Music
Here are the 2017 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees
by Jeremy Mersereau
December 20, 2016
Pearl Jam, Tupac, and Journey are among the 2017 inductees.
The 2017 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees have been announced: Pearl Jam, Journey, Yes, Electric Light Orchestra, Joan Baez, and Tupac Shakur will all be joining the venerable institution. Hm, one of those artists ought to stir up some spirited discussion about whether or not they belong, and if a certain genre is crap or not. I mean, ELO? Come on, they don’t rock!
Artists are eligible for the Hall a minimum of 25 years after their first release, and so 2017 is the first year both Pearl Jam and Tupac could have been inducted, and the only artists among this year’s crop who started their careers in the 1990s. Journey have been eligible since 2000, but didn’t appear on the ballot until this year. “It’s a bit like waiting for a train,” said longtime Journey guitarist Steve Howe. “Maybe it’s on time and you just noticed waiting. I don’t regret the wait. I just feel this must be the right time”.
Nile Rodgers, whose band Chic has been nominated for induction 11 times but hasn’t yet made the cut, will be presented with the Award for Musical Excellence.
The ceremony will be held on April 7th, 2017, at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn. The ceremony sets the stage for two potential reunion performances with Journey, who haven’t performed with singer Steve Perry since 1991, and Yes, who haven’t shared the stage with original singer Jon Anderson and keyboardist Rick Wakeman since 2004.
Whether or not Yes reunites, let’s hope they at least do “Roundabout” with a video backdrop of a thousand “To Be Continued” memes.
[H/T Rolling Stone]
