State Champ Radio Rock & Roll Hall of Fame
“Honestly, I broke into tears when they told me,” says longtime Motown executive Suzanne de Passe about the moment she learned that she would be receiving the Ahmet Ertegun Award at this year’s Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony, taking place Oct. 19 in Cleveland.
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That reflected the many reactions coming from inductees after the Rock Hall’s Class of 2024 was revealed on Sunday (April 21) night’s episode of American Idol on ABC. Joy, exultation and even some surprise was expressed by those headed into the Rock Hall this year, whether in the voted-on performers category or those receiving this year’s musical excellence awards.
Robert “Kool” Bell is happy to explain why Kool & the Gang, an R&B band with several pop hits, belongs in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Speaking to Billboard via Zoom, with bottles of his branded champagne sitting alongside to presumably, er, celebrate the induction, Bell says that “I did 48 shows with Van Halen, 10 shows with Kid Rock, opened for the Dave Matthews Band, Elton John, Rod Stewart. I also worked with Foreigner…If you’re gonna call it a Rock & Roll Hall of Fame then, yeah, I guess you could say that I feel like a rock n’ roller.”
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Bell is, of course, the last remaining member of Kool & the Gang’s original lineup and says his departed bandmates, including his brother Ronald Bell, would be pleased with the Rock Hall honor. “We’ve been to a lot of different ones,” Bell notes, including a 2018 induction into the Songwriters Hall of Fame. “It’s great to finally be inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. All the guys would love it.” Kool & the Gang’s Rock Hall honor comes 60 years after the band’s formation in New Jersey, and 55 years after its self-titled debut album.
Ozzy Osbourne, who was inducted with Black Sabbath in 2006, tells Billboard via email that being honored for his solo career “feels big. I’m more than honored.” He says the induction for his own work, which began with the Blizzard of Ozz album in 1980 “feels different than with Sabbath because my solo career, it’s been a much larger part of my overall music career as a whole…I feel like I was invited to a party in 1980, and it hasn’t stopped. Not bad for a guy who was fired from his last band.” Osbourne, who’s effectively retired from touring due to a variety of health issues, including Parkinson’s disease, says he’s not sure about performing at the ceremony but will be there, in attire that “most certainly will be black.”
Peter Frampton tells Billboard that he’s “a little bit shock, and speechless” after learning the news of his induction. He was also stoked about finishing second behind the Dave Matthews Band in the fan vote, with 528,000. “It’s an honor people regard me in this way. I’m just blown away,” said Frampton, who had encouraged fan voting during his recent tour by flashing a QR code for the vote on the video screen at his concerts. “It’s quite uncanny we would be touring during the public voting, so every night I could hopefully get a few hundred out of the couple of thousand, three thousand that were in the audience. And it made a difference.”
Foreigner founder Mick Jones told Billboard in an exclusive interview that, “It’s a great honor to be included amongst all these great artists that have been inducted over the years.” He added that despite waiting more than 20 years since the band became eligible, “I certainly haven’t been overly consumed by it. Every year was the same thing, so eventually I didn’t really worry about it…I’ve had a great career, and this is like the whipped cream and cherry on top.”
Jones, who’s battling Parkinson’s disease, was also “very grateful” to son-in-law Mark Ronson’s video campaign on Foreigner’s behalf, which enlisted luminaries such as Paul McCartney, Slash, Jack Black, Chad Smith of the Red Hot Chili Peppers and others to express their surprise and indignation that Foreigner hadn’t already been inducted. “I wasn’t totally aware of the extent to which he saw this through…I had a good laugh seeing Paul’s Instagram post.” Jones added that he plans to attend the ceremony in October but hasn’t decided if he’ll play or not. Original Foreigner frontman Lou Gramm previously told Billboard that he plans to be there and expects to perform the Billboard Hot 100 topper “I Want to Know What Love Is” and one other song.
The MC5’s musical achievement Award is “bittersweet” in the wake of co-founder Wayne Kramer’s death on Feb. 2 at the age of 75, according to his widow, Margaret Saadi Kramer. “Perhaps even the exact right thing at precisely the wrong time,” noted Kramer, who manages MC5 affairs and co-founded the Jail Guitar Doors initiative with her husband. “Yet I’m certain he would have landed in gratitude for this recognition and received it like the beautiful free radical he was, an underdog victorious.” Three other MC5 members — Rob Tyner, Fred Smith and Michael Davis — have also passed, leaving only drummer Dennis “Machine Gun” Thompson.
Wayne Kramer did finish working on a new MC5 album, Heavy Lifting, which is due out later this year and features guests such as Thompson, Guns N’ Roses’ Slash, Tom Morello (Rage Against the Machine, Audioslave), Living Colour’s Vernon Reid, Alice in Chains’ William DuVall, Rise Against’s Tim McIlrath and Don Was. It will be packaged with a live recording of the all-star MC50 band during 2018 in the MC5’s hometown of Detroit.
Suzanne de Passe, who is still active as a TV and film producer since her days with Motown, said she’s “truly blown away and honored,” and that the Ahmet Ertegun Award means even more to her because she saw her mentor, Motown founder Berry Gordy Jr., receive it back in 1987. “Berry Gordy gave me the opportunity of a lifetime,” says de Passe, whose time at Motown included shepherding the careers of the Jackson 5, Lionel Richie and others as well as producing the Emmy-winning Motown 25: Yesterday, Today, Forever and specials for the company’s 30th and 40th anniversaries. She also produced miniseries about the Temptations and Jacksons as well as Lonesome Dove and other projects.
“I really learned a lot and was able to go out on a limb in some cases and either rise or fall, but never not be in a position of learning and growing,” she says. “I’m very, very grateful for the career I’ve had and the opportunities that have come my way because of that launching pad.”
She’s also happy to be honored alongside Motown songwriter-producer Norman Whitfield, whom she knew well and calls “one of the funniest people I ever met, a born comedian. We worked together a lot and I learned a lot from Norman. He really took me under his wing and taught me a lot about working in the studio. We had a great relationship.”
Berry Gordy issued a statement celebrating the honors for both of his Motown charges on April 21.
“Today marks a moment of intense pride as two members of the Motown Family will be honored at the upcoming Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Foundation Awards, Suzanne de Passe and Norman Whitfield,” reads Gordy’s statement. “I want to congratulate, Suzanne, my protégé and longtime friend, on being selected to receive the prestigious Ahmet Ertegun Award! Suzanne’s vision and passion contributed to Motown’s success. Every task I ever threw at her, she not only accomplished, but exceeded my expectations. Suzanne went from being my creative assistant, helping to launch the careers of Michael Jackson, the Jackson 5, Lionel Richie, the Commodores and more, to co-writing a screenplay for Lady Sings the Blues, for which she received an Oscar nomination. Suzanne has great instincts, a sharp wit, and a creative sense that has made her a formidable player in the entertainment world. I continue to be extremely proud of her.
“I am also so thrilled that Norman Whitfield, whom I consider a true musical genius and one of Motown’s most important creative forces, has been selected for the Rock & Rock Hall of Fame’s musical excellence award. His brilliant body of work was versatile and bold. He had early collaborations like Marvin Gaye’s ‘Pride and Joy’ and the Temptations’ ‘Just My Imagination.’ He had numerous No. 1 hits, including two with the same song, ‘I Heard It Through The Grapevine,’ back to back on two artists – Gladys Knight & the Pips and Marvin Gaye. Then, with his ear to the streets, he took the Temptations and Motown in a whole new direction. Norman’s music reflected the social consciousness of the times with songs like ‘Ball of Confusion,’ ‘War,’ ‘Papa Was a Rolling Stone.’ His incredible body of work makes him one of the most important creative forces of his time.”
Mick Jones could be excused for feeling a bit bitter about the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame ignoring Foreigner for more than two decades of eligibility. But now that the group will be part of the class of 2024 this October, Jones — who put Foreigner together back in 1975 in New York — says he’s feeling “quite the opposite.”
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“I think it means more to me now than perhaps 20 years ago,” Jones tells Billboard exclusively, via email due to a struggle with Parkinson’s disease that he revealed in February. “I’ve had a great career, and this is like the whipped cream and cherry on top. It’s something I will savor over the years. It’s a great honor to be included amongst all these great artists that have been inducted over the years.
Jones, 79, adds that despite Foreigner fans’ very vocal frustration at the band’s exclusion, he himself has kept a measured perspective about the prospects. “Occasionally it might have entered my mind,” he says. “I certainly haven’t been overly consumed by it. Every year was the same thing, so eventually I didn’t really worry about it. My dear friend Peter Frampton had been passed over all these years; I don’t think he has been overly consumed by it either.”
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Foreigner finished third in the Rock Hall’s fan vote this year, behind the Dave Matthews Band and Frampton, with more than 527,000 total votes. That was partly assisted by a video campaign by Jones’ son-in-law Mark Ronson, who recruited musical friends such as Paul McCartney (“Foreigner? Not in the Hall of Fame? What the f–k?!”), Dave Grohl, Slash, Jack Black, the Red Hot Chili Peppers’ Chad Smith and others expressing disbelief that the group wasn’t yet in.
“I am very grateful for the time and effort Mark has put into this,” Jones says. “I wasn’t totally aware of the extent to which he saw this through. He reached out to a lot of people to post their support on social media. I had a good laugh seeing Paul’s Instagram post.”
Jones isn’t alone, of course, in celebrating Foreigner’s impending induction. Rick Wills, who was Foreigner’s bassist from 1979-1993, tells Billboard, “We’re more than thrilled. It’s been over 20 years since we’ve been waiting for this day. I suppose we were frustrated, to be perfectly honest, but we tried to hide it as best we could because we didn’t want to appear like we were sad people. (laughs). I mean what else could you do but what we’ve done already with our music, and what people have appreciated and enjoyed? We didn’t understand why we didn’t get that recognition.”
And original frontman Lou Gramm told Billboard last month that he “had given up that we would ever be considered” but would happily serve if elected. “I was not feeling good that our peers were in years ago and we were completely neglected…I didn’t even think about it anymore, to be honest with you, so (the nomination) was a big surprise to me.”
Gramm recently brought up past issues with Jones over songwriting credits and financial issues but is looking forward to being with the band and performing at the induction ceremony on Oct. 19 in Cleveland. And Jones says Gramm, with whom he was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame with in 2013, will be welcomed with open arms.
“On a personal level I have no hard feelings toward Lou,” Jones says. “We did perform together at the 40th anniversary concert. It has been so many years now since Lou left Foreigner; I like to think that those ill feelings are in the past. There is power in letting go of hard feelings and getting on with your life. Why carry the burden of hard feelings? It serves nothing in the long run. I do plan to attend,” Jones adds. I’m sure my whole family will be there. As to whether I get up on stage and perform hasn’t really been decided as yet. In some ways it might be nice just to be there to soak up the atmosphere and enjoy being inducted.”
Jones says he deals with his Parkinson’s “day to day. Keeping my chin up and making the best of everything. Fortunately, my Parkinson’s isn’t debilitating like it is for some people. My friend Michael J. Fox has been such an inspiration and advocate to find a cure for this disease. I do hope they find the answer soon. Like any disease it’s a quality-of-life issue. With all the research my family and assistant has done, I’ve been able to stick with a healthy lifestyle and exercise program that I think helps stymie the progression of my Parkinson’s.”
It’s also allowed him to continue working — not on stage with Foreigner, of course, but there may be new material in the offing. “There are a number of songs that are demos I wrote with Lou,” Jones says. “A couple of them are quite promising. Some written with Marti (Frederiksen) are lying around. I’ve been going through cassette tapes of demos; some I think don’t deserve to see the light of day.” Jones adds that he’s also finished mixing and mastering a solo album, Shelter From the Storm, that he hopes to release “at some point soon.”
Foreigner, meanwhile, is in the midst of an open-ended farewell tour that will likely extend into 2025 and may even include occasional performances or residencies after the road work is done. And Jones affirms he’s still comfortable with that decision. “It’s expected that all good things must come to an end. When Foreigner does retire it’s because the guys in the band have given so much of themselves and have reached a time in their lives where they want to have an easier life and spend more time with their families. There are so many demands being in a successful rock band.”
Peter Frampton says news of his long-awaited Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction “hasn’t really sunk in yet.” But he’s still thrilled that the honor is upon him after 52 years of eligibility as a solo artist.
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“I think I’m a little bit in shock, and speechless,” Frampton tells Billboard with a laugh from his home in Nashville. “I never expected this. People always said, ‘You should be in.’ I said, ‘Eh, what is to be,’ y’know? So mixed emotions, because it’s something that I just never expected, whereas other people did for me. (laughs) It’s wonderful.”
Frampton is particularly stoked that he also finished second in the fan vote with 528,000 — second only to the Dave Matthews Band. “You never quite know how you are regarded,” Frampton explained. “I don’t think about that; I just do my thing. But ending up in the number two position blew me away, actually. It’s an honor people regard me in this way. I’m just honored and blown way.”
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Of course, Frampton did his part, too; during his most recent concert tour he spoke about the nomination, putting a QR code up on the video screen to take fans to the voting site in real time.
“That was wonderful,” he recalls. “Every night when I said, ‘I got this phone call a couple months ago…and my managers told me I’m being nominated for the Rock….’ I never got out ‘Fame’ — they just went berserk, the audience, every night, and it made me feel like, ‘Well, they think I deserve to be in.’ So that was very, very nice from the word go. It’s quite uncanny we would be touring during the public voting, so every night I could hopefully get a few hundred out of the couple of thousand, three thousand that were in the audience. And it made a difference.”
Frampton regards the 2024 Rock Hall lineup as “a wonderful class to be involved with,” with many personal connections. He and Foreigner founder Mick Jones, for instance, go back to sessions for French singer Johnny Hallyday when Jones was his musical director and songwriter; Jones subsequently played on “All I Want To Be (Is By Your Side)” on Frampton’s 1972 debut album, Wind of Change. And Foreigner’s lineup included Rick Wills, who also played bass in Frampton’s Camel. “I was hoping they would get in, too,” Frampton says. “I figured they would, but you never know, so I’m thrilled.”
In the musical influence category, meanwhile, Frampton played with Alexis Korner during the mid-‘60s and was also a fan of John Mayall. “I was in the front row at the Flamingo and all the clubs, watching Eric (Clapton) and so many other guitar players — Peter Green, Mick (Taylor) from the (Rolling) Stones, so that means a lot to me,” Frampton notes. “It’s just amazing that (Mayall) was a spawning ground for so many great English guitar players.”
Frampton – who began as a teen star in England before achieving worldwide fame in the band Humble Pie and especially with his Frampton Comes Alive album in 1976 — has begun thinking loosely about the induction ceremony night on Oct. 19 in Cleveland, though with no concrete plans yet. “I’m thinking about people to invite to play with me and all that kind of stuff he says,” noting that number one on the list will be Sheryl Crow, who “championed” Frampton by including him in her induction performance last year in Brooklyn.
Meanwhile, Frampton — who continues to work in defiance of the degenerative inclusion body myositis (IBM) disorder he’s been battling during the past six or so years — is continuing with his other work. He’s planning a trip to England during June as well as a filmed concert performance for the career documentary he’s been working on. He’s also writing songs for a new album, his follow-up to 2021’s instrumental set Frampton Forgets the Words. “It’s just got to be the best one I’ve ever done,” he says. Another leg of touring is also a possibility, he says, “but I don’t know when that’s going to be at this time. We’re still looking at availabilities and things like that.”
All is sweetness and light between Ozzy Osbourne and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as the Prince of Darkness prepares for his second induction — this time as a solo artist.
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Osbourne, you may remember, tried to get Black Sabbath taken off the 1999 nominations list, calling the nod “meaningless.” But he happily went in with the band in 2006, and he tells Billboard via email that to become one of the Rock Hall’s multiple inductees “feels big. I’m more than honored.”
The honor comes after his wife and manager Sharon Osbourne called out the Rock Hall last year for not considering Ozzy as a solo artist even though he’s been eligible since 2006. Osbourne began that career after leaving Black Sabbath acrimoniously in 1979 and scoring eight consecutive multi-platinum albums starting with Blizzard of Ozz in 1980. On his own he’s also released iconic songs such as “Crazy Train,” “Flying High Again,” “Bark at the Moon,” “Shot in the Dark” and “No More Tears.”
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“I definitely wouldn’t say I was confident” about solo success, says Osbourne, adding that the 2021 induction of Randy Rhoads, his late songwriting partner, in the musical excellence category “made me feel we could be on to something. With every new music venture there’s always a certain amount of surprise that comes when you see the fans embrace it, because no one wants to make a record and have it flop. I feel like I was invited to a party in 1980, and it hasn’t stopped. Not bad for a guy who was fired from his last band.”
Comparing this induction to Sabbath’s “feels different,” Osbourne says, “because my solo career, it’s been a much larger part of my overall music career as a whole.” And after finishing fourth in the fan vote with more than 480,000 votes “feels more special, and I’m sure I’m not the only one that feels that way.”
The big question, of course, is whether Osbourne will perform at the induction ceremony on Oct. 19 in Cleveland. Though he’s effectively retired from touring due to a variety of health issues, including Parkinson’s disease, Osbourne continues to speak about performing again in some capacity. Could it be a two- or three-song set for the Rock Hall? “You never know,” he says, only promising that his outfit that night “will most certainly be black.”
Osbourne has remained prolific as a recording artist, meanwhile, releasing two albums so far this decade — Ordinary Man in 2020, Patient Number 9 in 2022 — and is intending to do more. “I’m not putting a timetable on it,” Osbourne says, “but I plan to start working on a new album sometime in the near future.”
What’s more rock n’ roll than American Idol? Well, a few things, but the Sunday (April 21) episode of the long-running singing competition series found Ryan Seacrest and Rock & Roll Hall of Famer Lionel Richie revealing which artists constitute the Rock Hall of Fame’s Class of 2024. (The episode featured the 12 remaining contestants […]
Before the band he fronted for nearly 25 years was nominated for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame’s class of 2024, Lou Gramm says he “had given up” on the idea of Foreigner ever getting in. Even now he’s trying hard to temper his expectations as public and professional voting for this year’s inductees goes on through April 26.
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“I was not feeling good that our peers were in years ago and we were completely neglected,” Gramm tells Billboard from home in his native Rochester, N.Y. “I personally had given up that we would ever be considered. I didn’t even think about it anymore, to be honest with you. So (the nomination) was a big surprise to me, and I didn’t want to be too excited about it when I heard. I didn’t want to be amped up or get my hopes up because of the way things have gone down in the past. I was, ‘OK, that’s good. Let’s see what happens. I hope we get in.’ I’m patiently waiting to see what happens.”
Gramm does feel that “things look pretty good,” and he’s been particularly appreciative of the campaign efforts by Mark Ronson, son-in-law of Foreigner founder Mick Jones, who’s enlisted artists such as Paul McCartney, Dave Grohl, Slash, Jack Black, the Red Hot Chili Peppers’ Chad Smith and others to publicly express disbelief that the veteran act isn’t in the Rock Hall already.
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“I think he’s a pretty creative guy, and there hasn’t been anything too boisterous or outlandish,” Gramm says of Ronson’s efforts. “It’s telling the story the way he sees it, from his vantage point with his stepdad. It makes sense.” McCartney’s participation, Gramm adds, “was awesome. That one I certainly didn’t expect, and if you just see it once you know it was completely off the cuff for him. He said what needed to be said [‘Foreigner? Not in the Hall of Fame? What the f–k?!’] and that was it. I was very impressed and very thankful.”
Gramm was Foreigner’s original frontman and was with the band from 1976-1989 and 1992-1993, serving as Jones’ principal songwriting partner; the two were inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2013, the same year Gramm published his memoir Juke Box Hero: My Five Decades in Rock ‘n’ Roll. Gramm was part of Foreigner reunion shows during 2017 and 2018 and currently performs with his Lou Gramm All Stars. He’ll be part of Poison frontman Bret Michael’s Parti-Gras 2.0 tour this summer as well.
Gramm says he hasn’t been in contact with any of his bandmates, but he’s been told that if inducted, Foreigner — which has remained in the top 5 of the fan vote since it opened in February — will perform two songs at the ceremony in Cleveland. “One I’m sure is gonna be ‘I Want to Know What Love Is,’” Gramm notes. “I don’t know what the other one is gonna be.” He’s up for most of them, however. “I think they were very well-written songs, you know? At that time of our careers Mick and I had a blossoming chemistry and were having a lot of fun writing the songs, and we knew what it would mean if these songs were recorded and produced correctly and became very popular.”
Gramm does feel like there’s some unfinished business for Foreigner, however. He says that “there’s a whole albums worth of songs” from the early 2000s that he and Jones wrote and only recorded in rough form. Several years ago he was contacted by Foreigner management saying Jones could not find his recordings of the material; Gramm sent what he thought was a spare copy only to find it was, in fact, his only copy. He says that despite requests the band has not returned his CD or copied the songs for him.
“They’re great songs…some of our very best songs,” Gramm says. “There were about eight or nine of them. We didn’t have a record company then, so we were waiting to see what happened. Then Mick and I had a huge falling out, and I left the band…So now Mick’s got the copy and I don’t have one and I don’t know if he’s ever gonna do anything with them. I kind of doubt it, but I would like to at least listen to those roughs that we did. Those were great ideas.”
Bassist Jeff Pilson, who along with singer Kelly Hansen leads the current incarnation of Foreigner, has said that Jones has been working on some new songs with Marti Frederiksen and even predicted they would come out at some point, though no concrete plans have been announced. Last month Jones disclosed he has Parkinson’s disease, which has kept him from performing with Foreigner since 2022.
The current Foreigner lineup is in the midst of a farewell tour that will likely go into 2025. Gramm, meanwhile, is also planning to retire after his 2024 run. “I’ve been doing it for years now, and I’ve thought about (retiring) a few years ago, and a few years before that. I still enjoy playing but I can’t stand the travel anymore. I’m sure I’m gonna miss it initially, but I have a lot of memories, fantastic shows performed all over the world. I’m not becoming a reclusive person, but I value my time on my own, and when I’m out there, I don’t have that, and I don’t like that anymore.”
Dear Industry Leaders,
Last year, the Black Music Action Coalition and the Academy of Country Music joined together to launch OnRamp, a new initiative designed to create economic empowerment and access to the music industry for young Black creatives and industry executives, giving them a year of guaranteed income and a menu of mentorship services from music industry leaders.
Following the success of the OnRamp program, the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame has united with the BMAC to continue this important work and support both young female and Black creatives and industry professionals in search of careers as musicians, songwriters, producers and executives.The program assists young creatives with basic needs such as rent, utilities and food, as well as opens the door for previously challenging activities such as studio time, travel for shows or networking opportunities, marketing and even legal services. It also provides mentorship focused on improving inclusivity and equity within music and empowering the next generation of leaders in the early stages of their careers by granting access to professional development opportunities, mentorship and industry exposure. The BMAC will facilitate the program as well as document and track the artists’ and young professionals’ journeys as they share their stories of success and triumph from the year of empowerment.
After reviewing applications in 2023, the BMAC has selected 20 female and Black emerging creatives for the program. We are currently fundraising in order to begin the program during Black Music Month in June.
As we are all very aware of the incredible contributions female and Black creatives continue to make to the growth of our industry, we see the BMAC Music Maker Guaranteed Income and Mentorship Program as a valuable long-term partner that will provide a structured system that will open doors and train the next generation of creatives and executives in the music industry. We ask that you become an inaugural partner with us on this important initiative so that we can create the true scale needed to open the doors to the future creators and leaders in our industry.
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As part of Grammy Week 2024, BMAC co-founder and president/CEO Willie “Prophet” Stiggers hosted John Sykes, chairman of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Foundation; Michael Tubbs, founder of Mayors for a Guaranteed Income; Maura Cuffie-Peterson, director of strategic initiatives for guaranteed income for Creatives Rebuild New York; and Billboard editorial director Hannah Karp for an economic justice summit at UTA to galvanize the music industry to take action.
We now look to our industry and partners to donate to this initiative. We would be so grateful for your support.
WILLIE “PROPHET” STIGGERS, Co-founder and president/CEO Black Music Action Coalition
HANNAH KARP, Editorial director Billboard
JOHN SYKES, Chairman Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Foundation
IRVING AZOFF, Chairman/CEO The Azoff Company
ROB LIGHT, Managing partner/ head of worldwide music CAA
To support this program, please visit bmacoalition.org/halloffame.
This story originally appeared in the March 9, 2024, issue of Billboard.
The inimitable Cher is set to receive the 2024 iHeartRadio Icon Award at the 2024 iHeartRadio Music Awards on Monday April 1. Cher was not announced as a performer on the show, but will be the subject of a musical tribute. The show will feature performances by Justin Timberlake, Green Day, TLC, Jelly Roll, Lainey Wilson, Tate McRae and more.
Bon Jovi, Elton John, Jennifer Lopez and Pink are previous recipients of the Icon Award.
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Cher is among this year’s nominees for induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Nominations were announced on Feb. 10. This year’s choices will be revealed in late April. Those looking to read the tea leaves concerning her chances of being inducted might find this of interest: John Sykes, president of entertainment enterprises for iHeartMedia and one of the executive producers of the iHearts, is also the chairman of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Foundation. That doesn’t mean Cher is a sure thing to be inducted, but it seems like a good sign. Cher fans have reason to feel encouraged.
Cher is an Oscar, Grammy and Primetime Emmy winner, which means she just needs a Tony to become an EGOT. (C’mon Broadway scribes, get cracking!) In 2023, Cher released her first holiday album, Christmas, which topped Billboard’s Top Holiday Albums chart in November. She received the Kennedy Center Honors in 2018.
Timberlake has won big at past iHeartRadio Music Awards. In 2015, he received the iHeartRadio Innovator Award. Two years later, he won song of the year for “Can’t Stop the Feeling!,” his Grammy-winning and Oscar-nominated smash which entered the Billboard Hot 100 at No. 1.
The 12th annual iHeartRadio Music Awards will celebrate the most-played artists and songs on iHeartRadio stations and the iHeartRadio app throughout 2023. The event will air live from Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles – home of the Oscars – on Monday, April 1 (8:00-10:00 p.m. ET live / PT tape-delayed) on FOX. The show also will be heard on iHeartMedia radio stations nationwide and on the iHeartRadio app.
iHeartRadio listeners will have the opportunity to decide winners in several categories. Fan voting will determine this year’s best lyrics, best music video, best fan army, social star award, favorite tour photographer, TikTok bop of the year, favorite on screen, favorite tour style and favorite debut album. Social voting will close on March 25 at 11:59 p.m. PT for all categories. Fans can vote by visiting iHeartRadio.com/awards.
Additional categories include label of the year and individual winners for album of the year in various genres, including pop, country, alternative, rock, dance, hip-hop, R&B, Latin and regional Mexican.
Executive producers for the iHeartRadio Music Awards are Joel Gallen, for Tenth Planet; and Sykes, Tom Poleman and Bart Peters, for iHeartMedia.
Perry Farrell is of two minds regarding the second Rock & Roll Hall of Fame nomination for Jane’s Addiction.
“I would like the world to view Jane’s in the same light as the greats, but that’s as far as it goes,” he tells Billboard in the midst of the Horns, Thorns en Halos Farewell Tour by Porno For Pyros, his other band with Jane’s drummer Stephen Perkins. “I don’t really get off on trophies. I’ve always kind of felt like I’m on my own island. It’s nice of them to consider me, (but) I’m not so sure I belong there.”
A vanguard of the alternative rock scene, Jane’s Addiction was previously nominated for the Rock Hall in 2017. The on-and-off group’s fourth and most recent studio album, The Great Escape Artist, was released during 2011, and it’s released two live albums since, in 2013 and 2017. A non-album single, “Another Soulmate,” came out in 2013. The group toured during 2022 and 2023 with original bassist Eric Avery back in the lineup but not guitarist Dave Navarro, who was struggling with effects from long COVID. The group has reportedly been in the studio working on new material as well.
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Asked if he wants people to vote for him, Farrell, a co-creator of Lollapalooza, responded, “That’s up to you. If you’re gonna do it, check off Cher’s box, too.” He also voiced support for an eventual induction for the MC5, which has been nominated six times. Jane’s currently ranks 12th in the fan voting for the Rock Hall. Public votes can be cast via vote.rockhall.com.
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Rock Hall concerns are currently taking a back seat while Farrell and Perkins criss-cross the country with Porno For Pyros — including original guitarist Peter DiStefano but with Mike Watt subbing for Martyn LeNoble.
“We are just playing elegant, gnarly, unpredictable punk-jazz,” Farrell says of the shows, which are mixing songs from the band’s two studio albums with the recently released “Agua” and “Little ME” and occasional covers. “We’re getting the job done by spreading a good message. I think we’re getting to spread a message that I think the world sorely needs right now — not tomorrow. When we go out and play Porno, I feel like we’re able to relate and inspire people through music. It’s the nicest experience that can happen to you.”
Farrell adds that despite the tour’s name this may not be the last we see of Porno For Pyros. “It really depends on what goes down,” he says. “If we all enjoy each other’s, not just company but each other’s musicianship, how we are playing on stage…. That’s the most important thing. I see Porno as a project. I have projects that I do in my life. Porno’s a very important one. I would never say never.”
This year’s nominees for the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame range such Grammy mainstays as Mary J. Blige and Mariah Carey – who have tallied more than 70 nominations between them – to Eric B. & Rakim, who have never even been nominated.
The Rock Hall nominees were announced on Feb. 10. This year’s inductees will be announced in late April, with the ceremony set for this fall.
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Blige has received more nominations (37) and more awards (nine) than any of this year’s other Rock Hall contenders. Impressively, she has won in four different genres – R&B, gospel, pop and rap.
Carey may not exactly feel like Grammy royalty. At times, she has probably felt more like a Grammy piñata: She has been nominated in Big Four categories (album, record and song of the year plus best new artist) nine times – but has won in one of those marquee categories just once, when she won best new artist in 1991. Still, her five wins and 34 nominations constitute a formidable Grammy track record.
This year’s Rock Hall nominees include another Grammy winner for best new artist – Sade, which won in 1986 after Whitney Houston was ruled ineligible for having had prior releases – as well as two former nominees in that category: Cher (as part of Sonny & Cher, 1966) and Foreigner (1978).
Five of this year’s Rock Hall candidates have been nominated in the most prestigious Grammy category – album of the year. Kool & the Gang won as part of the multi-artist Saturday Night Fever soundtrack (1979), which included their track “Open Sesame.”
Carey has been nominated for that award three times – for Mariah Carey (1991), Daydream (1996) and The Emancipation of Mimi (2006). Peter Frampton, Dave Matthews Band and Blige have each been nominated for it once – for Frampton Comes Alive! (1977), Big Whiskey and the Groo Grux King (2010) and Good Morning Gorgeous (Deluxe) (2023), respectively.
Two of this year’s Rock Hall candidates have been nominated for producer of the year, non-classical – Carey (in tandem with Walter Afanasieff, 1992) and Mick Jones of Foreigner (in tandem with Robert John “Mutt” Lange, 1982, and in tandem with Billy Joel, 1991).
Jones was also nominated for song of the year for writing Foreigner’s “I Want to Know What Love Is,” a No. 1 hit on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1985. Several other Rock Hall contenders had additional Grammy nominations on their own. Two won on their own: Matthews won the best male rock vocal performance in 2004 for his solo hit “Gravedigger,” while Q-Tip of A Tribe Called Quest won best dance recording in 2006 as the featured artist on The Chemical Brothers’ “Galvanize.”
Carey and Sade have each won Grammys in both pop and R&B, a tribute to their versatility.
Carey and Lenny Kravitz were 2024 Recording Academy Global Impact Award honorees. The awards were held on Feb. 1 at the third annual Recording Academy Honors presented by the Black Music Collective at the Fairmont Century Plaza in Los Angeles. (This year’s third recipient of that award, Jay-Z, managed to get his award on the Grammy telecast.)
The 2024 inductees will be decided by a voting body of 1,000+ “artists, historians and members of the music industry,” according to a press statement. This year’s induction ceremony returns to Cleveland, home of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame headquarters, this fall. For the second year in a row, the induction ceremony will stream live on Disney+. It will air on ABC at a later date, and will be available on Hulu the following day.
Here are this year’s Rock Hall candidates, ranked by how well they have fared at the Grammys over the years.
Grammy Royalty
Mary J. Blige
Nominations: 37; Wins: 9
Big Four nominations: 4
Mariah Carey
Nominations: 34; Wins: 5
Big Four nominations: 9
Ozzy Osbourne
Nominations: 12; Wins: 5
Big Four nominations: 0
Lenny Kravitz
Nominations: 9; Wins: 4
Big Four nominations: 0
Sade
Nominations: 9; Wins: 4
Big Four nominations: 1
Other Grammy Winners
Dave Matthews Band
Nominations: 11; Wins: 1
Big Four nominations: 1
Sinead O’Connor
Nominations: 8; Wins: 1
Big Four nominations: 1
Cher
Nominations: 7; Wins: 1
Big Four nominations: 2
Peter Frampton
Nominations: 5; Wins: 1
Big Four nominations: 1
Kool & the Gang
Nominations: 3; Wins: 1
Big Four nominations: 0
Never Won a Grammy, but Nominated
Jane’s Addiction
5 nominations
Big Four nominations: 0
A Tribe Called Quest
4 nominations
Big Four nominations: 0
Foreigner
3 nominations
Big Four nominations: 1
Oasis
2 nominations
Big Four nominations: 0
Never Even Nominated
Eric B. & Rakim
