Mary J. Blige, Cher, Ozzy Osbourne get into Rock Hall
Mary J. Blige's entry into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame helps boost the low number of women who have been inducted. Credit: Invision / AP / Charles Sykes
Mary J. Blige, Cher, Foreigner, A Tribe Called Quest, Kool & the Gang and Ozzy Osbourne have been inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, a class that also includes folk-rockers Dave Matthews Band and singer-guitarist Peter Frampton.
Alexis Korner, John Mayall and Big Mama Thornton earned the Musical Influence Award, while North Haven's late Jimmy Buffett, MC5, Dionne Warwick and Norman Whitfield will get the Musical Excellence Award. Pioneering music executive Suzanne de Passe won the Ahmet Ertegun Award.
“Rock ‘n’ roll is an ever-evolving amalgam of sounds that impacts culture and moves generations,” John Sykes, chairman of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Foundation, said in a statement. “This diverse group of inductees each broke down musical barriers and influenced countless artists that followed in their footsteps.”
The induction ceremony will be held Oct. 19 at the Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse in Cleveland. 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't make the cut included Long Island natives Mariah Carey, and hip-hop duo Eric B. & Rakim; Lenny Kravitz; the late Sinéad O’Connor; soul-pop singer Sade, Britpoppers Oasis; and alt-rockers Jane’s Addiction.
There had been a starry push to get Foreigner — with the hits “Urgent” and "Hot Blooded" — into the hall, with Mark Ronson, Jack Black, Slash, Dave Grohl and Paul McCartney all publicly backing the move. Ronson's stepfather is Mick Jones, Foreigner's 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.
Actor/comedian Sacha Baron Cohen, left, and his wife, actress Isla Fisher, pose together at the 2019 BAFTA Tea Party at the Four Seasons Hotel, Saturday, Jan. 5, 2019, in Los Angeles. Cohen and Fisher say they filed for divorce last year after more than 20 years as a couple. The English “Borat” star and the Australian “Wedding Crashers” actor who married in 2010 announced their split Friday, April 5, 2024, on Instagram. Credit: AP/Chris Pizzello
Four of the eight nominees — Cher, Foreigner, Frampton and Kool & the Gang — were on the ballot for the first time.
Cher — the only artist to have a No. 1 song in each of the past six decades — and Blige, with eight multiplatinum 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’re 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 “fans’ ballot” that was tallied with the other professional ballots.
Dave Matthews, of Dave Matthews Band, performs on Tuesday, July 27, 2021, at Ameris Bank Amphitheatre in Alpharetta, Ga. Mary J. Blige, Cher, Foreigner, A Tribe Called Quest, Kool & The Gang and Ozzy Osbourne have been inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. The class of 2024 also will include folk-rockers Dave Matthews Band and singer-guitarist Peter Frampton. The induction ceremony will be Oct. 19, 2024. Credit: AP/Paul R. Giunta
Last year, Missy Elliott, Willie Nelson, Sheryl Crow, Chaka Khan, “Soul Train” creator Don Cornelius, Kate Bush and the late George Michael were some of the artists who got into the hall.
