2009 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony Updates
Also be sure to check out the coverage at Cleveland.com, where they'll be exclusively webcasting some pre-ceremony events.
The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Nomination and Induction Process
DMC to perform at the Hard Rock Café before the ceremony
In other Rock Hall performance news, Rolling Stone spoke to Jason Newsted about his involvement in the induction ceremony with his old band Metallica.
“I wanted everything to be righteous, because I feel strongly that they have a powerful touring band that’s firing on all cylinders now,” he says. “There’s not a lot of bands that get inducted into the Hall that can still fucking knock it down. We’re all still clear-eyed and clear-minded and able-bodied, and all that, so its not something that always happens. We’re getting called out pretty early, so for us to be strong and capable to still mow everybody down, as it would be expected, is a fantastic thing.”
Does Metallica open the door for Slayer?
"Only because... Didn't Metallica get in this year or last year or something? And I'm like, oh yeah, they've experienced and experimented with more of a pop angle, so I can definitely see them," he said. "Whether our time comes and people say, 'You're going to go into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.' I'd kind of be surprised if we did because we are the anti-everything."Slayer are one of the "big four" bands of thrash metal, along with Metallica, Anthrax and Megadeth, so they may have a good chance of getting in if the Hall of Fame ever decides to widen its net to cover heavier rock genres. Future Rock Legends currently gives Slayer a 30% chance of future induction.
Will there be a Rock and Roll Hall of Fame 25th Anniversary Show?
Who’s going to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony in Cleveland on April 4th? The answer is: who knows? It might be just the right time to visit and see all the good work Terry Stewart’s done out there despite the hideous Hall of Fame foundation. People were wondering why Jann Wenner banished the annual dinner to Cleveland this year. Now we know why: sources say the New York gang is readying a 25th anniversary blowout at Madison Square Garden for this November. Look for high ticket prices and lots of exclusion even among the existing inductees…
Needless to say, we'll be keeping an eye on this as things develop. We'll try to find out more when we head to Cleveland next week.
Mele Mel talks about Jay-Z's infamous "Blackberry" induction speech
Open Questions about the 2009 Rock Hall Induction Ceremony
Two months ago we asked if Run-DMC would be performing at the induction ceremony, because they haven't performed together since the death of Jam Master Jay in 2002. There still hasn't been an official announcement on the issue, but RollingStone.com continues to assume they'll be performing.
Last week, all of the presenters were announced for the event, except for the name of the person who will be inducting Wanda Jackson. We're guessing Elvis Costello wasn't available? Jackson herself still doesn't know. When asked about it yesterday she said, “I don’t know that. I’m just planning on not fainting — I’m going to hold on to somebody.”
We'll be sure to update you as we get answers to these questions in the next couple weeks.
Rock Hall unveils new website for 2009 Inductees
Fuse also has a special page set up for the 2009 induction ceremony, which they'll be broadcasting live online as well as on cable.
Jason Newsted likely to perform with Metallica at the Induction Ceremony
"We wanted to invite everyone who was involved with Metallica," says Hetfield. "You know, the drama that goes around the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame is pretty ridiculous most of the time. We’re trying to avoid that. We are a band that’s alive and feeling good and still creating, and we want it to be a family reunion. We’ve invited pretty much everyone from our first drum roadie to the head of the record company now, and all in between. We put the invite out there and anyone is welcome."Hetfield also continues to discuss other artists who he feels should be inducted but have never even been put on the ballot by the Nominating Committee.
"We’re very honored to be recognized. There’s a whole genre around us that hopefully we can invite through the door. Hopefully there will be recognition for some of the bands that have changed music and changed people’s lives. That’s what I think the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame should be about. There are certainly a lot of bands that aren’t in there that I can’t belive aren’t: Motorhead, Rush, Judas Priest, Deep Purple. But for us to be in there, hopefully we can bring some awareness to heavy stuff."
2009 Rock Hall Ceremony Presenters Announced
- Jeff Beck - Jimmy Page
- Metalliica - Flea
- Bobby Womack - Ron Wood
- Run-DMC - Eminem
- Little Anthony & the Imperials - Smokey Robinson
- D.J. Fontana - Max Weinberg
- Bill Black - Garry Tallent
- Spooner Oldham - Paul Shaffer
- Wanda Jackson - TBD
Although Flea from the Red Hot Chili Peppers may not seem like an obvious choice for inducting Metallica, guitarist Kirk Hammett approves. "It's cool that he's not in a heavy metal band but is a well-respected musician you might not expect," Hammett said. Flea may just be checking out the stage for next year, since his band is a heavy favorite for induction in 2010.
We're going to Cleveland
Future Rock Legends will be in Cleveland to cover the event live and will be posting updates during the ceremony.
What are your plans for the ceremony? Did you score tickets to the ceremony? Traveling from out of town? Let us know if you're coming and perhaps we'll see you there.
Dave Mustaine on Metallica's Induction
Dave Mustaine, Megadeth frontman and one of the first members of Metallica, has finally made a statement regarding his former band's induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Mustaine posted an open letter on Megadeth's website.
"Metallica, as you know, has been selected to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. So, it is with much respect that I say congratulations!It sounds like Metallica have handled this situation with class and Mustaine responded in kind. It's nice to see they're able to put their contentious years behind them."I also had the nice surprise of hearing that they called to invite me to the pre-ceremony party the night before, and then to the actual ceremony. Unfortunately, as you all know, I will be winding down our European tour with Judas Priest, so I will be unable to attend. However, I'd like to say to Lars (Ulrich) and James (Hetfield), I am so very proud of all you have accomplished. I will continue to pray for the very best for you and your families, as I always have.
"Thank you for the invitation and thinking of me."
Rolling Stone's Five-Star Album Reviews
For our purposes, we're excluding five-star reviews of reissues and compilations, which Rolling Stone hands out fairly regularly and generally are given to artists that are already determined to be "immortals." So let's find the five-star reviewed albums by artists before they were eligible for the Rock Hall. Here are the five-star reviewed albums by non-Rock and Roll Hall of Famers since 1986 (in reverse chronological order):
- Kanye West - Late Registration, 2005
- The White Stripes - Elephant, 2003
- Beck - Sea Change, 2002
- R.E.M. - Automatic for the People, 1992 (inducted in 2007)
- Metallica - Metallica, 1991 (inducted in 2009)
- Pixies - Doolittle, 1989
- N.W.A. - Straight Outta Compton, 1988
- Sonic Youth - Daydream Nation, 1988
- U2 - The Joshua Tree, 1987 (inducted in 2005)
- Prince - Sign O the Times , 1987 (inducted in 2005)
- R.E.M. - Document, 1987 (inducted in 2007)
- Guns N' Roses - Appetite For Destruction, 1987
- The Smiths - The Queen is Dead, 1986
- Run-DMC - Raising Hell, 1986 (inducted in 2009)
- Paul Simon - Graceland, 1986 (inducted in 2001)
As you can tell, Rolling Stone is extremely judicious in handing out five star reviews, but when they do, they have a good track record of picking artists who eventually end up in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. And of the artists who are not in yet, it's difficult to find any who won't likely end up enshrined in Cleveland someday. The only two artists on the list who are eligible and not in the Rock Hall are The Smiths (eligible since 2008) and Sonic Youth (eligible since 2007). Neither group has received much attention from the Nominating Committee yet, but that is likely to change in the coming years.
One other thing to note is that there is only one debut album on the list (Appetite for Destruction). Usually, the five-star reviewed album follows other notable work from the artist, so Rolling Stone isn't gambling its reputation on a previously unknown artist.
Major thanks go out to Erik J. Heels who has been
tracking these five star reviews
for many years now. We'll be sure to take note of
any new five-star reviews in the future.
Update: We removed Pavement's Slanted & Enchanted from the list above. That album didn't get its five-star review until the reissue came out. Can anyone confirm the others were all from their initial review?
Wanda Jackson doesn't get to choose her presenter
Q: Who's doing your induction speech? Don't you get to choose?We would be surprised if doesn't turn out to be Elvis Costello who inducts her. As Jackson mentions, Costello was one of the squeaky wheels that got the Nominating Committee's attention. Jackson's husband / manager also started actively campaigning for her "a few years ago," which might explain how she received her first nomination in 2005 after being overlooked for 20 years.A: We thought the artist would have that option. We found out in these special categories - see, I'm in "early influence" - the people that head up these various categories are the ones who choose who's the presenter for each artist, so I put in my request for who I wanted. Elvis Costello was the first one who became an advocate for me. He wrote a rather stinging letter to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, but anyway he and Bruce Springsteen have spoken out for me.
James Hetfield wants to kick the door down for Rush and Kiss
Hetfield expressed some embarrassment at being inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame before some acts who were an inspiration for Metallica. Metallica will be made a member of the illustrious club on April 4.Hetfield will have the chance to influence future inductions because as a Hall of Famer he gets to be on the Voting Committee. However, the importance of the voters has greatly diminished over the last few years because there are fewer artists placed on the ballot by the super-influential Nominating Committee. This year, two thirds of the artists who were on the ballot will be inducted."We've been nominated and we are still alive," he said.
"It's ironic that a band that has been inspired by all of these other ones are getting in there before them. We are going to go up there and kick some ass and kick the door down for some heavy bands that have not been recognized, like Rush and Kiss."