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Tupac Shakur, Pearl Jam, Yes to be inducted into Rock Hall
By DAVID BAUDER
ASSOCIATED PRESS
NEW YORK — The late
rapper Tupac Shakur and
Seattle-based rockers Pearl
Jam lead a class of Rock and
Roll Hall of Fame inductees
including folkie Joan Baez
and 1970s favorites Jour-
ney, Yes and Electric Light
Orchestra.
The rock hall, in down-
town Cleveland, also said
Tuesday it would give a
special award to Nile Rod-
gers, whose disco-era band
Chic failed again to make
the cut after its 11th time
nominated.
Baez will be inducted
only months after her 1960s
paramour, Bob Dylan, was
awarded the Nobel Prize for
Literature.
The hall’s 32nd annual
induction ceremony will
take place on April 7 at the
Barclays Center. HBO will
show highlights later, with
SiriusXM doing a radio
broadcast.
Shakur was shot and
killed after attending a box-
ing match in Las Vegas in
1996. His death has spawned
conspiracy theories but
remains unsolved. “Chang-
es,” “Keep Ya Head Up,”
“Ambitionz Az a Ridah” and
“Life Goes On” are among
his best-known songs. He
was 25 when he died and
left behind a trove of music
that was released posthu-
mously.
Pearl Jam exploded in
popularity from the start in
the early 1990s behind songs
including “Alive,” “Jeremy”
and “Even Flow.” After
Nirvana, it is the second
band with roots in Seattle’s
grunge rock scene to make
the hall. Behind singer Eddie
Vedder and other original
members Mike McCready,
Stone Gossard and Jeff
Ament, Pearl Jam remains
active and is a popular live
act.
Vedder is no newcomer
to rock hall ceremonies, hav-
ing given induction speeches
for Neil Young and the
Ramones.
Baez was a political
activist and mainstay of the
folk movement, performing
at the first Newport Folk
Festival at age 19 in 1959.
She was known primarily
as an interpreter of others’
songs, introducing Dylan
to a wider audience at the
beginning of his career.
Their affair ended badly in
1965, for which Dylan later
apologized.
Baez’s own “Diamonds
and Rust” in 1975 was one
of her biggest hits.
“I never considered
myself to be a rock and roll
PHOTO BY DREW GURIAN/INVISION
Pearl Jam performs at the “Made In America” music festival in
Philadelphia in 2012. The Seattle-based rockers and the late
rapper Tupac Shakur lead a class of Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
inductees that also include folkie Joan Baez and 1970s favor-
ites Journey, Yes and Electric Light Orchestra. The hall’s 32nd
annual induction ceremony will take place on April 7 at Bar-
clays Center in Brooklyn, N.Y.
artist,” Baez said Tuesday.
“But as part of the folk
music boom which contrib-
uted to and influenced the
rock revolution of the ‘60s,
I am proud that some of the
songs I sang made their way
into the rock lexicon. I very
much appreciate this honor
and acknowledgement by
the Hall of Fame.”
Journey’s 1981 song
“Don’t Stop Believin”’ was
given new life by being fea-
tured in the closing scene of
HBO’s “The Sopranos” and
became a favorite of a new
generation. Its 6.8 million
iTunes sales makes it the
most-bought song on that
platform from the pre-digital
era, according to Nielsen
SoundScan.
Former singer Steve
Perry, estranged from the
band for many years, offers
some potential rock hall
drama: Will he show up for
his induction?
Guitarist and co-founder
Neal Schon told Billboard
he’s reached out to Perry.
“I would hope that Steve
would at least do something
with us,” Schon said. “He
went and sang a couple
songs with the Eels last year
to let people know he can
still sing, so I’m keeping my
fingers crossed but I’m not
counting on anything.”
There was no immediate
response Tuesday to a call to
Perry’s lawyer.
Britain’s Yes, known for
its complex compositions,
was a leader of the 1970s
progressive rock movement.
Yes’ hits include “I’ve
Seen All Good People,”
“Roundabout” and “Owner
of a Lonely Heart,” and its
fans have waged a vocifer-
ous campaign to see them
honored. Founding bass
player Chris Squire, the one
constant in many years of
personnel changes, died in
June 2015.
Alan White, the band’s
drummer for 44 years, said
from his home in Seattle that
it was wonderful to get the
recognition and thanked fans
for their advocacy.
“It means a lot,” he said.
Electric Light Orchestra
got its start melding classical
influences to Beatles-influ-
enced pop and charted with
“Evil Woman,” “Mr. Blue
Sky” and “Don’t Bring Me
Down.” The band essen-
tially exists now in leader
Jeff Lynne’s imagination
and home studio and had a
mildly successful comeback
a year ago.
Chic, led by Rodgers
and the late Bernard Ed-
wards, has become the rock
hall’s version of Susan
Lucci and her long quest
to win a Daytime Emmy.
While Shakur, Baez, Pearl
Jam and ELO were elected
this year in their first time
on the ballot, Chic has
endured years of disap-
pointment.
The hall’s award for
musical excellence to song-
writer and guitarist Rodgers
is no consolation prize.
When disco cooled, Rodgers
became one of the hottest
producers in the business,
behind the boards for some
of the ‘80s most indelible al-
bums: David Bowie’s “Let’s
Dance,” Madonna’s “Like a
Virgin” and the B-52’s “Cos-
mic Thing.”
Rodgers, in an interview
with “Good Day, New
York,” said he’s flattered to
get the award but it felt a
little odd.
“So they plucked me out
of the band and said, ‘You’re
worthy, but the band’s not
worthy,”’ he said. “And
that sort of makes you feel
a little weird, because I
wouldn’t know David Bowie
or INXS or Duran Duran or
Madonna or Paul Simon or
any of these people unless I
was in Chic. They were all
Chic fans.”
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