The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame announced Sunday that Cher, Ozzy Osbourne, Peter Frampton and Mary J. Blige were inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. Other members of the Hall of Fame’s Class of 2024 include Dave Matthews Band, Kool & the Gang, Foreigner and A Tribe Called Quest.
The latest group of stars will officially join the Pantheon in a ceremony Oct. 19 at Cleveland’s Rockets Mortgage Arena, where the arena’s affiliated museum is also located.
The 39th annual group of inductees matches the genre and demographics of the Hall in recent years and includes pop divas (Cher), metal icons (Osbourne), throwback top funk bands from the 1970s and 1980s (Kool & the Gang) , 90s hip-hop and R&B heroes (Blige, Tribe) and rock mainstays of the Baby Boomer (Frampton, Foreigner) and Generation X (Matthews) eras.
Of these artists, four were elevated to the Hall upon first nomination: Cher, Foreigner, Frampton and Kool & the Gang. Osbourne was nominated for the first time as a solo performer, although he joined Music Hall in 2006 as part of Black Sabbath. artists to diversify the ranks, and progress has been made in that regard, although some critics say it’s not enough.
“Rock and roll is an ever-evolving mixture of sounds that influences culture and touches generations,” Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Foundation President John Sykes said in a statement. “This diverse group of inductees have all broken musical barriers and influenced countless artists who have followed in their footsteps.”
Seven acts nominated in February failed to make the cut: Mariah Carey, Jane’s Addiction, Oasis, Sade, Eric B. & Rakeem, Lenny Kravitz, and most of all The astonishing Sinead O’Connor, whose death last year at the age of 56 sparked global grief and rethinking of her place in rock history.
The Hall will also present Musical Influence Awards to blues musicians Alexis Kohner, John Mayall and Big Mama Thornton, while Jimmy Buffett, Dionne Warwick, the MC5 and Motown Productions Man and songwriter Norman Whitfield will be honored for musical excellence. Longtime Motown executive Suzanne de Passe, a film and television producer, will receive the Ahmet Ertegun Award, which honors underperformers.
Artists are eligible for nomination 25 years after the release of their first recording. Nominations are voted on by more than 1,000 music historians, industry professionals and selected artists.
This year, close observers of the Rock Hall’s opaque voting process expect at least a few of this year’s inductees to arrive.
One of them was the British-born guitarist and singer-songwriter Frampton, who played in the band Humble Pie in the late 1960s and early 1970s before going on to a successful solo career, most notably It’s his big hit double record “Frampton Comes Alive”! (1976). At last year’s awards show, Sheryl Crow asked Frampton to join her on stage, which seemed like a nod.
Cher noted on an episode of “The Kelly Clarkson Show” in December that she has had No. 1 songs for the past seven years, both as part of Sonny and Cher and on her own. She basically made her point as well.
“Wait, are you serious?” Clarkson said.
“If they gave me a million dollars, I wouldn’t be involved in this right now,” Cher responded. “I’ll never change my mind. They can do their own thing, you know.
