Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
Tupac, Pearl Jam headed to Rock Hall
The late rapper Tupac Shakur and Seattle-based rockers Pearl Jam lead a class of Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees that also include folkie Joan Baez and 1970s favorites Journey, Yes and Electric Light Orchestra.
The Hall of Fame also said Tuesday that it would give a special award to Nile Rodgers, whose disco-era band Chic failed again to make the cut after its 11th time nominated.
Baez will be inducted only months after her 1960s paramour, Bob Dylan, was awarded the Nobel Prize for literature.
The hall’s 32nd annual induction ceremony will take place April 7 at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn. HBO will show highlights later.
Shakur was shot and killed at age 25 after attending a boxing match in Las Vegas in 1996, a slaying that remains unsolved.
Pearl Jam exploded in popularity in the early 1990s behind songs like “Alive,” “Jeremy” and “Even Flow.”
Baez was a political activist and mainstay of the folk movement, performing at the first Newport Folk Festival at age 19 in 1959.
Journey’s 1981 song “Don’t Stop Believin’ ” was given new life by being featured in the closing scene of HBO’s “The Sopranos” and became a favorite of a new generation. Former singer Steve Perry, estranged from the band for many years, offers some potential drama: Will he show up for his induction?
Britain’s Yes, known for its complex compositions, was a leader of the 1970s progressive rock movement.
Electric Light Orchestra got its start melding classical influences to Beatles-influenced pop.
Rodgers produced some of the ’80s’ most indelible albums: David Bowie’s “Let’s Dance,” Madonna’s “Like a Virgin” and the B-52s’ “Cosmic Thing.”