The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame has officially announced this year’s inductees: Mary J. Blige, Cher, Dave Matthews Band, Foreigner, Peter Frampton, Kool & The Gang, Ozzy Osbourne, and A Tribe Called Quest will join the class of 2024 in the Performer category.
Jimmy Buffett, MC5, Dionne Warwick, and Norman Whitfield will be presented with the Musical Excellence Award; Alexis Korner, John Mayall, and Big Mama Thornton will receive the Musical Influence Award; and Suzanne de Passe is getting the Ahmet Ertegun Award.
The induction ceremony will be held on October 19 at the Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse in Cleveland, Ohio. It will air live on Disney+. An edited version will run on ABC at a later date, and will be available on Hulu the day after.
“Rock & Roll is an ever-evolving amalgam of sounds that impacts culture and moves generations,” John Sykes, Chairman of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Foundation, said in a statement. “This diverse group of inductees each broke down musical barriers and influenced countless artists that followed in their footsteps.”
Remarkably, Cher never appeared on a Rock and Roll Hall of Fame ballot as either a solo artist or as part of Sonny and Cher prior to this year. Shortly before the ballot came out, she vented her frustrations about the situation to Kelly Clarkson. “I wouldn’t be in it now if they gave me a million dollars,” she said. “I’m never going to change my mind. They can just go you-know-what themselves.”
Ozzy Osbourne first entered the Hall of Fame in 2006 as a member of Black Sabbath. “To be one of the few musicians who’s being considered for a second entry, now as a solo artist, is something I could never have imagined,” Osbourne said earlier this year. “After 44 years as a solo artist the fact that I can continue to record music and receive this recognition is something I am incredibly proud of.”
Frampton has been eligible since the early Nineties, but he never appeared on a ballot prior to this year. He did show up at the induction ceremony last year to play alongside Sheryl Crow. “I’ll continue to thank her for stirring the pot,” he told Vulture earlier this year. “She was saying, ‘Look, this guy isn’t in, what do you think about that?’ That was her goal, I think. Also, I’ve always wanted to play with her and her band.”
For Foreigner, the induction ceremony is an opportunity for the survivors of the classic lineup to play together again. The current touring lineup doesn’t feature a single member accepted by the Hall of Fame since they all joined in the 2000s. (Founding guitarist Mick Jones remains an official member, but he’s been sidelined by health issues.) “I was not feeling good that our peers were in years ago and we were completely neglected,” original singer Lou Gramm told Billboard earlier this year. “I personally had given up that we would ever be considered. I didn’t even think about it anymore, to be honest with you.”
The induction ceremony is also a chance for the Dave Matthews Band to reunite with violinist Boyd Tinsley, who left the band in 2018 after being accused of sexual misconduct by his former bandmate in his side project, Crystal Garden. “Boyd’s not with us in the band anymore, playing, but it doesn’t mean he wasn’t there when we made our first record,” Matthews told Billboard in 2019, after the group appeared on a prior ballot. “There might be an awkward moment, but I hope that we’re all old enough to let it go — although maybe it would make more papers if we came to blows up on stage. But that’s not really my style.”
A Tribe Called Quest are entering the Hall of Fame after appearing on two prior ballots. When they didn’t make the cut last year, longtime Tribe collaborator Consequence went public with his unhappiness. “This is the family tree for me,” he said. “This the tree that brought you G.O.O.D Music. This the tree that allowed Common Sense to be Common. This is the right-hand man to De La Soul. Stop me when I’m lying. What we not gonna do is keep subjugating that name, A Tribe Called Quest, to a white popularity contest.”
