2014 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees include Nirvana, Kiss, Hall & Oates

The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame announced its 2014 inductees this week and the new class includes bands Nirvana and KISS, solo performers Peter Gabriel, Linda Ronstadt and Cat Stevens, as well as the duo Hall & Oates. In addition to the performer inductees, The E Street Band will be receiving the Award for Musical Excellence and managers Brian Epstein (The Beatles) and Andrew Loog Oldham (The Rolling Stones) will be getting the Ahmet Ertegun Award for non-performers.

Eligibility for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame is based on the date of a performers first album or single release, and this year’s inductees cover quite the spectrum of “waiting periods” with Nirvana getting in the very first year they were eligible while Cat Stevens and Linda Ronstadt have both been eligible and waiting since the early 1990s.

“For once… I’m speechless,” said Nirvana‘s Dave Grohl in a statement. “From the basements, to the dingy clubs, to the broken down vans, to… the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. I’d like to thank the committee not only for this induction, but also for recognizing Nirvana for what we were: pure rock and roll. Most of all, thank you to all of the fans that have supported rock and roll throughout the years, and to Kurt and Krist, without whom I would not be here today.”

Hall and Oates half Daryl Hall spoke with Rolling Stone after the announcement was made and revealed “it was a bit of a surprise to me. This turn of events and the way things are changing is very pleasant … Times move on and things get validated. The whole new generation of people are looking at me and John in a different way.”

Cat Stevens (aka Yusaf Islam) also issued a statement saying, “It will certainly bring happiness to a lot of my loyal fans,” he said in a statement. “And fulfillment to all those who have long-campaigned for it, not to mention how kinda embarrassingly good it makes me feel too.The sleepy Peace Train is beginning to chug its way slowly uphill, again.”

Peter Gabriel was inducted as a member of Genesis in 2010 and he tells Rolling Stone of the announcement, “I’m very grateful to have gotten in again. It’s a huge honor since it’s for your whole body of work and not just a specific project. . .I’ll probably perform, but if I do ‘In Your Eyes’ it’ll take 10 minutes and that might be all the time I have.”

Linda Ronstadt recently announced she is battling Parkinson’s disease and she probably will not be attending the ceremonies on New York City, which will have tickets available to the public for the first time.

As far as KISS goes, The Hall of Fame’s chief exec Joel Peresman says “The Kiss Army has descended on Cleveland in recent years,” then he adds, “And we’ve gotten thousands of letters. They also did extremely well in the public vote.” Kiss has been eligible for induction for 15 years.

You can’t have a blog post about any sort of Hall of Fame induction without the writer doing a little bit of complaining about someone getting robbed, so let me share my annual lamentation… Put Lonnie Donegan in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame already! The figurehead of the skiffle movement in Great Britain (which was essentially British youth playing American roots music with rock and roll passion and a jazz flair) inspired Paul McCartney and George Harrison to get guitars and also inspired an entire generation of British rock and roll that would later return America’s music with youthful vigor in the form of the British Invasion of the 1960s. Lonnie Donegan first became eligible for induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1980.

The list of 2014 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame nominees that didn’t get inducted include The Paul Butterfield Blues Band, Chic, Deep Purple, LL Cool J, The Meters, N.W.A., The Replacements, Link Wray, Yes and The Zombies.

Here’s the full press release from the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame announcing the 2014 class of inductees:

THE ROCK AND ROLL HALL OF FAME ANNOUNCES 2014 INDUCTEES

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29th Annual Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony Returns to New York City at Barclays Center on April 10

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Tickets on Sale in January

Show to Premiere on HBO in May

Cleveland (December 17, 2013) – Today, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame announces its Inductees for 2014. The Inductees are:

Performer Category:

Peter Gabriel
Hall and Oates
KISS
Nirvana
Linda Ronstadt
Cat Stevens

Ahmet Ertegun Awards:

Brian Epstein
Andrew Loog Oldham

The Award for Musical Excellence:

The E Street Band

The 29th Annual Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony will take place on Thursday, April 10, 2014 at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. The 2014 Ceremony will again be open to the public, as it has been for the Induction Ceremonies in Cleveland (2009, 2012) and Los Angeles (2013). This will be the first time that the ceremony will be open to the public in New York.

“This year’s Hall of Fame Inductees really capture the passion of the fans,” said Joel Peresman, President and CEO of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Foundation. “We’re thrilled to again be able to have the fans be a part of the show, especially as we bring the ceremony to Barclays Center and partner again with HBO and Playtone.”

“Brooklyn has always been a hotbed for rock and roll and we’re proud to continue that tradition by hosting the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony,” said Barclays Center CEO Brett Yormark. “Barclays Center has hosted many of the world’s biggest artists and we are looking forward to welcoming the new Inductees into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as we celebrate for the first time ever in Brooklyn.”

Tickets will Go On sale to the public in January. A pre-sale for Rock and Roll Hall of Fame members will take place in advance of the public on-sale date. To be eligible for the member pre-sale, you must be an active Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum member by December 31, 2013 at 11:59 PM EST. Exact sale dates will be announced in January. Details at www.rockhall.com.

The 2014 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Performer Inductees were chosen by more than 700 voters of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Foundation. Artists are eligible for inclusion in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame 25 years after the release of their first recording.

For this year’s Inductions, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame again offered fans the opportunity to officially participate in the selection process. The public was able to cast votes online for who they believe to be most deserving of induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. The top five artists, as selected by the public, comprised a “fans’ ballot” that was tallied along with the other ballots to choose the 2014 Inductees. Three of the top five artists from the fans’ ballot will be inducted in 2014.

The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum in Cleveland, Ohio, will also open a special exhibit on the 2014 Inductees in conjunction with the 2014 Induction Ceremony. The Museum is a nonprofit organization that tells the story of rock and roll’s cultural influence through its exhibits, public events, educational programs and a world-class Library and Archives.

For more information on the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, visit www.rockhall.com.