McSTREAMY.COM (12/20/2016) – The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum announced the names of performers to be inducted into the RockHall in 2017. They are Electric Light Orchestra (ELO), Joan Baez, Journey, Pearl Jam, Yes, and Tupac Shakur. The Award for Musical Excellence is being extended to music producer, musician, and co-founder of CHIC, Niles Rodgers.
The special exhibition on the 2017 Inductees will open at the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland on March 30. The induction ceremony will be held Friday, April 7, 2017 at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York.
Nominees who did not make it this year: Bad Brains, Chaka Khan, CHIC, Depeche Mode, J. Geils Band, Jane’s Addiction, Janet Jackson, Joe Tex, Kraftwerk, MC5, Steppenwolf, The Cars, and The Zombies. Winners and nominees will continue to be included in the GreatGold Classic Hits Mix, because We Always Play The Greats at GreatGold.fm Internet Radio stream.
More information and photos of the winning inductees will be included here in the near future.
Electric Light Orchestra, or more popularly known as ELO, were formed in Birmingham England in 1970 when Jeff Lynne and Roy Wood, members of The Move, had the vision to start a new project that would create modern rock and pop songs with classical overtones. Joined by fellow Move member Bev Bevan, their mission was clear: to pick up where the Beatles left off and carry the torch. Roy Wood left ELO later that year, leaving Lynne as the band’s sole creative force, and he took them to both creative and commercial heights.
Joan Baez – If you’ve seen her live you’ll know the simmering charismatic presence that draws you
into her performance. It’s a powerful force that saw her cross over from her folk roots into the mainstream, achieving gold albums in the 70’s and also provided a platform for her lifetime’s work, championing civil rights and human rights, highlighting the downtrodden, standing up against discrimination and reminding us it’s not always only rock ‘n roll. Her career took off at the Newport Folk Festival in 1959. She was champion of a young Bob Dylan and paved the way for other artists like Joni Mitchell and Emmylou Harris.
Journey – Formed in San Francisco in 1973, the group was initially a combination of ex-Santana members Neal Schon and Gregg Rolie, and ex- Frumious Bandersnatch members. The band was steeped in the psychedelic and jazz fusion sounds of San Francisco and pushed out into the territory of progressive and hard rock with songs like “Of A Lifetime” and “I’m Gonna Leave You.” In 1977 they found Steve Perry – one of the all-time great rock voices – a singer who could perform ballads and scorchers with equal skill and passion. They refined their sound, worked on their songwriting, and eventually released one of the biggest hit albums of the early 1980s, Escape (1981).
Pearl Jam – Propelled by the hits “Alive” and “Jeremy” (about a high school student’s suicide), Ten
sold over 13 million copies in America, launching a singular career of enduring commercial success (ten Top Five studio albums, half of them Number Ones) and staunch idealism. In the mid-Nineties, Pearl Jam challenged monopolistic practices in the concert-ticket industry; in 2000, they took the live-tape-sharing aesthetic to a new fan-friendly extreme, initiating a series of soundboard-quality live releases from every show – a now-common practice among bands big and new.
Yes is the most enduring, ambitious and virtuosic progressive band in rock history. By fusing the cinematic soundscapes of King Crimson with the hard rock edge of The Who and the soaring harmonies and melodies of Simon and Garfunkel, they took progressive rock from a small audience of aficionados to radio airwaves and football stadiums all over America. Steve Howe remains one of the most underrated guitarists in rock history, while keyboardist Rick Wakeman, bassist Chris Squire and drummers Bill Bruford and Alan White will always be regarded as musicians simply without peer. Frontman Jon Anderson is an alto tenor singer who still hits the highest of high notes 45 years after forming the group.
Tupac Shakur – The definitive hip-hop anti-hero, Tupac wrote lyrics that spark conversations about
rap, race relations, and young black men in America today. Beyond his popularity, Tupac Shakur is one of the most complex figures to emerge from hip-hop – really, to emerge from any art form. His naked emotion and fearless personal revelation were a direct influence on MCs from Eminem to Kendrick Lamar. “Every rapper who grew up in the ’90s owes something to Tupac,” wrote 50 Cent in Rolling Stone, paying tribute to Shakur as one of the “100 Greatest Artists Of All Time.”
Niles Rodgers – Bowie, Madonna, Daft Punk & others sought out Rodgers’ production prowess–yielding unabashedly freaky, incredibly danceable rock records. Nile Rodgers is one of those rare musical talents that can do almost anything. He began his journey as a session musician in his hometown, New York City – playing with the Sesame Street traveling band, and then as a house band member at the Apollo. In 1977 Rodgers formed the funk/disco/soul band CHIC along with bass player Bernard Edwards. Their signature sound pushed hits including “Le Freak” and “Good Times” to the top of the charts and fueled the dance floor at clubs like the infamous Studio 54.
Thanks to RockHall.com for the above biographical information and photos of the artists noted.
