generation. But it has made it far harder to get a sense of who qualifies as rock and roll and who doesn’t. If ABBA, Janet Jackson, Whitney Houston and Dolly Parton are in, what’s the rationale for leaving Cher out?
Cher is still active. She released her first Christmas album on Oct. 20. It features duets with Cyndi Lauper, Michael Bublé, Tyga and Rock Hall members Stevie Wonder and Darlene Love. And as her blast at the Rock Hall shows, Cher still knows how to speak her mind and attract attention.
Here are 12 reasons Cher belongs in the Rock Hall.
Sonny & Cher were part of the mod pop/rock scene of the mid-1960s.
Image Credit: George Wilkes/Hulton Archive/Getty Images
Cher vehemently doesn’t want to be a member of any club that doesn’t want her. The “Believe” legend said so in no uncertain terms on Friday’s (Dec. 15) Kelly Clarkson Show, when the host asked how a legend who has scored No. 1 hits over seven decades is somehow not in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
With a sly smile, Cher corrected Clarkson’s claim that she’s the only act to ever have that kind of chart dominance across the decades, noting that she’s not, technically, alone. “Two of us have,” Cher said, with Clarkson replying, “Are you gonna say a band? Don’t say a band.”
“It’s a band,” Cher noted of her fellow chart champs the Rolling Stones, as Clarkson clarified that that doesn’t count. “It took four of them to be one of me,” the 77-year-old icon added with a twinkle in her eye, prompting Kelly to jump out of her seat and clap. “And I’m not in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame!” Cher added.
After the studio audience let out a collective groan, Cher told them it was okay. “You know what, I wouldn’t be in it now if they gave me a million dollars. I’m not kidding you,” she said, laughing that she almost dropped an f-bomb in her answer.
“I’m never going to change my mind. They can just you-know-what themselves,” Cher said to applause, while casually noting that she “changed music forever” with her 1998 dance pop hit “Believe,” one of the best-selling singles of all time and the track that is widely credited with introducing the world to AutoTune.
Cher’s first holiday hit, “DJ Play a Christmas Song,” hit No. 1 on Billboard’s Dance/Electronic Digital Song Sales chart last month (and topped the Adult Contemporary Chart this month), making her the first female artist to have a top hit for seven straight decades; that milestone put her in rarified air with the Stones, who have had at least one new No. 1 hit on the Billboard charts in every decades between the 1960s and 2020s.
A spokesperson for the RRHOF had not returned Billboard‘s request for comment at press time.
Cher’s first No. 1 hit was 1965’s “I Got You Babe” with late partner Sonny Bono and she has been eligible for induction into the Hall of Fame since 1991.
While Cher has not been nominated to date, it’s worth noting that last year country icon Dolly Parton was nominated fro the RRHOF and initially turned down the offer. She later accepted and was inducted in Nov. 2022 alongside Eminem, Pat Benatar & Neil Giraldo, Duran Duran, Eurythmics, Lionel Richie, Carly Simon, Judas Priest and Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis; she followed up by releasing her all-star, chart-topping first rock album, Rockstar, album last month.
Watch Cher on the Kelly Clarkson Show below.
[embedded content]
Bob Dylan made a rare public remark from the stage during his show at the Beacon Theatre in New York on Thursday night (Nov. 16) in which he offered up unequivocal support for his embattled friend, Rolling Stone magazine founder Jann Wenner.
“All right, like to say hello to Jann Wenner who’s in the house. Jann Wenner, surely everybody’s heard of him,” Dylan can be heard saying in a recording tweeted out by Dylan.FM Podcast of his comments to the crowd at the show. Billboard has confirmed the accuracy of Dylan’s quote. “Anyway, he just got booted out of the Rock n Roll Hall of Fame – and we don’t think that’s right, we’re trying to get him back in.” At press time a spokesperson for the RRHOF Foundation had not returned Billboard‘s request for comment.
Dylan, 82, was referring to Wenner’s removal in September from the board of directors of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Foundation after the organization’s 77-year-old co-founder made remarks in a New York Times interview that many labeled racist and sexist. While Wenner is still a member of the RRHOF as a non-performer, the organization’s board removed him from the Foundation after a Times interview to promote Wenner’s The Masters book in which the interviewer asked why there were no conversations with women or people of color in his collection.
Wenner, the former chairman of the RRHOF Foundation, conducted interviews with all white men for the book, including Bono, Bob Dylan, Jerry Garcia, Mick Jagger, John Lennon, Bruce Springsteen and Pete Townshend. In the introduction, Wenner explained that women and POC were not in his “zeitgeist.”
“When I was referring to the zeitgeist, I was referring to Black performers, not to the female performers, OK? Just to get that accurate,” Wenner told NYT writer David Marchese. “The selection was not a deliberate selection. It was kind of intuitive over the years; it just fell together that way. The people had to meet a couple criteria, but it was just kind of my personal interest and love of them. Insofar as the women, just none of them were as articulate enough on this intellectual level.”
Wenner attempted to clarify his stance, saying he was not suggesting that “they’re not creative geniuses. It’s not that they’re inarticulate, although, go have a deep conversation with Grace Slick or Janis Joplin. Please, be my guest. You know, Joni [Mitchell] was not a philosopher of rock ’n’ roll. She didn’t, in my mind, meet that test. Not by her work, not by other interviews she did. The people I interviewed were the kind of philosophers of rock … Of Black artists — you know, Stevie Wonder, genius, right? I suppose when you use a word as broad as ‘masters,’ the fault is using that word. Maybe Marvin Gaye, or Curtis Mayfield? I mean, they just didn’t articulate at that level.”
Shortly after his removal from the board — and an unsuccessful plea to remain on it during an emergency meeting — Wenner issued an apology in which he noted that his comments in the Times, “diminished the contributions, genius, and impact of Black and women artists and I apologize wholeheartedly for those remarks.”
He said the book is a collection of interviews he’s done over the years that seemed to him to be represent “an idea of rock ‘n’ roll’s impact on my world; they were not meant to represent the whole of music and it’s diverse and important originators but to reflect the high points of my career and interviews I felt illustrated the breadth and experience in that career. They don’t reflect my appreciation and admiration for myriad totemic, world-changing artists whose music and ideas I revere and will celebrate and promote as long as I live. I totally understand the inflammatory nature of badly chosen words and deeply apologize and accept the consequences.”
The apology and walk-back, however, did little to calm the fury over Wenner’s original comments, with few, if any, artists or friends speaking out publicly to support him. Wenner left Rolling Stone in 2019 when the publication was acquired by Penske Media Corporation, which is also Billboard‘s parent company.
The magazine, whose president and CEO is Wenner’s son, Gus Wenner, issued a statement amid the controversy distancing itself from the RS founder. “Jann Wenner’s recent statement to the New York Times do not represent the value and practices of today’s Rolling Stone,” the publication tweeted. “Jann Wenner has not been directly involved in our operations since 2019. Out purpose, especially since his departure, has been to tell stories that reflect the diversity of voices and experiences that shape our world. At Rolling Stone‘s core is the understanding that music above all can bring us together, not divide us.”
Listen to Dylan’s comment below.
“All right, like to say hello to Jann Wenner who’s in the house. Jann Wenner, surely everybody’s heard of him. Anyway, he just got booted out of the Rock n Roll Hall of Fame – and we don’t think that’s right, we’re trying to get him back in.”— Bob Dylan 11/16/23 pic.twitter.com/Vkgt8klzYS— Dylan.FM Podcast (@TheFM_Dylan) November 17, 2023
Sheryl Crow is all about supporting young artists, and the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductee opened up about working with 20-year-old Olivia Rodrigo, who performed with Crow during the ceremony and participated in presenting her with the honor.
Explore
See latest videos, charts and news
See latest videos, charts and news
“It’s really cool,” Crow told ET of working with Rodrigo. “I mean, you know, I got to sort of lift her up a little bit, because she’s got a new record [out]… I know how hard the second record is, the sophomore. You’re competing with the success of your first record, and she nailed it.”
She also revealed the piece of advice she gave the “Vampire” singer. “I said, you know, ‘If you can, just write down one sentence every day, of what happened during that day, because you will someday look back [at] this, and try to remember all the things.’”
“The other thing [I told her] is to just stay in the work and stay out of the chatter,” she continued. “That’s a major thing.”
After performing “If It Makes You Happy” with Crow at the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame ceremony, Rodrigo appeared in a video montage about Crow’s career that featured Stevie Nicks and Maren Morris. In the clip, the “Get Him Back!” singer praised Crow’s lyricism, and especially the line “scrape the mold off the bread and serve you French toast again” from “If It Makes You Happy.”
“Nobody could say that besides Sheryl. She says things I would have never thought of in the most beautiful way,” Rodrigo said. The love is mutual, with Crow naming Rodrigo “the real deal” on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon the night before.
After her onstage moment with Crow, Rodrigo described the experience in a statement to Billboard. “It was an honor to join Sheryl on stage and I am so excited for her to be inducted into the RRHOF! I am a massive fan of hers and her incredible songwriting. She’s equally as kind as she is talented and I feel so lucky that I was able to be part of celebrating such a legend.”
The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame – which began 40 years ago and started inducting artists into its ranks in 1986 – welcomed the Class of 2023 to its extensive roster on Friday (Nov. 3) evening at Barclays Center in Brooklyn.
Kate Bush, Sheryl Crow, Missy Elliott, George Michael, Willie Nelson, Rage Against the Machine and The Spinners were all inducted, along with DJ Kool Herc and Link Wray for musical influence; Chaka Khan, Al Kooper and Bernie Taupin for musical excellence; and Don Cornelius for the Ahmet Ertegun Award.
The eclectic Rock Hall Class of 2023 brought out performers and presenters who spanned hip-hop, rock, pop, R&B and country: Adam Levine, Brandi Carlile, Carrie Underwood, Chris Stapleton, Common, Dave Matthews, Elton John, H.E.R., Ice-T, LL Cool J, Miguel, New Edition, Olivia Rodrigo, Queen Latifah, Sia, Stevie Nicks and St. Vincent.
For the first time ever, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame livestreamed its induction ceremony, giving fans the chance to watch the ceremony in real time. The 2023 RRHOF ceremony streamed live on Disney+ starting at 8 p.m. ET, and is still available on-demand. Audio from the ceremony streamed live on Apple Music 1. In previous years, fans had to wait until the show was broadcast at a later date. Those who do want to watch it on TV can catch an edited broadcast of highlights on ABC on New Year’s Day, Jan. 1, 2024, from 8-11 p.m. ET.
The 2023 ceremony marked another first. Willie Nelson – who recently celebrated his 90th birthday — becoming the oldest living inductee to accept his honor in person. Harry Belafonte was older (95) when he was inducted, but he didn’t attend the ceremony.
These are the best moments from the Class of 2023’s induction.
Sheryl Crow Opens the Show With Olivia Rodrigo
Music greats from around the world gathered at Brooklyn’s Barclays Center in New York City on Friday (Nov. 3) to celebrate and welcome a new class into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame during the annual induction ceremony. The 2023 inductees were Sheryl Crow, Kate Bush, Rage Against the Machine, George Michael, Missy Elliott, […]
