George Michael to be inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame

British singer George Michael is among this year’s inductees to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.

The out and proud musician, who died in on Christmas Day in 2016, is being inducted alongside Kate Bush, Sheryl Crow, Missy Elliot, Willie Nelson, Rage Against the Machine and The Spinners.

The November ceremony will also honour hip hop pioneer DJ Kool Herc and guitarist Link Wray with Musical Influence Awards, while singer Chaka Khan, lyricist Bernie Taupin and songwriter Al Kooper will be presented with Musical Excellence Awards.

The Ahmet Ertegun Award will be given to Don Cornelius, the television producer and host who created the US dance and music program Soul Train. Cornelius passed away in 2012 aged 75.

The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, which is located in Cleveland – Ohio, was founded by Ahmet Ertegun, who also founded Atlantic Records. Artists become eligible for induction in to the Hall of Fame 25 years after the release of their first record, and they’re voted in by a panel of over 500 music experts from around the globe.

George Michael’s recording career began in 1982 when he formed the duo Wham! with his childhood friend Andrew Ridgely. His first solo record Careless Whisper was released in 1984. However, in the USA it was put out as a Wham! single. Michael’s first global solo single was A Different Corner which was released two years later.

Kate Bush shared her debut album The Kick Inside in 1978 immediately scoring a hit with Wuthering Heights. The singer has released 10 albums of material over her career, with her last record 50 Words for Snow coming out in 2011. Bush scored a whole bunch of new fans last year when her 1985 song Running Up That Hill (A Deal with God) was featured in the TV series Stranger Things. 

Sheryl Crow spent years working as a backing singer in Los Angeles before finding success as a solo artist. She toured with Michael Jackson, and sang back up for Stevie Wonder, Jimmy Buffett, Belinda Carlisle, and Don Henley. She got her big break in 1994 with her album Tuesday Night Music Club, but her first attempt at a solo record two years earlier was completely scrapped.  

Willie Nelson will be celebrating his 90th birthday on the day of the inductions this November. The country music star has just released his 73rd solo album I Don’t Know a Thing About Love and shows no signs of slowing down. His career began in the early 1960’s and he first found success writing for other artists, Patsy Cline recorded his tune Crazy and it became one of her best-known songs.

Missy Elliot started off in the all-girl hip-hop group Sista, but her career really got underway when she became a producer working alongside Timbaland producing for acts including Aaliyah and SWV. She put out her debut album Supa Dupa Fly in 1997.  So far, she’s released six albums, her last work The Cookbook came out in 2005.

Rock band Rage Against the Machine had a huge impact when they arrived on the music scene in the early 90’s. Their self-titled debut album arrived in 1992 and mixed heavy metal, rap, funk and punk together. The band comprises Zack de la Rocha, Tom Morello, Tim Commerford and Brad Milk. They’ve split up a few times over the years but have been back on the road since 2019.

The inductee whose been waiting the longest this year is The Spinners. The band formed all the way back in 1954. Over their life span 18 different people have been members of the five-piece group. The group continues to tour, although 84-year-old Henry Fambrough is their only surviving original member. Their heydays were in the 1960s and 70s when they scored hits with Working My Way Back to You, Games People Play, Could It Be I’m Falling in Love and The Ruberband Man. 

OIP Staff


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