Van Halen, the Ronettes, Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five, R.E.M. and Patti Smith will be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame this year, in the 22nd annual round of honors, the organization announced this morning.
The members of Van Halen to be inducted are the brothers Alex and Eddie Van Halen; the bassist Michael Anthony; and David Lee Roth and Sammy Hagar, who have replaced one another as the band’s lead singer more than once. Gary Cherone, who sang with the group in the late 1990s between Mr. Roth’s second stint and Mr. Hagar’s, was not recognized.
The ceremony, scheduled for March 12 at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in Manhattan, will include a tribute to Ahmet Ertegun, the co-founder of Atlantic Records, who died last month. Mr. Ertegun was among the founders of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum, which is located in Cleveland, and he was inducted in 1987 as a nonperformer.
Nominees who did not make the cut this year include Chic, the Dave Clark Five, the Stooges and Joe Tex.
Artists become eligible 25 years after the release of their first record, and are voted on by a panel of musicians, music-industry professionals and journalists.
I didn't even know Van Halen was nominated.
Bugsy
