Meet The Rock Hall Class of 2019
• The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame formally revealed its 2019 inductees — in the performers category — The Cure, Def Leppard, Janet Jackson, Stevie Nicks, Radiohead, Roxy Music and The Zombies.
For The Cure and Radiohead, they made it in on their second nomination; for Def Leppard, Roxy Music and Stevie Nicks, it was their first, although Stevie is already in the Rock Hall (1998) as a member of Fleetwood Mac. Def Leppard frontman Joe Elliott remarked, “Now we can stop holding our breath. How wonderful to be in the same club as The Rolling Stones and The Beatles and The Who and Queen… It’s a nice badge of honor.” In a statement, Nicks said, “I have a lot to say about this, but I will save those words for later. For now I will just say, I have been in a band since 1968. To be recognized for my solo work makes me take a deep breath and smile. It’s a glorious feeling.” For Janet Jackson, the third time proved to be the charm, and she commented, “Thank you Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. I am truly honored and I am happy to be in there with my brothers.”
The “Persistence Pays Off Award of Merit” goes to The Zombies, whose first year of eligibility was 1989. This had been the band’s fourth nomination. Colin Blunstone of The Zombies finally exhaled and said, “You do start to doubt that it could happen. I’ve tried to be fairly philosophical about it and tell myself that if we don’t get inducted, it’s just a bit of fun. Don’t take it too seriously. But of course when you’re actually inducted, everything changes. You think, ‘This is a career-defining [and] life-defining moment.'”
Should be a great show on Friday, March 29, 2019 when the 34th Annual Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony, presented by Klipsch Audio takes place at Brooklyn’s Barclays Center. Tickets will go on sale after the first of the year. As usual, the induction ceremony will be shown on HBO, with a radio broadcast on SiriusXM.
