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Every spring, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum announces the newest members of the Hall’s prestigious roster- and every year, without fail, the election results seem to generate at least as much controversy and bewilderment as the real Election Day generates in the fall. The 2024 class is no exception; for every “What’s he doing in there?” who finally made it, there’s a “How are they not in there already?” for a legend on the outside looking in.
Regardless of how they got there, Cher, Foreigner, Peter Frampton and Mary J. Blige will be among the 15 acts who are now Rock and Roll Hall of Famers. Sal Cirrincione is the senior director of rock programming at Premiere Audio Networks; he appeared on 710 WOR’s Len Berman and Michael Riedel in the Morning program to discuss the long and winding road that led them to the music shrine in Cleveland.
“This is where we have to just look at rock and roll as a lifestyle, and not a genre of music that most people are accustomed to describing it as,” Cirrincione told Berman and Riedel. “The other thing is that, if we were to only concentrate on rock acts from the 60’s, 70’s and 80’s at this point, well, they do have a museum to run in Cleveland, and they’re trying to get people in the door [and] keep refreshing the exhibits and stuff like that and putting new and slightly younger faces in there. They have recognized rap, they recognized pop, and they recognized R and B and soul and Motown, et cetera, and that’s why you have names like Dionne Warwick and A Tribe Called Quest and Mary J Blige.”
Cher falls into the “How is she not in already?” category. In a recent interview, in fact, the incensed singer stated she would not accept being inducted into the Hall for a million dollars. Cirrincione says the honor was long overdue, but with a catch. “I think she’s worthy, but I really feel that Sonny and Cher should have been recognized before Cher, because without Sonny, there’s no Cher. I’m sure, if she does show up and does gracefully accept her award, she’ll recognize Sonny, but it would’ve been nice to throw Sonny a bone, if you will.”
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