Cher is the headliner of a loaded class of this year’s Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductees, announced on Sunday night’s episode of American Idol about the Cleveland-based institution.
The induction coincides with the 77-year-old entertainment icon’s first appearance on a ballot for the Hall of Fame in any capacity, be it for her solo work or her work with Sonny & Cher with late ex-husband Sonny Bono.
Cher criticized her expulsion from the institute last December when she appeared on the Kelly Clarkson Show, promising she wouldn’t get in if she was inducted, after more than three decades of criticism, because she was originally eligible in 1991.
“I’m not in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame!” she said to Clarkson. “You know what, I wouldn’t be in it right now if they gave me a million dollars. I’m not joking.’
‘I’m never going to change my mind. They can just find out for themselves.’
Cher, 77, is headlining a loaded class of this year’s Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductees, but it’s not clear whether she will attend because she has been outspoken for decades about being rejected by the institution has been rejected. Pictured earlier this month at the iHeartRadio Music Awards in LA
To be eligible for the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, a solo artist or group must have released their first commercial recording at least 25 years ago.
Cher has had an unparalleled decades-long music career with solo hits such as 1971’s Gypsys, Tramps & Thieves, 1974’s Dark Lady, 1989’s If I Could Turn Back Time, 1990’s The Shoop Shoop Song (It’s in His Kiss) and 1999’s Believe .
Other notable hits in her catalog include staples with Bono (who died in a skiing accident in January 1998) such as 1965’s I Got You Babe and 1967’s The Beat Goes On.
Cher is joined in the Performer class by solo artists Ozzy Osbourne, 75, Mary J. Blige, 53, Peter Frampton, 74, and the groups Kool & The Gang, Dave Matthews Band, A Tribe Called Quest and Foreigner.
English blues and rock musician John Mayall, 90, and late artists Big Mama Thornton and Alexis Korner will be honored with the Musical Influence Award.
Suzanne de Passe, 77, will receive the Ahmet Ertegun Award, the institution said Rolling stone.
English blues and rock musician John Mayall, 90, and late artists Big Mama Thornton and Alexis Korner will be honored with the Musical Influence Award.
Osbourne joins as a solo artist after joining Black Sabbath in 2006.
This year’s class was announced on Sunday’s episode of American Idol, focusing on the Cleveland-based institute
The show’s Ryan Seacrest and Lionel Richie were part of Sunday’s announcement
Cher has had an unparalleled decades-long music career with solo hits such as Gypsys, 1971’s Tramps & Thieves, 1974’s Dark Lady and 1989’s If I Could Turn Back Time.
Mary J. Blige, 53, is among the prominent artists who will attend the prestigious institute
The popular Dave Matthews Band will enter the Hall of Fame this year
Show Me the Way singer Peter Frampton will be honored at the ceremony this fall
Musical standout Ozzy Osbourne, 75, will enter the Hall of Fame as a solo artist; he was previously inducted in 2006 as part of Black Sabbath
Gene Simmons, inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2014, attended the show on Sunday
The Crazy Train artist said earlier this year: ‘To be one of the few musicians to be considered for a second entry, now as a solo artist, is something I could never have imagined.
“After 44 years as a solo artist, I am incredibly proud to continue to record music and receive this recognition.”
The institute, which will present the awards Oct. 19 at Cleveland’s Mortgage Fieldhouse, said those being honored “have created music whose originality, impact and influence changed the course of rock & roll.”
The show will stream live on Disney+, with specials airing later on ABC and Hulu.
The chairman of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Foundation said in a statement that “Rock & Roll is an ever-evolving amalgam of sounds that influences culture and moves generations.”
He continued, “This diverse group of inductees each broke musical barriers and influenced countless artists who followed in their footsteps.”