Chuck D one of Rock Hall inductors
Rapper Chuck D of Public Enemy performs onstage at Pitchfork Music Festival at Union Park in Chicago. (July 18, 2008) Credit: Getty Images
Public Enemy's Chuck D leads the list of inductors for this year's class of Rock and Roll Hall of Famers.
The Roosevelt native will do the honors for the Beastie Boys at the event – which will be in the museum's home of Cleveland this year instead of the usual, swankier digs of the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in midtown Manhattan. This year's ceremony is also a month later than usual, on April 14, and will not be broadcast live, as it has been in recent years. An edited version of the ceremony is set to air on HBO on May 5.
Also on the list of presenters announced today: Chris Rock will induct Red Hot Chili Peppers, John Mellencamp will honor Donovan, Steven Van Zandt will welcome Small Faces/The Faces, Bette Midler will celebrate Laura Nyro, and ZZ Top's Billy Gibbons and Dusty Hill will bring in Freddie King. For the special inductees, Carole King will honor TV pioneer Don Kirshner, while Robbie Robertson will celebrate the sidemen Cosimo Matassa, Tom Dowd and Glyn Johns.
Smokey Robinson will induct groups whose leaders have already been inducted, including his group The Miracles, as well as The Blue Caps, the Comets, the Crickets, the Famous Flames, and the Midnighters.
