Kurt Cobain is finally a member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. The organization, entering its 29th year, announced that Nirvana tops the list of its newest class.
Joining Nirvana is Peter Gabriel, Hall and Oates, KISS, Linda Ronstadt, and Cat Stevens.
“This is a great honor. Thank you to the people who nominated and voted for us. Thank you most of all to Kurt Cobain. And to everyone who’s kept rock music going strong for 60 years and counting,” said former Nirvana bassist Krist Novoselic in a prepared statement.
Former Nirvana drummer Dave Grohl also released a statement, saying he was “speechless.”
“From the basements, to the dingy clubs, to the broken down vans, to… the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. I’d like to thank the committee not only for this induction, but also for recognizing Nirvana for what we were: pure rock and roll. Most of all, thank you to all of the fans that have supported rock and roll throughout the years, and to Kurt and Krist, without whom I would not be here today,” he said.
The organization announced the new class just before midnight Monday night. Also inducted next year is the late Beatles manager Brian Epstein and former Rolling Stones manager and producer Andrew Loog Oldham. Both will receive Ahmet Ertegun awards, named after the late founder of Atlantic Records who died in 2006.
The E Street Band, the long-time outfit fronted by Bruce Springsteen, will receive the award for musical excellence.
The ceremony takes place April 10 at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, N.Y. The public is invited and tickets go on sale in January. A presale, open to Rock and Roll Hall of Fame members, takes place a minute before midnight on Dec. 31 via rockhall.com.
Artists are eligible for induction into the hall, which is located in Cleveland, 25 years after the release of their first recording. About 700 foundation members voted, and the public, for the second year in a row, was invited to cast votes online for the top five candidates. Nearly 1.4 million votes were cast this year.
According to USA Today, which hosted online voting duties along with Rolling Stone, Yes (151,000) and Deep Purple (166,000) received more votes than Hall and Oates (113,000), Peter Gabriel (111,000), Linda Ronstadt (85,000) and Cat Stevens (75,000), however they were knocked out from the final list because of the rules: The hall deemed the five artists with the highest number of votes on a fan’s ballot counted as a single vote.
@markguarino
