With 10 out of 15 first-timers, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame has announced a genre-spanning set of nominees for the class of 2024.
Among the rookie entries are three acts — Foreigner, Peter Frampton and Cher — long considered to be some of the Rock Hall's greatest snubs over the years. They're joined by other rockers (Ozzy Osbourne, Oasis, Lenny Kravitz, Sinead O'Connor) and pop favorites (Mariah Carey, Sade, Kool & the Gang.
The remaining nominees have all been nominated at least once: the Dave Matthews Band (2020, when it received the most fan votes but was not inducted), Mary J. Blige (2021), Jane's Addiction (2017) and hip-hop acts Eric B. & Rakim (2012) and A Tribe Called Quest (2022, 2023).
Public voting has been opened vote.rockhall.com; fans are permitted to vote for seven nominees once per day, and the results will be talked into one additional ballot to be counted amongst those cast by professional music industry voters during the next few months. The inductees are expected to be announced during late April.
Acts are eligible to be nominated 25 years after the release of their first recording.
The 2024 Induction Ceremony will take place this fall in Cleveland; a date and ticket information will be announced in the coming weeks. It will once again be telecast live and then streamed by Disney+.
Ozzy Osbourne's nomination puts him in a position to become the Rock Hall's 27th multiple inductee; he was already inducted as a member of Black Sabbath back in 2006. In a statement Osbourne said: "I'm deeply honored to receive this news from the Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame," Osbourne said in a statement on Saturday, after the nominations were announced. "To be one of the few musicians who's being considered for a second entry, now as a solo artist, is something I could never have imagined. After 44 years as a solo artist the fact that I can continue to record music and receive this recognition is something I am incredibly proud of."
Cher's nomination is intriguing, as she made disparaging remarks about the Rock Hall during a December appearance on "The Kelly Clarkson Show." She told Clarkston that "I wouldn't be in it now if they gave me a million dollars. I’m not kidding you. I'm never going to change my mind. They can just go you -know-what themselves." Rock Hall rules do not permit an artist to remove their name from consideration, as Dolly Parton discovered two years ago, but some inductees have chosen not to attend the ceremony, including Paul McCartney with the Beatles, David Bowie, Jerry Garcia with the Grateful Dead, Axl Rose and Izzy Stradlin with Guns N' Roses, Tina Turner for Ike & Tina Turner, most of Van Halen, Roger Waters with Pink Floyd, Johnny Rotten with the Sex Pistols and Grace Slick with Jefferson Airplane.
Peter Frampton tells us that while he's been patient in waiting for his opportunity, he's happy to finally have the shot:
(1) "Well, it's a heady kind of thought, really. It's for me, being a realist and I'm, as you know, I’m a super, super fan of other great talent and to be, if I get voted on…This isn't it, I've still got to get the votes. But if I do make it to be on the same level as some of these, well, a lot of these artists that I just, y'know, are the be-all and end-all as far as I'm concerned, it's pretty incredible." :48
Frampton begins a new leg of his Never EVER Say Never Tour on March 3 in Greensboro, N.C. He's also planning to work on a new album of original songs and finish a documentary he's been working on for several years.
Frampton also says that he's happy to be sharing the ballot with Foreigner thanks to his longtime friendship with that group's founder, Mick Jones:
(2) "I was so thrilled to hear that Foreigner got in 'cause Mick, Mick was on my first solo record, on 'All I Wanna Be.' He was on that track. We've been friends for a lifetime." SOUNDCUE :13
Jones also issued a statement about Foreigner's nominating, saying: "I deeply appreciate the recognition from the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame committee. It is wonderful that Foreigner has maintained its presence all these years and brought the music to our fans. Getting this news today is an incredible endorsement of what we have achieved over time. I know I speak for my fellow FOREIGNER nominees, Lou, Rick, Al, Dennis, and the families of [late members] Ed Gagliardi and Ian McDonald."
Longtime Foreigner bass player Rick Wills (1979-1992) — who was also part of Frampton's bands during the early 70s as well as previous inductees Roxy Music and the Small Faces — tells us that he's happy to see Foreigner finally get his due:
(3) "I think there was frustration, obviously. We've all felt it. I mean, what else could we do but what we've done already with our music and what people have appreciated and enjoyed, other than the fat that we didn't understand why we didn't get that recognition." SOUNDCUE :18
Foreigner is in the midst of a farewell tour that will continue into the summer of 2025, with possible international dates stretching it into 2026.
