Rock’n’Roll: Entering the Hall of Fame: “More difficult than two divorces”

Cher, Mary J. Blige and Ozzy Osbourne joined the rock hall of fame on Saturday evening at a ceremony in Cleveland, Ohio, home to the Rock’n’Roll Hall of Fame museum.

Kool & the Gang, Dave Matthews Band, Foreigner, A Tribe Called Quest and Peter Frampton completed the 2024 class of the rock pantheon, which opened up from its first edition in 1986 to other genres: soul, blues, R ‘n’B, folk, country then rap.

British-Albanian popstar Dua Lipa opened the ceremony by covering the title “Believe” by Cher, now aged 78 and who was an icon in the 70s and 80s. She joined her on stage to pay tribute to this hit which was one of the first to use autotune as an instrument.

“I changed the sound of music forever,” Cher said during her speech, almost a year after sharply criticizing the institution for previously snubbing her. “It was easier to get two men to divorce than to get into the Rock ‘n’ Roll Hall of Fame,” she joked.

Big Mama Thornton, Alexis Korner and John Mayall received special mentions for “musical influence”, while Jimmy Buffett, MC5, Dionne Warwick and Norman Whitfield received “musical excellence” awards.

Suzanne de Passe, who was among the most influential early women in the music industry during the Motown era, won the award dedicated to non-musician professionals.

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