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The 36th Annual Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony will take place this Saturday (October 30th) at 8 p.m. ET at Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse in Cleveland, Ohio — with a radio simulcast on SiriusXM’s Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Radio channel 310. The Induction Ceremony will be broadcast on HBO and streamed on HBO Max on November 20th.
The ceremony honors this year’s Inductees: Tina Turner, Carole King, the Go-Go’s, Jay-Z, Foo Fighters, and Todd Rundgren in the Performer category, along with Kraftwerk, Charley Patton and Gil Scott-Heron for Early Influence, LL Cool J, Billy Preston and Randy Rhoads for Musical Excellence, and Clarence Avant for the Ahmet Ertegun Award.
The 2021 Musical Excellence Award will be given to LL Cool J, Billy Preston, and guitarist Randy Rhoads. This year’s Early Influence Award inductees are Kraftwerk, Gil Scott Heron, and Charley Patton.
The initial lineup of 2021 inductors and performers are:
Paul McCartney inducting Foo Fighters
Angela Bassett inducting Tina Turner, with performances by Christina Aguilera, Mickey Guyton, H.E.R., and Bryan Adams
Taylor Swift inducting Carole King, with performances by Taylor Swift and Jennifer Hudson
Drew Barrymore inducting the Go-Go’s
Lionel Richie inducting Clarence Avant for the Ahmet Ertegun Award
Among the artists on the 2021 Rock Hall shortlist that didn’t make the final pick were Devo, Iron Maiden, Dionne Warwick, Chaka Khan, Mary J. Blige, Kate Bush, Fela Kuti, New York Dolls, and Rage Against The Machine.
Tina Turner explained that it was really her audience overseas — and one very specific high-profile British fan — that helped her ‘80s comeback happen: “It was all English people and foreigners that was responsible for Private Dancer. I was about to sign a record deal; Rupert Perry was president at Capitol at the time — he was shipped out to England, and Mr. Don Zimmerman was in control and canceled (the deal). David Bowie was then signing with them and they wanted to take him out to dinner and he said, ‘No, I’m going to see my favorite singer: Tina Turner.’ They came and went ‘Oh! get the papers Roger (Davies), we’ll sign her!”
Taylor Hawkins told us a while back that above all else, Foos leader and driving creative force Dave Grohl has always been a man of character: “Dave’s a good guy. He’s one of the good guys, y’know? He’s not one of the f***in’ a******s, so people like him, as they should. Y’know? He’s one of the good guys.”
A while back, Todd Rundgren told us that summing up his career isn’t something he’s comfortable with and is really a job best-suited for others: “It’s a little bit difficult to see yourself — particularly having gone thorough all the changes I have — of being able to be summed up in that sense. I can get perspective on part of what I’m doing, but I can never get perspective on all of what I’m doing. And part of what I’m doing is trying to avoid repeating myself.”
Ozzy Osbourne told us a while back that he couldn’t believe his eyes and ears when he first met the late, great guitarist, Randy Rhoads: “I was very drunk in an apartment, and this little skinny little guy came into my apartment, and I thought I was hallucinating at first. And then when I heard him play, I was convinced I was hallucinating. He played with such grace and ease that it was, like, effortless.”
We caught up to Go-Go’s co-founding guitarist Jane Wiedlin who spoke about how it feels natural these days to be both looking back — as well as ahead: “The way time is passing is so nuts. Especially with our documentary, and all these retrospectives, and it’s fun. I mean, I love the journey I’ve been on personally. It’s like, I got to be super-famous in the ’80s and then from then on I got to grow up as a person and, y’know, do my own thing and be creative and artistic — and it’s just like a charmed life, as far as I’m concerned.”