Calgary Herald

`Each broke down musical barriers'

Blige, Cher, Ozzy, Foreigner and A Tribe Called Quest to enter rock hall

- MARK KENNEDY

Mary J. Blige, Cher, Foreigner, A Tribe Called Quest, Kool & The Gang and Ozzy Osbourne have been inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, a class that also includes folk-rockers Dave Matthews Band and singer-guitarist Peter Frampton.

Alexis Korner, John Mayall and Big Mama Thornton earned the Musical Influence Award, while the late Jimmy Buffett, MC5, Dionne Warwick and Norman Whitfield will get the Musical Excellence Award. Pioneering music executive Suzanne de Passe won the Ahmet Ertegun Award.

“Rock 'n' roll is an ever-evolving amalgam of sounds that impacts culture and moves generation­s,” John Sykes, chairman of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Foundation, said. “This diverse group of inductees each broke down musical barriers and influenced countless artists that followed in their footsteps.”

The induction ceremony will be held Oct. 19 at the Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse in Cleveland, Ohio. It will stream live on Disney+ with an airing on ABC at a later date and available on Hulu the next day.

Those music acts nominated this year but didn't make the cut included Mariah Carey, Lenny Kravitz, the late Sinead O'connor, soul-pop singer Sade, Britpopper­s Oasis, hip-hop duo Eric B. & Rakim and alt-rockers Jane's Addiction.

There had been a starry push to get Foreigner — with the hits Urgent and Hot Blooded — into the hall, with Mark Ronson, Jack Black, Slash, Dave Grohl and Paul Mccartney all publicly backing the move. Ronson's stepfather is Mick Jones, Foreigner's founding member, songwriter and lead guitarist.

Osbourne, who led many parents in the 1980s to clutch their pearls with his devil imagery and sludgy music, goes in as a solo artist, having already been inducted into the hall with metal masters Black Sabbath.

Four of the eight nominees — Cher, Foreigner, Frampton and

Kool & the Gang — were on the ballot for the first time.

Cher — the only artist to have a No. 1 song in each of the past six decades — and Blige, with eight multiplati­num albums and nine Grammy Awards, will help boost the number of women in the hall, which critics say is too low.

Artists must have released their first commercial recording at least 25 years before they're eligible for induction.

Nominees were voted on by

more than 1,000 artists, historians and music industry profession­als. Fans voted online or in person at the museum, with the top five artists picked by the public making up a “fans' ballot” that was tallied with the other profession­al ballots.

Last year, Missy Elliott, Willie Nelson, Sheryl Crow, Chaka Khan, Soul Train creator Don Cornelius, Kate Bush and the late George Michael were some of the artists who got into the hall.

 ?? CHARLES SYKES/THE ASSOCIATED PRESS FILE ?? Mary J. Blige, the “Queen of Hip-hop Soul,” is among the artists to be inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. The class of 2024 will be honoured Oct. 19.
CHARLES SYKES/THE ASSOCIATED PRESS FILE Mary J. Blige, the “Queen of Hip-hop Soul,” is among the artists to be inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. The class of 2024 will be honoured Oct. 19.

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