Foreigner, A Tribe Called Quest, Kool & The Gang and Ozzy Osbourne have been inducted into the , a class that also includes folk-rockers Dave Matthews Band and .
Alexis Korner, John Mayall and Big Mama Thornton earned the Musical Influence Award, while MC5, Dionne Warwick and Norman Whitfield will get the Musical Excellence Award. Pioneering music executive Suzanne de Passe won the Ahmet Ertegun Award.
鈥淩ock 鈥榥鈥� roll is an ever-evolving amalgam of sounds that impacts culture and moves generations,鈥� John Sykes, chairman of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Foundation, said in a statement. 鈥淭his diverse group of inductees each broke down musical barriers and influenced countless artists that followed in their footsteps.鈥�
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鈥檛 make the cut included Mariah Carey, Lenny Kravitz, the late , soul-pop singer Sade, Britpoppers Oasis, hip-hop duo Eric B. & Rakim and alt-rockers Jane鈥檚 Addiction.
There had been a starry push to get Foreigner 鈥� with the hits 鈥淯rgent鈥� and Hot Blooded鈥� 鈥� into the hall, with Mark Ronson, Jack Black, Slash, Dave Grohl and Paul McCartney all Ronson鈥檚 stepfather is Mick Jones, Foreigner鈥檚 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 鈥� Cher, Foreigner, Frampton and Kool & the Gang 鈥� were on the ballot for the first time.
Cher 鈥� the only artist to have a No. 1 song in each of the past six decades 鈥� and Blige, with eight multi-platinum 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鈥檙e 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 鈥渇ans鈥� ballot鈥� that was tallied with the other professional ballots.
Last year, Missy Elliott, Willie Nelson, Sheryl Crow, Chaka Khan, 鈥淪oul Train鈥� creator Don Cornelius, Kate Bush and the late George Michael .
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