Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame 2024 Inductees: Cher, Dave Matthews Band, A Tribe Called Quest, & More
In February, The Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame announced 15 acts nominated for induction in 2024, and ten of them were up for the honor for the first time. The list included Mary J. Blige, Mariah Carey, Cher, Dave Matthews Band, Eric B. & Rakim, Foreigner, Peter Frampton, Jane’s Addiction, Kool & the Gang, Lenny Kravitz, Oasis, Sinéad O’Connor, Ozzy Osbourne, Sade, and A Tribe Called Quest. Tonight, in a live Rock Hall-themed episode of American Idol featuring guest Gene Simmons, the inductees were revealed.
Mary J. Blige, Cher, Dave Matthews Band, Foreigner, Peter Frampton, Kool & The Gang, Ozzy Osbourne, and A Tribe Called Quest are being inducted as performers. Jimmy Buffett, MC5, Dionne Warwick, and Norman Whitfield will receive the Musical Excellence Award (Buffet and MC5’s Wayne Kramer both passed away within the last year); Alexis Korner, John Mayall, and Big Mama Thornton will be honored with the Musical Influence Award; and Motown exec Suzanne de Passe is this year’s Ahmet Ertegun Award winner.
Artists become eligible for the Hall 25 years after their first release and the voting body includes more than 1,000 members of the music industry (an online fan ballot also counts as one vote). A few months before her nomination Cher said the Rock Hall “can go fuck itself.” After Oasis’ nomination, Liam Gallagher said “fuck the Rock n Roll hall of fame, its full of BUMBACLARTS,” and of course he and Noel are still not on speaking terms. Lou Gramm once claimed that Foreigner’s exclusion was a result of a “personal vendetta” between Rolling Stone founder Jann Wenner and the band’s guitarist Mick Jones, but last fall Wenner was removed from the board of the organization he co-founded after widely condemned comments about Black and women musicians. (Jones’ stepson Mark Ronson swiftly launched a campaign after Foreigner’s nomination, sharing testimonials from Rock Hall members like Paul McCartney, Dave Grohl, and Chad Smith.) Osbourne was already in the hall as a member of Black Sabbath, but his wife and manager Sharon has complained about his omission. Lenny Kravitz recently told Stereogum, “Well, I’d rather get in than not.” And Dave Matthews Band won a fan vote in 2020, but didn’t even make it onto the ballot that year; it was the first time that happened since the fan poll was instituted in 2013. DMB were again the winners of the fan vote this year.
Ever since the Rock Hall become a public event, bands who haven’t performed with their classic lineups (or at all) in a long time seem to have an edge, given the goal of drawing in television viewers. So Oasis and Sade getting passed over is perhaps a surprise. However, last year Kate Bush and Rage Against The Machine were inducted and only Tom Morello showed up.
The ceremony will take place Oct. 19 at Cleveland’s Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse and air live on Disney+.