As usual, the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame has announced an eclectic list of inductees for 2016. Joining the Hall in the new year will be: Cheap Trick, Chicago, Deep Purple, N.W.A., and Steve Miller. The 31st annual induction ceremony will take place on Friday, April 8, 2016 at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, NY for the second time, and HBO will broadcast the ceremony in the spring of 2016.
N.W.A. is coming off the huge success of their biopic, Straight Outta Compton, which earned over $200 million at the box office. There is no doubt that this return to the public consciousness helped the Rap legends get into the Hall. “It’s hard to sum up exactly what it means. It means a lot of things. It means that the group’s mark is kind of solidified,” Ice Cube told Rolling Stone about the group’s induction. “It’s all legitimized in a way because the whole music industry has to honor the group in a way… It’s everything that kind of eluded us in a lot of ways when we were coming up. So many people were opinionated about N.W.A. I think everyone now at this point, no matter how you feel about us, understands what the group actually did and what it means to modern music. I think the movie helped to get people to remember that.”
Cheap Trick bassist Tom Petersson said in a statement: “We can’t thank the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame enough for honoring Cheap Trick. Thanks to all the fans who have supported us for all these years and to the Hall of Fame members who cast their votes. We are excited and honored.” To coincide with the news, the band also announced a new label deal with Big Machine Records. Cheap Trick is finishing their label debut album, titled Bang Zoom Crazy… Hello, slated for release on April 1.
Steve Miller stated: “From the Space Cowboy, the Joker, Maurice and the Gangster of Luv and everybody who has played with us through the years, thank you to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame and to all the fans who voted for us.” The Steve Miller Band will announce 2016 tour dates and other news early in the New Year.
Artists are eligible for inclusion in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame 25 years after the release of their first recording. Tickets for the ceremony will go on sale to the public in February. A limited number of pre-sale tickets will be available for Rock and Roll Hall of Fame members in advance of the public sale date. Exact sale dates and ticket information will be announced in late January. –
